英國人也蝸居
Living in a tiny space
從2009年電視劇《蝸居》引起觀眾共鳴，到去年深圳房價怒漲近50%登上英國《衛報》，住房是老一輩和年輕一輩人心中永遠的痛。殊不知，大英帝國的人們也跟我們一樣，生活在這樣的水深火熱當中。跟隨今天的節目來了解一下。
Jennifer:Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. My name is Jennifer and with me in the studio is Neil. Welcome, Neil!
大家好，歡迎收聽英語六分鐘。我是Jennifer,今天跟我一起主持的還有Neil.歡迎你，Neil!
Neil:Hi there Jen. In this programme, we take a look at a topic in the news and learn some new vocabulary and phrases from it.
你好，Jen.今天我們會聊聊新聞主題並且學習一些新辭彙和短語。
Jennifer:In this programme, we』re talking about the growing number of people living in very tiny places. How big is your house, Neil? I bet you live in a castle!
今天的節目，我們來聊聊越來越多的人的蝸居問題。你房子多大，Neil?你肯定住在一個城堡里吧？
Neil:I wish! No, I live in a small, two-bedroom flat, which is not big enough because there are four of us in it! How about you, Jen?
我倒是想！沒有，我住在一個很小的兩居室，對於四口之家而言有點小了。你呢，Jen?
Jen:Well, my house is very small indeed, but I do feel grateful to have it, particularly as Britain is experiencinga housing crisisat the moment.
我的房子也很小，但是有房子住我就很感激了。現在英國都有點住房危機。
Neil:There』s a shortage of houses in Britain and this has meant that the price of houses has become very expensive.
現在英國住房緊缺，同樣的房價也非常高。
Jennifer:The prices have become so expensive that people can』t afford to buy their own home. A popular way to describe buying your first home in English is 『to get a foot on the property ladder』.
房價太高導致人們買不起房子，現在都流行說買第一套房是「涉足房地產」。
Neil:Even if you can afford to buy your own home, you might find that your money doesn』t buy very much. Research out this week has revealed that the UK has some of the smallest properties in Europe.
即使你能買房，你也可能會發現自己的錢花的不值。這周研究揭露英國有著歐洲最小住房面積。
Jennifer: I』m glad you mentioned that, Neil, as it reminds me: I haven』t asked you the quiz question yet! One European country has new homes which are,on average, almost 80% bigger than the homes in Britain. Is it:
很高興你提出來了，Neil,同樣也讓我想起，我還沒問你今天的問題！歐洲哪個國家的新房面積比英國大差不多80%？
a) Ireland
愛爾蘭
b) The Netherlands
荷蘭
c) Denmark
丹麥
Neil:I don』t really know and I』m going to guess that it』s b) the Netherlands.
我不是很清楚，我猜是b)荷蘭。
Jennifer: Well, we will find out if you are right at the end of the programme. So, we know that there is a housing crisis in Britain, and we also know that many of the new houses which areon the market, or for sale,are very small. A typical one-bedroom home in Britain is just 46m2.
我們節目結尾時再揭曉答案。我們知道現在英國存在住房危機，而且現在很多市場在售或者代售的房子真的很小。在英國，一個典型一居室的房子面積只有46m2.
Neil:That is tiny! You could say 『you wouldn』t haveroom to swing a cat』: now don』t take that phrase literally; it simply means that a room is very small.
太小了！你可以說連個轉身的空間的沒有。
Jennifer:The people building the houses are trying to meet the demand for properties, so they are building houses with two or three bedrooms, but those rooms are much smaller than anywhere else in Europe.
房地產商試圖滿足大家對房產的需求，所以建了很多兩居室或三居室的房子，但這些房子面積比歐洲的任何地方都小。
Neil:And that』s an interesting difference between Britain and the rest Europe. Here in the UK, houses are sold according to the number of bedrooms they have. Elsewhere, people pay more attention to the measurement of the floor space.
這個對比很有意思，在英國，房屋的賣點是幾房。歐洲其他地方，人們更關注房子的佔地面積。
Jennifer:You』re right, Neil. The number of bedrooms you have in your house is very important to many people in Britain. Now, according to research from the Royal Institute of British Architects, lack of space is the most common cause of dissatisfaction that people have in relation to their homes and it can be really frustrating.
是啊，Neil.對很多英國人來說，房間數量是很重要的。根據一項英國皇家建築師學院的研究顯示，房屋面積小是大多數人對房子不滿意的原因。
Neil:Yes, especially if you have a lot of belongings and kidsto squeezeinto a small space! So what can you do to make a small space more habitable, or easy to live in?
是啊，尤其是你有東西，還有小孩子，卻住在一個小房子里！你覺得怎樣才能讓一個小房子更適合居住呢？
Jennifer:Well, the design of your house can make a difference. If you have aminimalistapproach it can make your house feel bigger. Listen to this clip from BBC correspondent Jennifer Pak. She describes a man in Hong Kong who has transformed his small living space to make it multifunctional…
房屋的設計很重要，簡約風格可以讓你的房子看起來更大。聽聽BBC駐地記者Jennifer Pak的錄音片段，講述了一個香港男人將一個小房子改造成了多功能的房子。
BBC correspondent, Jennifer Pak:
BBC駐地記者JenniferPak：
Architect Gary Chang lives alone. He has created a walk-in closet, with the help of sliding walls. This apartment is only 30m2, but, using tracks onthe ceiling and wheels, Mr Chang can transform it into a linen closet, a bathroom, and even a full-size kitchen behind the television set. But the renovation cost as much as the flat itself, so for other homes in the territory, it』s a constant battle against clutter.
建築師Gary Chang一個人住，他建了帶自動牆個衣帽間。雖然公寓只有30m2，但是利用隔板和輪子，他將房子改裝成了一個衣帽間，衛生間甚至是一個位於電視機後面的超大廚房。但是改裝費用快趕上房子價格了，所以對於其他地區的房子來說，跟雜亂要打一場持久戰。
Jennifer: So Mr Chang has modified, or changed, his tiny apartment using sliding walls. That』s great if you』ve got the skills to do that, but lots of people won』t be able to.
所以Mr Chang用移動牆改造了自己的公寓。如果你有能力那麼做的話，也是很好的，但大多數人做不到。
Neil:As we heard in the report, other people have a real battle against clutter. If youde-clutteryour house, you get rid of lots of things that you don』t need, like ornaments, books or CDs.
就像我們所聽到的，其他的人還是跟雜亂要打一場持久戰。如果你清理下房間，就可以擺脫那些你並不需要的東西，像書籍和CD。
Jennifer:It』s not so bad nowadays – you can store all of your music and books digitally, which does save a lot of space.
現在也還好，有了電子書和電子音樂，可以省好多空間。
Neil:Many people who live in small places will buy gadgets which save space and make their lives easier. Here』s Jennifer Pak again, describing a multifunctional cooking gadget:
很多蝸居的人會買一些節省空間的小物件，在這裡，Jennifer Pak給大家推薦一個多功能的做菜利器。
BBC correspondent, Jennifer Pak:
Maple Ma likes to make food. This pot can grill, bake, fry and steam using ahalogen lamp to cook. It replaces her oven, microwave and stove. The Hong Kong company that makes this pot, German Pool, says its best sellers are gadgets that perform multiple functions.
Maple Ma喜歡做東西吃。這個鍋用一個鎢絲燈就可以燒，烤，煎，蒸，代替了她之前用的烤爐，烘箱和微波爐。由香港公司生產，德國寶牌子，據說是多功能小物件的銷售冠軍。
Neil:An oven, microwave and stove, all in one! That』s really handy for small spaces.
烤爐，烘箱和微波爐，一個抵三個！對小房間來說很方便。
Jennifer:Now, we』ve heard a lot about small homes in Britain, it』s time to go back to our quiz question from earlier. I asked you which European country』s homes are almost 80% bigger than those in the UK.
現在我們已經聽了很多關於英國房子小的事情了,回到我們之前的問題的.我問你,歐洲哪個國家的新房面積比英國大差不多80%？
a) Ireland
愛爾蘭
b) The Netherlands
荷蘭
c) Denmark
丹麥
Neil:And I said b) the Netherlands…
我選了b)荷蘭……
Jennifer:And you were wrong! It"s homes in Denmark which are, on average, 80% bigger than those in the UK. Homes in the Netherlands are 53% bigger and in Ireland they』re 15% bigger.
你答錯了!正確答案是丹麥。荷蘭只比英國大53%，愛爾蘭比英國大15%。
Neil:So, all in all, living space is pretty small here in the UK.
所以，總的來說，英國的住房面積真的很小。
Jennifer:Yes, if you want more space, you』ll have to move abroad. We』re almost out of time now, so Neil, could you remind us of some of the words and phrases we』ve heard today?
是的，如果你想住大點的房子，就搬到國外去吧。好了，今天的節目快結束了，Neil,能帶我們回顧下今天的辭彙和短語嗎？
Neil:Yes. They were:
可以，它們是:
housing crisis
to get a foot on the property ladder
on the market
room to swing a cat
to squeeze
minimalist
de-clutter
Jennifer:Do join us again for another edition of 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Bye for now!
請下次繼續收聽我們的英語六分鐘，再見！
Neil:Goodbye!
再見！
Vocabulary and definitions辭彙解析
housing crisis住房危機
shortage of houses / high prices of houses available to buy
住房數量不夠或者價格高
to get a foot on theproperty ladder涉足房地產
to buy your first house
買第一套房子
on the market在售
available to buy
開放購買
room to swing a cat寬敞空間
lots of space
大的空間
to squeeze（here）擠進去（文中）
to push into a small space
擠進一個狹小的空間
minimalist極簡主義
having no more than what is necessary
除了必需品之外沒有其他多餘擺設
de-clutter清理雜物
get rid of things you don"t want or need
清理你不需要的東西
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