西部落：买不起还买，危机找上来

America: Living Beyond Our Means

Many homeowners knew they could not afford their houses.

Now for the past decades, more Americans are/ never became homeowners for the first time. Many of them now find out couldn’t handle their responsibility of maintaining those homes and it turns out they may have known that going in as well.

Investment // Warren Buffet¹ offered this theory about how millions of Americans got in over their heads.

Most people have/has fired their own home and I know somebody makes it very eased for you to do it by saying you don’t really have to put up any money or you know, we will give you 100 percent mortgage, you are gonna do it.

Um, everybody looks for their American dream and they do their best to try to get back that dream and I know, for us, we thought we were gonna be ok.

Today, Carrie and Mary Jamberb are far from ok. They are facing foreclosure on their dream home in New Jersey².

Did you feel that you were getting in over your head? They can’t grab you hand and force you to sign in blind. (No, I don’t think it’s our fault.) If they really want to give you a mortgage, you’ll find someone to give you a mortgage.

So just who is to blame for this on-going economic crisis, Walt Street or Main Street?

I don’t feel it’s necessary to try to bail³, to have to bail them out. They should be taken care of us, the people that they want. (Not everyone agree.) I love my home to foreclosure. I didn’t go to the government and go “Hey, listen. I am losing my home. I think you guys should bill me up. (L took out a loan foe⁴ a home she couldn’t afford and she knew it.) There was a little voice, little // voice going “don’t do this”. They value that money to high for value. I went ahead and did it anyway.

Like many victims of the mortgage crisis, L do/does agree on one important point. (And have you told you son that there’s a chance that he may not be living in the place he’s been living in half his life.)

I made a promise to my kids and they right now have a place to live in. But, how much longer? I want to be, get our ourselves back on our feet. We won’t be in this, uh, this situation or predigment ever again.

Nearly 400,000 Americans facing foreclosure will give lifeline after countrywide financial reached an 8 billion-dollar settlement with 11 states to help those home owners to rework their mortgages. You know, there are so many more suffering.

So, interesting when she said that Jimmies // a voice in my head said “don’t do it, don’t’ do it.”

1 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

4 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。