周任务

本周（第153周）周任务英译汉节选自双语阅读《日本人喜欢将房子推倒重建》；汉译英节选自《中国的北极政策》白皮书。二笔三笔周任务材料相同，二笔限时一小时，三笔限时一个半小时。请独立完成，注意把握训练时间，允许查阅字典。

1.英译汉（386）

EVERY 20 years in the eastern coastal Japanese city of Ise, the shrine, one of the country’s most venerated, is knocked down and rebuilt. The ritual is believed to refresh spiritual bonds between the people and the gods. Demolishing houses has no such lofty objective. Yet in Japan they have a similarly short life expectancy.

According to Nomura, a brokerage, the value of the average Japanese house depreciates to zero in 22 years. (It is calculated separately from the land, which is more likely to hold its value.) Most are knocked down and rebuilt. Sales of new homes far outstrip those of used ones, which usually change hands in the expectation that they will be demolished and replaced. In America and Europe second-hand houses accounted for 90% of sales and new-builds for 10% in 2017. In Japan the proportions are the other way around.

The reasons for Japanese houses’ rapid loss of value lie partly in tradition. In many countries people buy when they pair off, when they move to a bigger place after they have children or when they downsize on retirement. Japanese people have tended to see out all life’s stages in the same dwelling, a custom they attribute to their history as a farming nation, when they had to stay put. As a result, they never got used to second-hand homes.

The frequency of earthquakes also plays a part. Large tremors tend to be followed by tougher building regulations. Many people want to live in a home built to the most recent standards. History also helped to form habits. During the second world war dozens of cities, including Tokyo, had been flattened by American bombs. The population then was growing fast. Quantity was valued over quality. Big prefab manufacturers, such as Daiwa House, survive to this day, bringing out new models every year that, as with cars, people aspire to upgrade to.

One careless owner

In a vicious cycle, houses are expected to depreciate and are therefore not maintained, so second-hand homes are often dingy and depressing. Japanese people also shun wake-ari bukken, buildings “stigmatised” because, say, a former resident committed suicide there or a cult resides nearby. “In Japan, the words old and charming do not go together,” says Noriko Kagami, an estate agent (who tore down a house she bought herself).

2．汉译英（342）

北极具有独特的自然环境和丰富的资源，大部分海域常年被冰层覆盖。当前，北极自然环境正经历快速变化。过去30多年间，北极地区温度上升，使北极夏季海冰持续减少。据科学家预测，北极海域可能在本世纪中叶甚至更早出现季节性无冰现象。一方面，北极冰雪融化不仅导致北极自然环境变化，而且可能引发气候变暖加速、海平面上升、极端天气现象增多、生物多样性受损等全球性问题。另一方面，北极冰雪融化可能逐步改变北极开发利用的条件，为各国商业利用北极航道和开发北极资源提供机遇。北极的商业开发利用不仅将对全球航运、国际贸易和世界能源供应格局产生重要影响，对北极的经济社会发展带来巨大变化，对北极居民和土著人的生产和生活方式产生重要影响，还可能对北极生态环境造成潜在威胁。在处理涉北极全球性问题方面，国际社会命运与共。