美語情景對話 第460期:Owning vs. Renting 租房還是買房

Todd: So, Akane, I was talking with my friend and he's just recently married and he was wondering should he rent a home or own a home. That's a tough call. What do you think?

託德：茜，我之前和我朋友聊天，他剛剛結婚，他在考慮是應該租房子住還是買個房子。這真是個棘手的問題。你怎麼看？

Akane: It is a tough call but I personally prefer to rent.

茜：這的確是艱難的決定，不過我個人傾向於租房子住。

Todd: Really? So why would you rather rent?

託德：是嗎？爲什麼你更喜歡租房子住？

Akane: Well, because there's just no extra costs. You don't have to pay for extra things like maintenance and just keeping up your home. When something gets broken you don't have to pay to get it fixed. Property tax is already included, things like that.

茜：因爲這麼做不會產生額外的花費。你不用支付用來維護房屋的維修費之類的額外費用。如果有東西壞了，你也不用花錢去修理。房租中已經包含了物業稅之類的費用。

Todd: Yeah but if you own a home I mean first of all I think the biggest reason is you're not throwing money away, it's a solid investment. You can actually make a profit on the home later on.

託德：沒錯，不過如果你擁有自己的住房，我想最重要的理由是你沒有浪費錢，那是穩健的投資。實際上以後你還可以用這個房子盈利。

Akane: That's true but with this day and age you really never know when you're going to lose your job or if you're going to have to move for job reasons and for that reason I think that if you're stuck with a mortgage and you lose your job then you won't be able to pay it and what if you can't sell it?

茜：這倒是不錯，不過在當今這個時代你並不知道你什麼時候會丟掉工作，也許你因爲工作原因要搬家，鑑於此我認爲，如果你房貸纏身可是你又失業了，那你就沒法再支付貸款了，如果你不能賣掉房子，那要怎麼辦？

Todd: That's a good point actually but you could always rent the house out, right, so… One common thing that rich people all have is that they own property and they own real estate. So you could just rent it to someone else.

託德：這話很有道理，實際上你可以把房子租出去，所以……有錢人的共同點就是他們既有財產又有房產。所以你可以把房子租給別人。

Akane: Well that's a good idea but still I think that's a lot of work for somebody as busy as me and I'm not a rich person.

茜：這是個好主意，不過我仍然認爲這對於像我這樣忙碌的人來說工作量太大，而且我也不是有錢人。

Todd: That's how you get rich!

託德：這可是你成爲有錢人的方法！

Akane: Right! Well, I don't think I could be bothered with the hassle of renting to somebody and first you have to find someone to rent it and then you have to make sure that they pay the rent and then you have to make sure that things are fixed. It's too much of a headache for me.

茜：是沒錯！不過我想我不喜歡被租房的這種麻煩事打擾，首先你要找到一個合租人，然後你要確保那個人會支付房租，而且還要確保解決各種問題。這對我來說就是會讓我頭疼的事。

Todd: That's a good point. You know, actually I think the main reason why I would ever want to own a home is because you could have a dog.

託德：有道理。你知道，實際上我認爲我想擁有自己住房的主要原因是因爲可以養狗。

Akane: Oh that's a great reason; I love dogs.

茜：這理由不錯；我喜歡小狗。

Todd: When you rent a house often they won't allow you to have a pet.

託德：你租房的話他們是不允許是你養寵物的。

Akane: That's true. Well you can have a cat or fish and maybe a hamster.

茜：沒錯。不過你可以養貓、魚或者是倉鼠。

Todd: True, but if you're a dog lover its not the same thing.

託德：沒錯，不過如果你是愛狗人士，那情況就不同了。

Akane: I guess so.

茜：我想也是。

譯文屬僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載

重點講解：
1. throw away
錯過，浪費（機會、優勢或好處）；
eg. It would be a thousand pities to throw away such a chance of fun.
白白放過這個有趣的機會，那真是太可惜了。
eg. Since thou are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.
把握不了一分鐘，就會浪費一小時。
2. this day and age
如今；在當代；在今天這個時代；
eg. Even in this day and age the old attitudes persist.
即使在今天這個時代，這些陳舊的觀念依然存在。
eg. His earnest character is very refreshing in this day and age.
他那認真的性格在當今這個年代使人耳目一新。
3. be stuck with
無法擺脫的；甩不掉的；
eg. Many people are now stuck with expensive fixed-rate mortgages.
許多人目前都有高額的定息按揭纏身。
eg. I know you think I'm stupid, but we're stuck with each other, aren't we?
我知道你認爲我愚蠢，但我們倆誰都擺脫不了誰，不是嗎？
4. what if
（用於疑問句句首，尤用於詢問不希望看到的事發生時的結果）如果…怎麼辦；
eg. What if he doesn't agree?
如果他不同意該怎麼辦呢？
eg. What if he got a guilty conscience and brought it back?
要是他覺得內疚，把東西拿回來了怎麼辦？
5. rent out
出租；租給；
eg. He rented out his house while he worked abroad.
他在國外工作期間把自己的房子租了出去。
eg. He repaired the boat, and rented it out for $150.
他修好了那條船，然後把它以150美元的價格租了出去。