华盛顿邮报 全美房租暴涨，拜登政府能做什么？ (1)

 

    I'm 79 years old. I live on a fixed¹ income. I've lived here for 13 years and since -- And I'm devastated².

    我79岁了。我靠固定收入生活。我在这里住了13年，自那以后，我陷入不安之中。

    My rent has doubled. I don't know what I'm going to do.

    我的房租涨了一倍。我不知道我该怎么办。

    They raised the rent on the seniors 300 bucks³ and promised them that they would raise the rent every year.

    他们给老年人涨了300美元的房租，还承诺每年都会涨租。

    And then they said, "If you can't deal with this, you should leave."他们说，“如果你不能处理这个问题，你应该离开。”

    I really hope that our government is able to hear our cries and our pleas and just help us for once and for all. It's just gone out of control.

    我真的希望我们的政府能够听到我们的呼喊和请求，能够永远帮助我们。一切都失控了。

    Paying rent every month is a struggle for millions of Americans. One of them is Davita Gatewood.

    对数百万美国人来说，每月付房租是一件难事。达维塔·盖特伍德就是被难住的人之一。

    Yeah, everybody that I've spoken with is dealing⁴ with the same issues, paying double, triple the rent or just saying, you know, "Davita, I can't -- I can't afford the rent, period."是的，每个和我交谈过的人都在处理同样的问题，付两到三倍的房租，或者只是说，“达维塔，我付不起房租，就这样。”

    She's a renter and organizer for tenants⁵ in Lexington, Kentucky.

    她是租客，也是肯塔基州列克星敦市的租户组织者。

    I don't know how I'm going to be able to afford my medication that I need and take care of my rent.

    我不知道怎么才能付得起必须的医药费，付得起房租。

    It's an either/or, and it should never have to be that way.

    这是一个非此即彼的问题，永远不应该是这种情况。

    Soaring rent prices are just one of the effects the pandemic has had on the U.S. economy, and it's a problem that President Biden is trying to address.

    房租飞涨只是疫情对美国经济造成的影响之一，这是拜登总统正在努力解决的问题。

    Last week, his administration announced new initiatives aimed at protecting renters across the country.

    上周，他所领导的政府宣布了旨在保护全国租客的新举措。

    Rachel Siegel is a reporter here at The Post and has been covering the Biden administration's new plan to help tenants.

    蕾切尔·西格尔是《华盛顿邮报》的记者，她一直在报道拜登政府帮扶租户的新计划。

    Biden, on the campaign trail and earlier phases of the Biden administration, have made a point around more equitable⁶ housing under the umbrella of a more equitable economy.

    在竞选活动中以及拜登政府的早期阶段，拜登一直强调要在更公平的经济框架下扩大公平住房。

    Housing, whether you rent or you own, is one of the main ways that you might interact with or feel the economy in your daily life.

    无论你是租客还是房主，住房都是你日常生活中可能与经济互动的主要方式之一，或者感受经济的主要方式之一。

    But the current rent escalation⁷, these soaring rent costs, have really become sort of a bug⁸ of the COVID economy.

    但当前上涨的租金，这些飙升的租金成本，真的已经成为疫情经济的一个潜在问题。

    Today, as rent checks are due across the country, I talked with Rachel about President Biden's efforts to address high rent prices and what's been happening to the housing market ever since mortgage rates spiked⁹ last year.

    今天，全国各地的房租到期，我与蕾切尔讨论了拜登总统为解决高租金所做的努力，以及自去年抵押贷款利率飙升以来住房市场所发生的情况。

    So, Rachel, last week, the Biden administration announced moves to help tenants. Can you explain exactly what they're doing?

    蕾切尔，上周，拜登政府宣布了帮助租户的措施。你能解释一下他们究竟在做什么吗?

    The White House is doing a couple of different things to respond to really high rent that has become a feature of the post-COVID or the COVID economy.

    白宫正在做几件不同的事情来应对高租金，高租金已经成为后疫情经济的一个特征。

    They announced a blueprint¹⁰ for a Renters' Bill of Rights, which is not binding¹¹, but it basically sets out some guidelines for ways renters can stay in affordable¹² and safe housing.

    他们公布了《承租者权利法案》的规划，该法案虽然不具有约束力，但为承租者如何住进实惠且安全的住房制定了一些指导方针。

    The White House is also announcing a kind of call to action.

    白宫还郑重地呼吁行动。

    They're calling it a challenge to get housing providers or landlords, as well as state and local governments, to try and strengthen policies in their own markets.

    他们称让房东或住房供应商，以及各州和地方政府努力加强市场政策是一项挑战。

    And then, they also announced a number of commitments that individual federal agencies are making to make rent more affordable or to look at ways that rent has become out of reach, unsafe, unfair for many people in this country.

    他们还宣布了多项各联邦机构做出的承诺，他们承诺要让房租更实惠，因为看到房租对这个国家的许多人来说已经变得遥不可及、不安全、不公平。

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

6 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

7 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

8 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

9 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

10 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

11 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

12 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。