【2020-01-29】外刊精读-The Economist January 18th 2020 “The horrible housing blunder”（1）

一、原文

                                                 The horrible housing blunder

Economies can suffer both sudden crashes and chronic diseases. Housing markets in the rich world have caused both types of problem. A trillion dollars of dud mortgages blew up the financial system in 2007-08. But just as pernicious is the creeping dysfunction that housing has created over decades: vibrant cities without space to grow; ageing homeowners sitting in half empty homes who are keen to protect their view; and a generation of young people who cannot easily afford to rent or buy and think capitalism has let them down. As our special report this week explains, much of the blame lies with warped housing policies that date back to the Second World War and which are intertwined with an infatuation with home ownership. They have caused one of the rich world’s most serious and longest-running economic failures. A fresh architecture is urgently needed.

二、词汇

1. blunder  英[ˈblʌndə(r)] 美[ˈblʌndər]≈mistake 通常指由于无知或情况不明造成的行动上的大错

2. sudden crashes and chronic diseases

3. A trillion dollars 

thousand=1,000=千

million=1,000,000=百万

billion=1,000,000,000=十亿

trillion=1,000,000,000,000=兆

4. dud mortgages 不良抵押贷款

dud 英[dʌd] 美[dʌd]=not working properly or not successful 

例句：He replaced a dud valve. 他换掉了坏阀门。

mortgage 英[ˈmɔːɡɪdʒ] 美[ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ] 按揭贷款

5. blow up 引爆

6. pernicious 英[pəˈnɪʃəs] 美[pərˈnɪʃəs] = highly injurious or destructive 有害的

7. creeping dysfunction

creeping  英[ˈkriːpɪŋ] 美[ˈkriːpɪŋ] (不知不觉地) 逐渐发生的

dysfunction 英[dɪsˈfʌŋkʃn] 美[dɪsˈfʌŋkʃn] 异常，机能障碍

8. capitalism 资本主义

9. warped housing policies

warped英[wɔːpt] 美[wɔːrpt] 扭曲的

10. be intertwined with 英[ˌɪntəˈtwaɪnd] 美[ˌɪntərˈtwaɪnd] 紧密相连的

11.  an infatuation with 英[ɪnˌfætʃuˈeɪʃn] 美[ɪnˌfætʃuˈeɪʃn]  (尤指一时的) 热恋，痴迷

12. be urgently needed

三、结构

本文开篇就点出，Economies can suffer both sudden crashes and chronic diseases，而这两种痛点都存在于发达国家的住房市场。对于sudden crashes，dud mortgages 引发的金融危机就是一个例子；but just as pernicious（同样危险的是）几个世纪以来房市所带来的creeping dysfunction，包括vibrant cities without space to grow; ageing homeowners sitting in half empty homes who are keen to protect their view; and a generation of young people who cannot easily afford to rent or buy and think capitalism has let them down。而这一切，都源于第二次世界大战以来的warped housing policies。因此，A fresh architecture is urgently needed。 英文文章非常注重形式的整饬。这一点在该段中得到了很好地体现。比如，从用词方面来说：

我们在平时阅读英文素材的时候，要尤其注意文章用词的相互对应。考试时，如果能快速把握文章中这些对应关系，那么做题速度和准确度也会有大幅的提高。

原文出处：The Economist  January 18th 2020 “The horrible housing blunder”