生活在狭小空间里 Living in a tiny space

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. My name is Jennifer and with me in the studio is Neil . Welcome, Neil!
大家好，欢迎收听本期BBC六分钟英语。我是Jennifer，这是我今天的搭档Neil。欢迎你，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。我们会在节目中讨论新闻话题，并从中学习新词汇和新短语。
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!
今天我们要讨论的话题是越来越多人生活在狭小空间里。Neil，你的房子有多大？我敢打赌，你一定住在大城堡里。
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 ?
但愿如此。可事实是我住在一套两居室的小公寓里。房间不是很大，因为我们四个人都住在里面。Jen，你的房子多大？
Well, my house is very small indeed, but I do feel grateful to have it, particularly as Britain is experiencing a housing crisis at the moment.
我的房子其实很小，但我非常满足。因为英国此前正经历着住房危机。
There’ s a shortage of houses in Britain and t his has meant that the price of houses has become very expensive.
没错，当前英国房屋紧缺，这就意味着房价会变得很高。
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’.
是的，房价如此之高，以至于大家连自己的房子都买不起。在英语中，首次购房的流行表达法是to get a foot on the property ladder，即买第一套房子的意思。
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.
而且即使买的起房子，也不是大房子。本周研究表明，英国拥有欧洲最小的房屋。
I’m glad you mentioned that, Neil , as it reminds me: I haven’t asked you the quiz question yet!
很高兴你提到这一点，这恰好提醒了我，Neil，今天还没问你问题呢~
One European country has new homes which are, on average, almost 80% bigger than the homes in Britain. Is it: a) Ireland b) The Netherlands c) Denmark
有个欧洲国家，其新式平均房屋面积可达英国房屋的1.8倍。请问这是哪个国家呢？A.爱尔兰 B.荷兰 C.丹麦
I don’t really know and I’m going to guess that it’s b) the Netherlands.
我真不知道答案，那就猜一个吧。B.荷兰。
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 are on the market , or for sale, are very small. A typical one - bedroom home in Britain is just 46m?.
好的，节目最后将揭晓答案。我们都知道英国正面临着住房危机，我们也知道许多上市新房面积很小。典型的一居室房屋，才只有46平方米。
That is tiny! You could say ‘you wouldn’t have room to swing a cat’: now don’t take that phrase literally; it simply means that a room is very small.
这也太小了吧！简直连转身的余地都没有！千万别从字面上理解此处短语哦，在这里它是房屋很小的意思。
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.
房屋建造者竭力满足住房需求，他们会建造两居室、三居室的房屋，但居室面积比欧洲其他国家的小很多。
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.
这正是有趣差异所在。在英国，房屋根据卧室数量销售；而在欧洲其他地方，人们更加关注地板面积。
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.
你说的没错。对很多英国人来说，卧室数量非常重要。皇家英国建筑师学会所做研究表明，空间不足通常是人们对住房不满意的原因，这会让他们十分沮丧。
Yes they can, especially if you have a lot of belongings and kids to squeeze into a small space! So what can you do to make a small space more habitable, or easy to live in?
没错，而且假如有很多行李、几个孩子，那情况会更糟糕。所以我们可以采取哪些措施让狭小空间更易于居住呢？
Well, the design of your house can make a difference. If you have a minimalist a pproach 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…
房屋设计可以起到很大的作用。简约风格可让房屋看上去更加宽敞。请听BBC记者Jennifer Pak的报道，她在新闻中描述了一位将狭小住所转变成多功能房屋的男士。
Architect Gary Chang lives alone. He has created a walk- in closet, with the help of sliding walls. This apartment is only 30m?, but , using tracks on the 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.
建筑师张先生独居在香港。他利用滑动搁置设计了一个步入式衣橱。本来房屋只有30平米，但利用滑轮及天花板上的滑轨，他把房子变成了集壁橱、浴室和厨房于一体的小公寓。只是翻修成本与房屋本身价格差不多。所以对当地其他家庭来说，翻修可谓一场处理乱摊的持久战。
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.
张先生利用滑动搁置对自家小公寓进行了改修。如果你有技艺那样做，当然非常不错，但很多人并不会改修房子。
As we heard in the report, other people have a real battle against clutter. If you de-clutter your house, you get rid of lots of things that you don’t need, like ornaments, books or CDs.
正如我们在报告中听到的那样，其他人面临着处理乱摊的持久战。如果要清理房屋，你得把不需要的东西处理掉。如装饰品、书籍、光盘。
It’s not so bad nowadays – you can store all of your music and books digitally, which does save a lot of space.
如今事情没那么糟糕了。大家可以将音乐及书籍进行电子存档，这样便可节省很多空间。
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:
很多住在狭小房屋里的人会购买小巧装置，从而节省空间，使生活更加舒适。下面再来听一下Jennifer Pak的报道，这次她描述了一个多功能烹饪装置。
Maple Ma likes to make food. This pot can grill, bake, fry and steam using a halogen 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很喜欢烹饪。有了钨-卤素灯的辅助，这个平底锅可用来烘烤蒸炸，替代了烤箱、微波炉及煤气炉。生产该平底锅的香港公司——German Pool表示，多功能装置销量很好。
An oven, microwave and stove, all in one! That’s really handy for small spaces.
哇！烤箱、微波炉、煤气炉于一体！这还真是方便啊！
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. Was it: a) Ireland b) The Netherlands c) Denmark
刚刚听了许多有关英国狭小房屋的报道，现在来看看节目最开始的问题吧！哪个欧洲国家的住房面积是英国住房的1.8倍。A.爱尔兰 B.荷兰 C.丹麦
And I said b) the Netherlands…
我选的是B.荷兰
And I’m afraid 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.
呃，回答错误。丹麦的平均住房面积是英国的1.8倍，而荷兰是1.53倍，爱尔兰是1.15倍。
So, all in all, living space is pretty small here in the UK.
总之，英国的居住面积是相当狭小。
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?
没错。若想要大空间，只好移居国外了。好了，节目已接近尾声。Neil，你能带我们回顾下今天听到的新词汇吗？
Yes. They were: housing crisis, to get a foot on the property ladder, on the market, room to swing a cat, to squeeze, minimalist, de- clutter.
没问题。它们是：housing crisis（住房危机）、 to get a foot on the property ladder（购买第一套房屋）、 on the market（上市，在销售）、room to swing a cat（很小的空间）、 to squeeze（拥挤）、minimalist（最简式抽象派艺术的）、 de- clutter（清理东西）。
Do join us again for another edition of 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Bye for now!
记得收听下一期BBC六分钟英语哦~~拜拜~
Goodbye!
拜~