经济学人 | 来，去抬高国外的房价吧

本篇预计学习

分钟

50

“

虎妈，已经跟着她们留学的孩子一并席卷到国外了，顺带炒热了人家的房子~

”

A Roaring Trade

 一个新的趋势：大学城

Chinese tiger mums start a college-town housing boom.

中国虎妈们引起了大学城房产热。

【1】EVERYONE knows that Chinese students are flooding American campuses. Less widely known is that their mothers are coming, too. Last year 394,669 pupils from China were studying at American universities, secondary and primary schools, the largest contingent of all international students. Increasingly their parents are moving in with them, buying local properties or investing at least $500,000 in businesses to try to qualify for a green card.

campus：校园

pupil：学生；小学生

secondary：第二的，中等的；助手，副手

contingent：依情况而定；(警察、军队或军用车辆的)分遣队，小分队

green card：绿卡（允许外国公民在美国生活和居住的证件）

众所周知，中国学生持续涌入美国校园，然而不被人熟知的是学生们的家长母亲们也随同而来。去年，共有394669名中国学生在美国大学、中学和小学就读，在国际学生中的比例最大。同时，他们的父母也随之而来，在当地购买房产或者投资至少50万美金以期获得绿卡。

［2］The tiger mums usually come to America alone, leaving their husbands behind. "When I wasn't here, my son would survive on instant noodles and energy drinks for several days without eating fruit or vegetables," says Wenxue Hu, mother of a masters student studying applied mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. She gave up her job as a corporate finance director in Shenzhen to cook for him in Philadelphia. Through a local church she met other Chinese tiger mums, most of whom entered with a tourist visa that allows them to stay up to six months each time. New Haven, Connecticut now boasts a "Yale Chinese grandparents' village", with 15 residents. The old folk live under the same roof as their children, mostly PhD and post-doctoral students at Yale who are too busy to take care of their own offspring.

instant noodles：方便面，即食面

mathematics：数学；运算，计算

corporate finance：公司财务

Philadelphia：

visa：签证

Connecticut：康涅狄格州（美国）

folk：人们，大家；亲人；民俗的

Popular music evolved from folk songs.

流行音乐从民歌演变而来。

post-doctoral：博士后

offspring：后代，子孙；产物

中国虎妈们通常都是自己来美国，把丈夫留在中国。“当我不在这里的时候，我儿子就只吃方便面和能量型饮料过活，几天都不吃水果或蔬菜。”胡女士说到，她是一位在宾州大学数学专业就读的中国研究生的母亲。她放弃了在中国深圳一家企业的财务总监的工作，来到费城为他儿子做饭。在一个当地的教堂她结识了其他的一些中国妈妈们，她们中的大多数都是持旅游签证入境，可以在美国停留六个月。康州纽黑文市，现有“耶鲁中国祖父母之乡”的美誉，其中有15户人家。老人家和他们的子女及子孙一起生活，这些已经是父母的子女大多数是耶鲁的博士或博士后学生，因为他们太忙了无法照顾自己的孩子，因此便有孩子的祖父母来照料。

［3］Although some parents rent, many others decide to buy. These Chinese dads and mums now make up a majority of Chinese buyers in America’s housing market. Last year China became the largest source of foreign property investment in America, pouring in $28.6 billion. Roughly 70% of inquiries from the Chinese indicated that education was the chief motive, says Matthew Moore, president of the American division of www.juwai.com, a Chinese international-property website. In Chicago estate agents anticipate more Chinese parents buying expensive condominiums. In Irvine, California, about 70-80% of buyers of new-builds are Chinese parents whose children attend, or plan to attend, nearby colleges, says Peggy Fong Chen, the CEO of ReMax Omega Irvine. Other college towns such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Dallas, see a similar trend.

make up：组成，化妆，补足，编造；和解，和好；铺(床)，搭(铺)；配(菜)，配(药)

Women officers make up 13 per cent of the police force 

女警占警力的13%。

property：财产，财物；不动产，房地产；性质，特性

Roughly：粗略，大致；粗暴的，粗鲁的；危险的，犯罪率高的

division：分开，部门

anticipate：预见，预期，预料

condominium：（由另两国或多国）共管的国家

attend：上（学）；参加，出席

尽管有些父母是租房的，但大多数还是以买房为主。这些中国父母是美国房产市场中很重要的一部分中国买家。去年中国已经成为了海外购房者的最大来源地，购置房产价值286亿美金。据中国一海外房产网站，居外网的美国区总裁Matthew Moore所说，70%左右的询盘主要来源于教育需求。芝加哥的房产中介预测将会有更多的中国家长购入昂贵的公寓楼。在加州尔湾，房地产公司ReMax Omega Irvine的首席执行官方嘉璇说，大约70%-80%新建楼盘的购买者是那些孩子正在或准备在附近大学读书的中国家长。洛杉矶、西雅图、波士顿和达拉斯等大学城也呈现同样的趋势。

［4］Parents of younger children often venture into smaller towns with good primary and secondary schools. In New Jersey, towns like Millburn, Westfield and Princeton have seen prices rising 20-30% higher than in other places, partly . “If you want to make money in real estate,” says Steven Lawson, the CEO of Windham Realty Group, “buy where the Chinese are buying, because they perpetuate the price increase.”

venture：冒险；风险

estate：财产，遗产，房地产

perpetuate： 使（尤指不好的情况、制度、信仰等）继续，延长；使持久化

子女年纪尚小的父母们则会去一些比较小的，但也有很好小学和初中的城市投资。在新泽西州，比如米尔本，韦斯特菲尔德以及普林斯顿这些小城市的房价就要比其他地方贵20-30%，有可能就是因为中国买家对此的关注。Steven Lawson, 威翰地产CEO说到，“如果你想在房地产上赚钱，那么跟着中国买家走，他们总是能带来价格上涨”。

［5］For the rising middle class in China, parking their wealth overseas also makes good business sense. The near-bubble in housing prices at home and the depreciation of the yuan have made them nervous, so diversification becomes pressing. As property prices shoot up in some college towns, more Chinese buyers are drawn in, says Susan Wachter, a real-estate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ownership, rather than renting, becomes more attractive, because their children can rent extra bedrooms to classmates to cover utility and tax bills, while also being able to benefit from future price rises.

park：把…放置在某处；停车；公园；足球场

Let's park that until our next meeting.

让我们把这留到下次开会时再处理吧。

near-bubble：近泡沫化的

depreciation：（资产等）折旧；货币贬值；跌价

词根：preci =value，表示“价值,估价”，例如appreciable 可估价的，可察觉的。

depreciation cost/expense 折旧费

depreciation fund 折旧基金

depreciation life 折旧年限

They wrote off 500 for depreciation of machinery. 

他们注销了500镑作为机器折旧费.

diversification：变化，多样化；增加…的品种

pressing：紧迫的，紧急的；难以推却的，不容忽视的

It is one of the most pressing problems facing this country.

这是该国面临的最紧迫的问题之一。

shoot up：狙击；迅速成长；向上射击；迅速发送

Sales shot up by 9% last month.

销售量上个月猛增了 9％。

draw in：（白昼）渐短，（天黑）渐早；使参与；使卷入；深呼吸；吸入（空气）；（火车或汽车）到站

The bullet train drew into Tokyo Station.

这辆子弹列车驶进东京站。

utility bill：物业帐单（这里面包括水、电、煤气等公共设施的使用费）

对于中国崛起中的中产阶级来说，进行海外资产配置也是一个良好的商业意识。住房市场接近泡沫以及人民币贬值让他们十分担忧，所以分散资产变得十分紧急。一些大学城的房价持续上升，这吸引了更多的中国买家，宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院房地产教授Susan Wachter这样说道。自有产权比起租房来更吸引人，因为他们的孩子可以将多余的房间出租给他们的同学，赚来的租金可以支付物业费和税费，同时还能享受将来的房产增值。

［6］Some tiger mums also try to help their children get married by making the down-payment or even meeting the full cost. In Chinese culture, owning a property gives a sense of security and helps to attract a spouse. For these children, having a tiger mum is good fortune indeed.

down-payment：分期付款的首笔付款

sense of security：安全感

spouse：配偶，夫或妻

一些中国虎妈为了孩子将来婚姻顺利，帮他们付了房子的首付甚至全款。因为在中国文化中，持有房产给人带来安全感，可以吸引配偶。对这些孩子来说，有这样的虎妈实在是一笔不小的财富。

想为孩子安排好一切，让他从此一切都顺利，这可能是每个家长的心愿。但是从长远角度，这未必有利于子女的发展。温室里难以长出参天大树，不放飞的雏鹰永远无法翱翔九天，对于任何人来说，磨炼和挫折都是人生必须经历的，在父母的指导下也许能获得暂时的安逸，但这其实是以牺牲孩子锻炼自己的机会为代价的，看似事事妥帖其实得不偿失。

适当放开手，给儿女更广阔的空间吧，自己掌控的人生也许会有磕绊，但一定能走的最远。

广告时间

魔力学院标准英语课程上线啦，适用于初高中同学系统化学习，欢迎前往官网体验，也欢迎大家告知有需要的家人朋友哦。联系助教Cici即可获取体验码。

英文原文：

http://www.economist.com

讲解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel

编排 / 校对：Angel

本次文章翻译来源于网络，有更改

版权归魔力学院所有，鼓励转发，转载也可