「The Economist」 July, 2020
这篇文章来自《经济学人》2020年7月份。近年来，写字楼、商场和酒店等商业地产备受机构投资者的青睐，但今年的疫情打破了其长期稳定收益的神话。后新冠时代，房东和投资人需要转变哪些观念与策略，以迎接商业地产的大变局？
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Property
这里是指房产。
load up
装满。在这里可以理解为满负荷购买这样的意思。
pension pot
退休金储备，养老金。可以直接用pension，这里可能是为了表示储备的意思。
The original idea was that these investments would provide a steady stream of earnings for decades into the future, rather as government bonds did before interest rates fell so low. But now the virus has thrown that assumption into a cement mixer.
最初的构想是，这些投资能在未来几十年里带来源源不断的稳定收入，有点像利率还没降到如此低水平时的政府债券那样。而如今，新冠病毒让这种设想化成了泡影。
rather
有点。在这里可以理解为与什么差不多。与后面的短语as…did描述的内容做比较。
cement mixer
混凝土搅拌机。在这里形容变成了泡影。
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tenant
n. 租客
landlord
n. 房东
lead to
tend to or result in. 导致。
例：This remark lead to further arguments among the guests.
pandemic
n. (流行全国/全世界的）传染病。an illness that swept over much of the globe.
In the longer term, a renewed appreciation of the threat from pandemics, and of the potential of new technologies, could lead to a sharp shift in how commercial buildings are used.
从长远来看，对大流行病的威胁以及新科技的潜力的重新认识可能会导致商业地产的用途发生骤变。
appreciation
n. 升值；欣赏；评价。
～ of sth: a full or sympathetic understanding of sth, such as a situation or a problem, and of what it involves.
下一个段落同样有一个appreciation，就是升值的意思了。
A safe, slow-moving asset class has become an unpredictable one that demands scrutiny and active management.
房地产这一稳健而变动缓慢的资产类别如今已变得难以预测，需要对它多加审视、积极管理。
scrutiny
n. 仔细检查；认真彻底的审查
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yield
n. 利润；收益；收益率
pile into
v. 蜂拥而入；挤入；
A corner of the economy that had been the preserve of moguls, amateurs and aristocrats has become increasingly infiltrated by straitlaced institutions and algorithm-crunching fund managers.
这段话我读起来基本就不知所云，不理解的主要原因是好多名词不知道什么意思。不过可以拆一下先：A corner of the economy… has become increasingly infiltrated by … 拆开后就可以开始查查单词学习了。
原文的意思是说：经济中的这一部分曾经是大亨、业余投资者和显贵们的专属领地，如今越来越多刻板守旧的传统机构和使用算法交易的基金管理人也开始涉足其中。
preserve
n. （某人或群体活动、工作等的）专门领域。a domain that seems to be specially reserved for someone.
moguls, amateurs and aristocrats
大亨、业余投资者和显贵们
infiltrate
v. 潜入；渗入；to enter or make sb. enter a place or an organization secretly, especially in order to get information that can be used against it
straitlaced
adj. 过於拘谨的；刻板守旧的
algorithm-crunching
crunch有几个意思，这里可以理解为“捣弄”。英文解释这里更能形像地说明这个情形——为了得到一个结论进而捣弄着一大堆数据进行非常复杂计算的样子。
Leases routinely stretch a decade or more into the future. The combination of reliable rental income and capital appreciation has meant that commercial property has successfully given investors annual returns of over 7%.
租约通常一签就是10年或更久。可靠的租金收入再加上资本增值，让投资者成功从商业地产上获得了超过7%的年回报率。
lease
n. 租约
routinely
adv. 按常规地；照例；
reliable
adj. 可靠的
appreciation
All they needed was patience. That will no longer be enough.
过去投资者需要的只是耐心。而将来，仅有耐心不够了。
在前文扬扬洒洒乐观的态度之后，作者开始转折，下文就开始进入自己的观点了。
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behind
拖欠；积压（工作）上面例句用的介词是with，原文用的是on。应该都是可以。
Every recession involves sporadic delinquencies, but the lockdowns have led to anarchy in some bits of the property business.
尽管这种情况在每个经济衰退期都时有发生，但此次疫情期间实施的禁足令已经让房地产行业的某些部分陷入混乱。
sporadic
adj. 偶尔发生的；间或出现的；阵发性的；断断续续的
delinquency
n. 过失；罪过；（青少年的）不法行为。拖欠；如期支付贷款。
nonpayment of a debt when due
lockdown
禁足令了了
anarchy
n. 无政府状态；混乱；无法无天
This can be a spontaneous rebellion or landlords may have offered holidays. Some cities and governments have introduced moratoriums.
这可能是租户自己拖延，也可能是房东主动提出延缴。一些城市和政府出台了延缴措施。
spontaneous
adj. 自发的；非筹划安排的；
rebellion
n. 叛乱；反抗；造反
moratorium
n. (行动,活动等的)暂停；【法】延缓偿付期
Commercial-mortgage-backed securities, which bundle up property loans, have been delinquency rates exceed the levels in the financial crisis of 2007-09.
打包房地产贷款的商业抵押担保证券的违约率已经超过了2007至2009年金融危机时的水平。
Commercial-mortgage-backed
商业不动产贷款
security
n. 安全；证券；担保；保证
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In the longer run the uses of property may change. E-commerce activity has risen to the level pundits had thought it would reach three to five years from now, speeding up the decline of bricks-and-mortar shops and boosting demand for warehouses.
从长远来看，房地产的用途可能会发生改变。电子商务活动已经发展到了专家原以为三五年后才会达到的水平，这加快了传统实体店的衰落，也加大了对仓库的需求。
bricks-and-mortar
adj. 砖头和水泥。形容传统的实体。
a bricks-and-mortar business is a traditional business that does not operate on the Internet
Firms that have found remote-working tolerable may shrink the office space they hire. Video calls in lieu of business trips could reduce the number of hotel nights billed.
那些发现远程办公可行的公司或许会缩减自己租用的办公空间。用视频电话代替出差，会减少付钱住酒店的次数。
tolerable
adj. 尚好的；过得去的；还可以的；可接受的
shrink
v. 收缩；减少；退缩；畏缩
in lieu of
代替；(instead of )
The latest mobility-tracking data suggest that activity in offices in America is 36% below normal levels. It is 15% below the usual level for retail and recreation spaces such as restaurants, shops and cinemas.
最新的移动追踪数据显示，美国写字楼的人员活跃度比正常水平低36%。餐馆、商店和电影院等零售和娱乐场所的活跃度比正常水平低15%。
recreation
n. 娱乐；消遣；娱乐活动；游戏
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If the property industry used to be amateurish, it is now all too often professionally opaque, with layers of holding companies and debt standing between the bricks and girders and their ultimate beneficiaries.
如果说房地产行业过去不够专业的话，如今它在制造不透明方面倒是常常很专业——在这些钢筋水泥建筑及其最终受益人之间隔着一层又一层的控股公司和债务。
amateurish
adj. 外行的；生手的；业余的
opaque
n. adj. 模糊；不透明的；
这里用作形容词。修饰前面的it，也就是property industry。
The managers of buildings and investment vehicles may have an incentive to mask difficulties. Some, for example, are bailing out struggling retail tenants, perhaps in order to avoid admitting to rent defaults.
房产和投资工具的管理人可能有意粉饰太平。比如，一些管理人对陷入困境的零售商户出手相助，或许是不愿意承认有欠租其事。
investment vehicle
投资工具
incentive
n. 激励；刺激；鼓励
bail out
帮助解决经济上的困境。下面第1个英文解释就很贴切。
Others are sticking to unrealistic valuations, which the industry’s arcane accounting practices make easier to sustain.
其他一些管理人坚持不切实际的估价，而该行业晦涩难懂的会计操作让这样的估价更容易维持下去。
arcane
adj. 神秘的；晦涩难懂的(secret and known or understood by only a few people)
后面的从句相当于说the industry’s arcane accounting practices make [the unrealistic valuations] easier to sustain.
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The bigger task is for investors to embrace the restructuring that must take place.
对投资者而言，更重大的任务是积极接纳必然要发生的改造。
That holds open the potential for greater efficiency, but also for fee-skimming and unnecessary losses if unaltered buildings are sold off cheaply.
这个过程有可能提高效率，但如果未经改造的房产被贱卖，也可能被人从中渔利，遭受不必要的损失。
potential
n. 潜力；可能性
efficiency
n. 效率；效能；
unaltered
adj. 未改变的；未被改变的
sell sth. off
(打折扣)销完；卖清(存货)
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Landlords and their financial backers have thus got used to a business that moves at a glacial pace.
房东和他们的金融资助者也因此习惯了这种龟速发展的业态。
glacial
adj. 冰河时代的；冰河期的；
glacial pace: 龟速
For two decades a reliably easy way to make money has been to buy a commercial building and go to sleep. Time to wake up.
二十年来，一种可靠又轻松的赚钱方式就是买下一处商业地产，此后便可高枕无忧。该醒醒了。
—
对于商业地产目前所面临的问题，作者认为第一：拖欠租金和商业抵押担保的违约率降低。第二：传统实体店门庭冷落。消费者已越来越习惯于线上消费。
所以在解决方式上，作者认为后新冠疫情时代，储户和基金受托人对面临的损失要有现实的认识，并积极接纳改造。