中国最近有“六个钱包买房”的新热词出现，而英国媒体去年就已经报道了称之为“父母银行”（bank of mum and dad）的现象。
所谓“父母银行”其实是个比喻的说法，专门指千禧一代必须靠跟父母借钱才能买上人生的第一套房子。
由此可见，“啃老”正在成为全世界共同的难题，或从某种意义上来说，父母的高度将决定孩子的高度。有数据统计表明，父母拥有房产的人在30岁时拥有自己房子的几率远高于父母无房的人。“父母银行”的重要性正呈上升趋势。
本篇课程首发于2019年2月8日，选自 Financial Times
https://www.ft.com/content/2d138594-f87c-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c
作者：Gavin Jackson
The growing might of the Bank of Mum and Dad
① The property wealth of your parents is crucial to getting on the ladder. How likely you are to own a house, by age, depends on how much property wealth your parents had when you were young.
② Unsurprisingly, those with the richest parents are the most likely to own a house by the age of 30. The Resolution Foundation think-tank's statistics show roughly a third of people in this category were homeowners themselves by the time their 20s were over.
③ Richer parents can afford to lend or give their offspring the money for a deposit for a mortgage. And those with richer parents are more likely to be better educated and to have a higher income themselves when they get older.
④ All young people, however, are less likely to own a home than they used to be.
⑤ At the turn of the millennium about 40 per cent of those whose parents were homeowners had become homeowners themselves by age 30, now that is down to 25 percent. Those whose parents do not own property have fallen from 19 percent to 9 percent.
▍生词好句
growing /'ɡrəʊɪŋ/: adj. 不断增长的；发展的
might /maɪt/: n. 力量；分量
property /ˈprɒpəti/: n. 财产；资产；房产
ladder /ˈlædər/: n. 梯子；阶梯
crucial /ˈkruːʃəl/: adj. 重要的；决定性的
determining factor: 决定性因素
essential /ɪˈsenʃəl/: adj. 必要的；本质的
essence /ˈesəns/: n. 本质；精华
be likely to do sth.: 有可能……
unsurprisingly /ʌnsəˈpraɪzɪŋli/: adv. 不出所料地；没有意外地
think-tank: 智库
statistics /stə'tɪstɪks/: n. 统计；统计数据
roughly /ˈrʌfli/: adv. 大致地；粗略地
approximately /əˈprɒksəmətli/: adv. 大约；近似地
afford to do sth.: 负担得起做某事
offspring /ˈɒfˌsprɪŋ/: n. 后代；子孙；产物
mortgage /ˈmɔːɡɪdʒ/: n. 抵押贷款
deposit /dɪˈpɒzɪt/: n. 定金
be down to sth.: 下降到了……；只剩下……
income gap: 收入差距
▍词汇拓展
1. growing: adj. 不断增长的；发展的
· growing cost: 不断增长的成本
· growing influence: 不断增加的影响力
2. might: n. 力量；分量
· military might: 军事力量
· Might is right: 强权即真理
He tried to lift the rock with all his might.
他用尽全力举起这块石头。
3. property: n. 财产；资产
· property developer: 房地产开发商
· property price: 房价
· property tax: 房地产税
· property owner: 业主
4. ladder: n. 梯子；阶梯
· career ladder: 职业阶梯
· social ladder: 社会阶梯
· climb up the social ladder: 攀上社会阶梯；进入上流社会
5. be likely to do sth.: 有可能……
· more likely to do sth.: 更有可能……
· most likely to do sth.: 最有可能……
· unlikely to do sth.: 不太可能……
6. afford to do sth.: 负担的起做某事
I can't afford to wait.
我等不起了。
7. offspring: n. 后代；子孙；产物
Global warming was the offspring of carbon emission.
全球变暖是碳排放的产物。
8. mortgage: n. 抵押贷款
· deposit for mortgage / mortgage deposit: 首付
· down payment: 首付
I have put down a million yuan on the house.
我已为这所房子付了100万元首付。
9. be down to sth.: 下降到了……；只剩下……
We're down to our last choice.
我们只剩最后一个选择了。
▍责任编辑
高晴、李秋健
▍内容校对
武志琳、章晓丹