国外媒体:布莱尔购百万英镑豪宅送爱女

Blair home number nine: ￡1m house for student daughter

It is every parent’s desire to give their children the best start in life, but few would ever aspire¹ to buying them a ￡1million house as a leaving home present. Unless, that is, you happen to be as wealthy as Tony and Cherie Blair.

The former prime minister and his wife have paid ￡975,000 in cash for a maisonette in west London for their 22-year-old daughter Kathryn, bringing the family property portfolio² to nine homes.

Land Registry documents show that the three-bedroom property, which has two bathrooms, a garage and its own lift, was bought on July 23 in the names of Cherie Blair and Kathryn Blair.

It means the Blairs’ only daughter, who is studying law, will never have to worry about mortgage payments as long as she lives in the apartment, which is within walking distance of her parents’ home in Connaught Square.

Since leaving office, Mr Blair is reputed to have earned upwards³ of ￡20 million from public speaking engagements and as an adviser⁴ to foreign governments.

Euan Blair, 26, who works for the investment bank Morgan Stanley, recently sold his ￡500,000 flat in London to buy a ￡1.3million house, also with his mother.

Kathryn Blair, a student at King’s College London, spent the past year in Strasbourg on an Erasmus exchange scheme, where she lived in a ￡250,000 flat bought by her parents.

She is expected to move into her new home in London within weeks following refurbishment and redecoration work.

每位父母都想给子女的人生一个最好的开端，但很少有人想过送他们一套百万英镑豪宅作为离家之礼，除非你恰好像托尼和切丽?布莱尔夫妇一样富有。

英国前首相夫妇花97.5万英镑现金为22岁的女儿凯瑟琳·布莱尔在伦敦西部购置了一套复式公寓，使布莱尔一家的房产总数达到9套。

当地土地登记部门的文件显示，这套公寓拥有3间卧室、2间浴室、一个车库和独立电梯，以切丽和凯瑟琳?布莱尔的名义于7月23日购置。

这意味着布莱尔唯一的女儿只要居住在这套公寓里，就不用为房贷担心。凯瑟琳目前正攻读法律学位，这套公寓步行即可到达她的父母位于康诺特广场的住处。

布莱尔在离任之后依靠公共演讲以及担任外国政府顾问已赚得超过两千万英镑，并因此名声大噪。

布莱尔26岁的长子、任职于投行摩根士丹利的尤安?布莱尔最近以50万英镑的价格出售了位于伦敦的一处公寓，并与母亲合买了另一处价值130万英镑的豪宅。

凯瑟琳?布莱尔目前就读于伦敦大学国王学院，过去一年作为伊拉兹马斯交流项目的交换生一直居住在法国斯特拉斯堡一处父母购置的价值25万英镑的公寓内。

据称，在翻新和装修完毕后，她将在几周内搬进伦敦的新家。

1 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

2 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

3 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。