高考英语 3500 词・语境速记【148】|这座城市永远在建楼 ——24 个高频词

🎧 建议跟读2遍，语速0.8倍

Walk through any major city today, and you will see cranes above your head and trucks on every street. Cities are in a constant state of construction. New apartment buildings rise where old houses once stood. A developer buys a piece of land, constructs a tower, and sells each flat at a price that seems to rise every year. For many young people, the dream of owning a home feels further away every day.

The problem is not only expensivehousing. It is also thecostof living.Rentin adowntowndistrictcan take half of a person's salary. Acheapapartment in thesuburbmay mean two hours on the train every morning.residents choose between a long commute and a high price. Neither choice feels good. Theneighborhoodwhere you grew up may no longer be the neighborhood you canafford.

Cities need housing, but they also need infrastructure. Roads, water pipes, electricity lines, schools, and hospitals must be build at the same speed as the new buildings. If construction runs ahead of infrastructure, the result is traffic jams, water shortages, and overcrowded schools. A city is not a collection of buildings. It is a system that must serve the people who live in it.

Some cities are trying new ideas. They turn empty office buildings into rental apartments. They build small but affordable flats near public transport. They protect old neighborhoods so that residents are not pushed out. The property market will always have its ups and downs. But a city that forgets its people is a city that has lost its reason for existing. A home is not just an estate on a balance sheet. It is the place where a life happens.

今天走过任何一座大城市，你会看到头顶的塔吊和每条街上的卡车。城市处于持续的建设状态。新公寓楼在老房子曾经矗立的地方拔地而起。开发商买下一块地，建起一座塔楼，以每年都在上涨的价格出售每一套公寓。对许多年轻人来说，拥有一个家的梦想感觉一天比一天远。问题不只是房价贵，还有生活成本。市中心区域的租金可能占一个人工资的一半。郊区便宜的公寓可能意味着每天早上两小时的火车。居民在漫长通勤和高房价之间选择，哪个都不好受。你长大的那个社区可能不再是你负担得起的社区。城市需要住房，但也需要基础设施。道路、水管、电线、学校、医院必须和新楼以同样的速度建设。如果建设跑在基础设施前面，结果就是堵车、缺水、学校拥挤。城市不是建筑的集合，是一个必须服务于住在其中的人的系统。有些城市在尝试新办法。把空置的办公楼改成出租公寓。在公共交通附近建小而负担得起的公寓。保护老社区，让居民不被挤走。房地产市场总有起伏。但一座忘记了人民的城市，就是一座失去了存在理由的城市。家不只是资产负债表上的一笔房产，它是生活发生的地方。