高等学校研究生英语系列教程综合英语上册课文原文+翻译(7)

would have to spend 54 of its income to afford the county?s average home;in 2000,the figure was 26.

今天，该县中等家庭不得不将其收入的54％用于购买位于该县的普通住房；在2000年，这个数字是26％。形势如此严峻，以至于费尔法克斯县最近开始对年收入90，000美元的家庭提供住房补贴；很快，这个数字可能提高到110，000美元。The situation is so dire that Fairfax recently began offering housing subsidies to families earning 90000 a year; soon, that figure may go as high as 110000 a year. 1富兰克林·罗斯福总统曾经说经济大萧条造成1／3的美国人住房简陋、衣衫褴褛、营养不良，然而70年后的今天，美国人却是穿着考究、营养日益过剩。但是，廉价房稀缺是一场日益加深的民族危机，而不仅仅是依靠福利为生的城市家庭的危机。Seventy years after President Franklin D.Roosevelt declared that the Depression had left one-third of the American people“ill-housed,ill-clothed and ill-nourished.” Americans are well-clothed and increasingly over nourished. But the scarcity of affordable housing is a deepening national crisis, and not just for inner-city families on welfare.

这个问题已经波及中产阶级，并向郊区蔓延，在那里服务工作者及其家属挤在过于狭小的公寓里，大学毕业生不得不借宿在父母家，而消防队员、警察和教师在他们所服务的社区也买不起房。The problem has climbed the income ladder and moved to the suburbs, where service workers cram their families into overcrowded apartments, college graduates have to crash with their parents, and firefighters, police officers and teachers can?t afford to live in the communities they serve.

2住房拥有率接近历史最高位，但有房户和无房户之间的差距越来越大，有房户和房子离工作单位80英里远的有房户之间的差距也越来越大。Home ownership is near an all-time high, but the gap is growing between the Owns and the Own-Nots---as well as the Own-80-Miles-From-Work.

现在，1／3的美国人花费至少30％的收入用于住房，联邦政府将这种情况定义为“无力支付”的负担，而有一半的穷打工仔花费至少50％的收入用于租房，这种情况被称为“极其严重”的负担。One-third of Americans now spend at least 30 of their income on housing, the federal definition of an “unaffordable” burden, and half the working poor spend at least 50 of their income on rent, a “critical” burden.

在过去10年里，房地产迅猛发展，这使得在此之前就已经购置房产的美国人大赚特赚了一把，但现在廉价房对中、低收入的美国人来说，是一个比税收、社会保险、汽油价格更严重的问题。The real estate boom of the past decade has produced windfalls for Americans who owned before it began, but affordable housing is now a serious problem for more low and moderate-income Americans than taxes, Social Security or gas prices.

3美国曾经非常关注廉价房问题。American used to care a lot about affordable housing. 1934年和1937年，罗斯福签署了住房立法，提供抵押贷款、政府公寓，并为那些穷困潦倒的工人提供建筑工作。Roosevelt signed housing legislation in 1934 and 1937 ,providing mortgages ,government apartments and construction jobs for workers down on their luck .

1949年，国会树立了官方目标——“让每一个美国家庭都能拥有一个体面的家和宜居环境，”而到了1974年，尼克松总统开始对数以百万计的低收入租户在私有住房方面提供租金补贴凭单。In 1949, Congress set an official goal of “a decent

home and a suitable living environment for every American family,” and in 1974, President Richard M.Nixon began offering subsidized rent vouchers to millions of low-income tenants in private housing. 半个世纪以来，在华盛顿发生的大多数住房方面的辩论都围绕着一个主题：即应该在多大程度上扩大联邦政府的资助。 For half a century, most housing debates in Washington revolved around how much to expand federal assistance.

4但在过去20年中，唯一的联邦住房新提案就是HOPE VI，也就是克林顿政府拆毁80,000单位的最差公共住房，重建混合收入寓所来取而代之。But for the past tow decades, the only new federal housing initiative has been HOPE VI, a Clinton administration program that has demolished 80000 units of the worst public housing and built mixed-income developments in their place.

该计划已经拆除了大部分高度危险的房子，它们曾使公共住房声名狼藉，并已重建了一些城市的社区。The program has eliminated most of the high-rise hellholes that gave public housing a bad name and has revived some urban neighborhoods.

但是它更多的是把享有补贴的公寓房夷为平地而不是取而代之。But it has razed more subsidized apartments than it has replaced.

5总的来说，自90年代初以来，接受联邦援助的家庭数已经降到最低，尽管人口不断增加、预算不断膨胀。Overall, the number of households receiving federal aid has flatlined since the early 1990s, despite an expanding population and a ballooning budget.

美国国会已经拒绝了美国总统布什提出的大部分的削减计划，但几乎没有讨论过增加计划；廉价房的倡导者花费的大部分时间都被用于努力争取保持现状。Congress has rejected most of President Bush?s proposed cuts, but there has been virtually no discussion of increases; affordable-housing advocates spend most of their time fighting to preserve the status quo.

6而现状真是很艰难。And it?s a tough status quo. 今天，有450万低收入家庭享受联邦住房救助，还有3倍于此的家庭符合被救助资格，却拿不到救助。Today, for every one of the 4.5 millions low-income families that receives federal housing assistance, there are three eligible families without it. 费尔法克斯县有12,000户家庭在排队轮候4,000套救助公寓。Fairfax County has 12000 families on a waiting list for 4000 assisted apartments.

“这太宝贵了，一旦拥有，没有人愿意放弃。”费尔法克斯住房委员会主席康拉德·艾根这样说。 “It?s golden when you get one-nobody wants to gives it up,” says Conrad Egan, chairman of the Fairfax housing authority.

这听起来奇怪，但如今住房危机的受害者不是那些已经享受“救助计划”的人，而是那些没那么幸运去享受这个计划的人。It sounds odd, but the victims of today?s housing crisis are not people living in “the projects”, but people who aren?t even that lucky.

7一些自由派人士梦想着对所有合格的低收入家庭都给予补贴，但是这个每年要斥资上千亿美元的解决办法很不现实，即便是在预算赤字再度膨胀之前也不现实。Some liberals dream of extending subsidies to all eligible low-income families , but that $100 billion -a-year solution was unrealistic even before the budget deficit ballooned again. 因此，即使一些曾经主张住房政策的人，现在也支持对大多数联邦租房救济金实

行时间限制。人们对10年前福利改革中所涉及的时限问题有争议，但研究表明，这些时限有助于激励受助人摆脱对福利的依赖。So even some housing advocates now support time limits on most federal rent aid. The time limits included in welfare reform 10 years ago were controversial , but studies suggest they?ve helped motivate recipient to get off the dole. 和福利不同的是，住房救济金不是联邦所赋予的权利，因此几年后对一个家庭停止供给意味着给另一个同样需要救济的家庭一个喘息的机会。And unlike welfare , housing aid is not a federal entitlement , so taking it away from one family after a few years would provide a break for an equally deserving family . 8“这是显而易见的事，”大卫·史密斯——波士顿的一位廉价房的倡导者说，“你不能让内在矛盾无限地延续。”“It?s a no-brainer, ”says David Smith ,an affordable-housing advocate in Boston .“You can?t sustain the internal contradiction of no limits.”

9问题的根源是廉价房的供需，或者更准确地说，工作地点附近的廉价房的供需之间极不协调。The root of the problem is the striking mismatch between the demand for and the supply of affordable housing -or , more accurately , affordable housing near jobs .

据哈佛大学住宅联合研究中心提供的数据，现在有1,500万个家庭至少把他们一半的收入用于支付住房费用；许多人为了住房甚至在医疗保健、照顾儿童和食品等方面节省开支。Fifteen million families now spend at least half their income on housing , according to Harvard?s Joint Center for Housing Studies ;many skimp on health care., child care and food to do so .

其他人为了减少租金，居住条件极为拥挤，研究表明，拥挤的居住条件与高犯罪率、学习成绩差、以及健康状况不佳紧密相关；仅洛杉矶就有62万户家庭多人共居一室。Others reduce their rents by overcrowding , which studies link to higher crime rates ,poorer academic performance and poorer health;Los Angeles alone has 620000 homes with more one person per room .

其他工作者居住在较为便宜的社区，忍受着越来越长距离的交通往返，这种现象被称为“驾驶以保生活质量”。Other workers are enduring increasingly long commutes from less expensive communities ,a phenomenon known as “driving to qualify.”

10这造成各种不良结果——孩子们看不到父母；当汽油价格飙升、城市向外扩张、道路上堵满了长途通勤的打工者、他们的汽车排放着温室气体，劳动者根本就入不敷出。This creates all kinds of lousy outcomes --children who don?t get to see their parents ,workers who can?t make ends meet when gas prices soar ,exurban sprawl ,roads clogged with long-distance commuters emitting greenhouse gases . 费尔法克斯县监督委员会的会长凯西·哈金斯说：“我认为如果我们迫使人们平均每天四个小时呆在汽车里，我们就无法建立强大的社区。”廉价房也可以使社区具有竞争力；如果打工者没钱住在那里，我们还真不知道费尔法克斯县怎能一直创造就业机会。 I don?t think we?re creating strong communities by forcing people into their cars four hours a day ,says Cathy Hudgins ,chairwoman of the housing committee for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors . Affordable housing also helps make communities competitive ;it?s not clear how Fairfax can keep creating jobs if workers can?t afford to live there .

11为促进廉价房，地方官员最好不要挡在路上——不要要求一英亩最小面积和两车位的车库、不要阻止低收入和高密度的项目。The best thing local officials can do to promote affordable housing is to get out of the way --stop requiring one-acre lots and two-car garages ,and stop blocks low-income and high-density projects . 12另一方面，联邦预算由华盛顿政界人士决定。但是，美国国会自1986年施行低收入住房税收抵免政策以来没有再支持过新的建设项目，该政策每年造就近100,000套廉价住房，足以取代被拆除或被转变为市场化招租的那些住房总数的一半。Washington politicians ,on the other hand ,have the federal budget at their disposal . But congress hasn?t supported new construction since the Low-income Housing Tax Credit of 1986 ,which creates nearly 100000 units of affordable housing a year ,enough to replace half the units that are torn down or converted to markets rents .

布什在2000年和2004年的竞选中提出了房屋所有权税收抵免政策，这是一项极好的政策，但是他最终竟然没有实行。 Bush proposed a home -ownership tax credit during his 2000and 2004 campaigns ,but it turn out to be rare tax cut he didn?t pursue .

一项等待国会投票的法案可能会把一些联邦特许机构——如房利美——的利润按照一定的百分比转移到国家廉价房信托基金名下，但这项法案似乎停滞不前。唯一的用国家力量促进支付能力的办法并不是有关住房的办法；例如，有一个方法可以让劳动者更能够负担得起住房费用，那就是提高他们的收入——通过提高最低工资、降低工资税或扩大收入税收抵免等方式。 A bill pending in Congress would divert a percentage of profits from federally chartered institutions such as Fannie Mae to a national affordable-housing trust fund ,but it seems stalled . The only affordability ideas with any traction at the national level are not really housing ideas; for example ,one way to make housing more affordable to workers would be to raise their incomes --through higher minimum wages ,lower payroll taxes or an expanded Earned Income tax Credit .

13解决廉价房危机的一个明确办法：房地产市场崩溃。There is one clear solution to the affordable -housing crisis:a real estate crash.

这是一个能够吸引媒体关注的住房问题——因为这会伤害有房户。It?s the one housing issue that attracts media attention -because it would hurt the Owns.

但是对于使用风险贷款的低收入房屋所有人来说放松价格可能是毁灭性的，另一方面对于无房者来说，它也不会带来居者有其屋的结果。But while an easing of prices could be devastating for lower -income Owns with risky mortgages ,it probably wouldn?t bring home ownership within reach for many Own-Nots. 价格下降还有很大的空间；在2000年，费尔法克斯2／3的房屋销售价格不高于$250,000，但去年只有不到1／20的房屋以此价格出售。即便价格小幅下滑都可能引发建设减速，从而使中等收入家庭缺乏廉价房的局面变得更糟糕。Prices have too far to fall ;in 2000,two -third of the home sales in Fairfax were for $250000 or less,but last year ,fewer than one -twentieth were.And even a modest price slump could trigger a construction slowdown that would make shortages of affordable housing for moderate -income families even worse.

14最终，政治家可能重新发现住房问题不是一个城市贫困问题，而是一个中产阶级的生活质量问题，正如燃油价格或医疗保健一样。Eventually,politicians may

rediscover housing -not as an urban poverty issue ,but as a middle -class quality -of-issue ,like gas prices or health care. 居者有其屋通常被称为是美国梦，但如今许多劳动者为了使他们的家人不至于破产，宁愿租一所体面的房子居住。Home ownership is often described as the American dream ,but these days many workers would settle for a decent that won?t bankrupt their families.

Unit Ten

普林斯顿大学校长在其任职演说中提到：与接受高等教育这项权利相伴的是各种义务。 危机时代，大学该扮演的角色 雪莉·M．泰夫曼

1 Today the academy holds a highly privileged place in American society because of a about the long-standing national consensus about the value of education. One of my predecessors,

President Harold Dodds, said in his inaugural address in 1933 that \country spends money for education, public or private, so lavishly as does the United States. Americans have an almost childlike faith in what formal education can do for them.\That faith is based on a conviction that the vitality of the United States, its creative and diverse cultural life, its is national security and the robustness of its democratic institutions owe much to the quality of institutions of higher education.

1今天，由于长期以来美国人对教育价值的共识，大学在美国社会中占有得天独厚的地位。一位前任校长哈罗德·多兹1933年在就职演说中曾提到，“没有哪个国家像美国这样，不论对公立教育还是私立教育的投入都是如此地慷慨大方。美国人民对正规教育所能起到的作用抱有一种近乎天真的信念。”这一信念是在这样一个深信不疑的基础上确立的，即美国的活力、它富有创造性和多样化的文化生活、它具有惊人独创力的经济、它的国家安全以及它健全的民主制度——极大地依赖于其高等教育机构的质量。

2 Our society?s confidence in its institutions of higher education is expressed through the generous investments of the federal and state government in basic and applied research, investment that wisely couple support for research with support for graduate education. It is also expresses through federal and state investments that subsidize the cost of higher education for those who cannot afford to pay, investments by private foundations and charities who see

collegesand universities as the best routes for achieving their strategic goals, and investments by individuals and by the private sector, who see universities as the incubators of future health and prosperity. In return for this broad support, society rightfully expects certain things from us. It expects the generation of new ideas and the discovery of new knowledge, the exploration of complex issues in an open and collegial manner and the preparation of the next generation of citizens and leaders. In times of trouble, it is especially important that we live up to these expectations.

2我国社会对高等教育机构的信心通过以下几点表现出来：联邦政府和州政府对基础研究和应用研究给予大量投资，这些投资明智地将对研究的支持与对研究生教育的支持结合起来；联邦政府和州政府对无力负担高等教育学费的学生给予资

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