Dialogue 1

Jingjing: How have you been, Mark. Have you settled into your new apartment yet?
京晶：最近怎么樣，馬克。你已經在新公寓安頓下來了嗎？
Mark: Yeah. It's worth paying a little extra rent for something modern.
馬克：是的。給這種更現代化的地方多花一點房租是值得的
Jingjing: Have you thought about buying a house?
京晶：你有沒有想過買套房呢？
Mark: I've thought about it. But, with the prices so high, I'd rather just keep my money in the bank and invest in stocks.
馬克：我考慮過這個問題。但是，現在房價這么高，我寧愿把錢放在銀行里投資股票。
Jingjing: You should have bought a house a few years ago, when they were more within reach.
京晶：幾年前你就應該買套房了，那會兒更能買得起。
Mark: Yeah, don't I know it. I was too busy enjoying life then, not thinking about the future.
馬克：是啊，難道我還不知道嗎。我那會兒太忙著享受生活了，也沒多考慮未來。
Jingjing: Do you think the prices will keep going up?
京晶：你覺得房價還會繼續漲嗎？
Mark: I'm no expert, but I think the growth in sales prices will taper off, as we've been seeing.
馬克：我也不是專家。但是我覺得房價的增長會逐漸放慢，就像我們一直以來看見的這樣。
Jingjing: Do you think there's a housing bubble?
京晶：你覺得有房地產泡沫嗎？
Mark: There might be, with vacation properties and satellite cities.
馬克：可能會有吧。比如一些度假地的房產和衛星城市。
Jingjing: Yeah, here in major cities like Beijing, people are counting on their houses.
京晶：是啊，在這些主要的大城市比如北京，人們指著他們的房子呢。
Mark: I hear the prices are going up in the smaller cities now.
馬克：我聽說在一些小城市，房價也正在上漲。
Jingjing: They're still a lot cheaper; but the prices are climbing more quickly.
京晶：那些還是便宜很多，但是價格爬升的速度要快很多。
Mark: Let's hope they don't climb through the roof!
馬克：讓我們希望不要高的離譜吧！

New words: 習語短語：

settled into 安頓好
(gotten used to, gotten comfortable in, gotten well-situated in)
within reach 可觸及的，價格可負擔的，買得起的
(affordable for most people)
Don't I know it. 我難道還不知道嗎
(I know already, and don't need to be told, because my situation makes it clear to me.)
taper off 逐漸減少，降低
(gradually reduce the rate of growth)
housing bubble 房地產泡沫
(housing prices within a certain market being so high that they are unsustainable and might suddenly lose their value) (This borrows from the metaphor of inflation.)
satellite cities 衛星城市，意指大城市邊緣的小型城市
through the roof 上漲得離譜
(increase beyond reason, i.e. Prices in this market have gone through the roof.)

Dialogue 2

Jingjing and Mark talk later in the same day.
京晶和馬克晚些時候又聊了起來
Jingjing: Mark, since you're renting your house, I wonder what you think is going to happen with rental prices.
京晶：馬克，既然你是租的房，我在想，你會覺得租房價格會有什么變化嗎？
Mark: I don't think about it very much.
馬克：我沒怎么想太多。
Jingjing: How do Beijing rentals compare with those in the US?
京晶：北京的房租跟美國比怎么樣？
Mark: It's easier to find an inexpensive apartment in Beijing. I remember being up against the wall in the US before coming to China; but maybe that was because I was just starting work after graduation.
馬克：在北京找到一處不貴的公寓并不難。還記得來中國之前，我在美國真是有些處境艱難，也許是因為那時我剛畢業后開始工作。
Jingjing: You mean it's cheaper to rent an apartment in Beijing than in your city in the US?
京晶：你是說在北京租個公寓比你在美國的城市租金還要便宜？
Mark: I wouldn't say that. It's just that there are so many old buildings and subway lines and small apartments everywhere.
馬克：我也不是那個意思。就是說，到好處都有有許多老房子，地鐵，還有小型公寓。
Jingjing: That helps to keep the prices down, I guess.
京晶：我猜，這些也幫著抑制著房價。
Mark: The cost of owning a house for 70 years, and renting it, is not all that much different here.
馬克：在這里，擁有一個房子70年的花費，跟租著住價格也沒有太大區別。
Jingjing: Yeah, but people would rather pay for their own house than give money to landlords. Also, according to Chinese tradition, people should have their own house before starting a family.
京晶：但是人們寧愿給自己的房花錢而不愿把錢都交給房東。而且，按照中國的傳統，人們應該先有房然后組建家庭。
Mark: That's understandable. All the value for owning a house keeps rental prices down a bit.
馬克：能理解。買房的重要性也讓租房市場的價格低了那么一些。
Jingjing: But it seems rental prices are now going up at a faster rate than purchase prices.
京晶：但是看上去現在是租房價格上漲的速度比買房的漲幅還快。
Mark: That doesn't surprise me. The sky's the limit when it comes to rental prices.
馬克：我不覺得意外。租房就是個無底洞。
Jingjing: We'll see what the market will bear.
京晶：我們等著看市場的承受能力吧。
Mark: Mmm, I'm dreaming of a harmonious bull and bear.
馬克：嗯，我期待著一個和諧的牛市和熊市呢。（我期待價格能回歸正常）

New words: 習語短語：

(be) up against the wall 碰壁，捉襟見肘，選擇不多，窘迫
(being in a situation that offers too few alternatives or no choice at all, forcing you to take a certain action or give up, i.e. I have to live near my company, because I have no car and can't spend much time on daily commutes. So, I'm up against the wall and have to pay for an expensive yet small apartment downtown.)
a bit 一點，不多
(This adverbial describes a minor factor that generally has a small effect but potentially could have a great effect. The word, bit, comes from the piece of metal put into each side of a horses mouth, for a rider to pull to the left or right.)
The sky's the limit. 天空才是盡頭，意指一切皆有可能
(aphorism, meaning that anything is possible)
We'll see what the market will bear. 我們拭目以待看市場能有多大的承受力
(aphorism, meaning ...what the market will tolerate and ...what the market will bear down on, as in a bear market)