经济学人:英国的住房问题:进步空间(2)

 At the election in June half of all private renters voted for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn, up from a third who supported the party in 2010. 在六月的竞选中，所有私人租房者中的一半将选票投给了工党和Jeremy Corbyn，他们中的三分之一曾在2010年支持过这个政党。

As home-ownership declines, the Conservatives, in particular, are beginning to worry —as indeed they should. 随着住宅自有率下降，保守党开始了他们本来的担心。

What makes Britain's housing squeeze maddening is that, unlike many other problems, something can easily be done about it. 不像其他问题那样，住房问题让人民发狂是因为在这方面有些简单的措施可以做。

Britain needs to get building. 英国需要建设。

The consensus¹ is that, to keep prices in check, it must put up 300,000 houses a year, double what it erected² in 2015-16. 人们的共识是，要想保持价格的可控，它必须每年建造30万套住房，这个数量是2015-16年建造房屋数量的两倍。

Mr Corbyn says the answer is a huge expansion of public housing, like the one in the Wilson and Callaghan governments in the 1970s. 科尔宾表示，解决之道是大幅扩张公共住房，就像上世纪70年代威尔逊和卡拉汉的政府一样。

This would be expensive, especially if such housing was let at below-market rates. 这将是很昂贵的，尤其是这类住房在低于市场价出租的情况下。

And few Britons aspire³ to rent from the council for life. 而且极少数人愿意终生在市政机构租赁房屋。

Better would be to unleash⁴ the market. 更好的是释放市场。

A change to regulations on green-belt land, which surrounds cities and which is designed to block construction, is long overdue⁵. 绿化带被设计来包围城市和抑制建筑，改变管理的条例一直延迟长久未兑现。

Far from being a bucolic⁶ retreat, much of the green belt is intensively farmed. 并非是田园撤退，大部分的绿化带被密集耕种。

By one estimate, more of Surrey is devoted⁷ to golf courses than houses. 一项调查显示，萨里郡的大部分土地被用来建设高尔夫球场而不是房屋。

Within Greater London enough green-belt land languishes⁸ to build 1.6m houses at average densities⁹. 由于伦敦有足够多的绿化带，以现有平均房屋密度来看有能力建造160万套房屋。

 

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

3 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

4 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

5 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

6 bucolic   

adj.乡村的；牧羊的

参考例句：

• It is a bucolic refuge in the midst of a great bustling city.它是处在繁华的大城市之中的世外桃源。
• She turns into a sweet country girl surrounded by family,chickens and a bucolic landscape.她变成了被家人、鸡与乡村景象所围绕的甜美乡村姑娘。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 languishes   

长期受苦( languish的第三人称单数 )； 受折磨； 变得（越来越）衰弱； 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐

参考例句：

• I cant tell why this heart languishes in silence. 我不知道，为什麽这颗心在寂静中憔悴。
• For the purpose of this device is qiangxinli ve now languishes. 为了这个设备我现在已经是心力憔悴了。

9 densities   

密集( density的名词复数 )； 稠密； 密度（固体、液体或气体单位体积的质量）； 密度（磁盘存贮数据的可用空间）

参考例句：

• The range of densities of interest is about 3.5. 有用的密度范围为3．5左右。
• Densities presumably can be probed by radar. 利用雷达也许还能探测出气体的密度。