双语阅读英语外刊精讲：全球百万富翁聚集中心

2019-04-15 16:56:47来源：酷学英语

　　逐句讲解

　　The Country Running Out of Spaces for Its Millionaires

　　摩纳哥-百万富翁人满为患的国家

　　Imagine a pint-sized country – less than a square mile in size (2 square kilometres) – with sun-drenched, quiet streets, no dog poo and no income tax to pay. A place where motor racing and yachting are the national pastimes and people hop into a helicopter to get from A to B instead of hailing a taxi. Now imagine that one in three of the people who live there are millionaires– often many times over.

　　想象一个袖珍国家——面积不足一平方英里（二平方公里）——拥有阳光普照的安静街道，路上没有狗粪，而且还不需要缴所得税。赛车和游艇是全民休闲活动，出门不是叫出租车，而是乘直升机。再想象一下生活在那里的人有三分之一是百万富翁——实际上比例可能更高。

　　This little oasis has, in fact, become such a magnet for millionaires that many more want to relocate to its sunny shores. So, the local authorities have taken the radical step of allowing the construction of artificial islands out across the sea to house them all. Sounds too bizarre to be true, but perched on the picturesque cliff tops of the French Riviera, such an odd place does exist.

　　事实上，这片小绿洲像吸铁石一样吸引着百万富翁们，还有更多的人想来这里的阳光海岸定居。因此，当地政府已经采取极端措施，批准建设海上人工岛屿来安置他们。听上去也许匪夷所思，但是在法国蔚蓝海岸风景如画的悬崖峭壁之上，这样的地方的确存在。

　　It’s the tiny principality of Monaco – millionaire hub of the world, with the highest number of millionaires per capita. If you drive along the Mediterranean coast of France, glimpses of pebbly beaches dotted with sun-bleached umbrellas poke through the cypress trees. Then out of nowhere towering, concrete buildings emerge from an otherwise sleepy seafront. When you spot shimmering skyscrapers, Bugattis whizzing past and a world-famous casino, you know you’ve arrived in the city-state of Monaco. With the highest population density of any country in the world, and reputation as a playground for the world’s super rich, demand for property here has soared.

　　这就是小小的摩纳哥公国——全世界的百万富翁中心，拥有最高的人均百万富翁数量。如果你驾车沿着法国地中海海岸行驶，可以瞥见茂盛的柏树之中掩映着被太阳伞点缀的卵石海滩。然后高耸的混凝土建筑突然从昏昏欲睡的海滨冒了出来。当你看到闪烁的摩天大楼，呼啸而过的布加迪（Bugatti）和闻名世界的赌场，你就会明白自己已经身处摩纳哥城邦。摩纳哥是全世界人口密度最高的国家，而且又是全球超级富豪的游乐场，这里房产的需求在迅速上涨。

　　But it’s not just sea views these buyers are drawn to: this pocket-sized principality is also a tax haven. “It’s got no income tax and no corporation tax for businesses doing most of their work in Monaco, so tax is the main reason we found for people wanting to move here. The other thing is simply lifestyle,” he says.

　　但是吸引这些买家的并不只是美丽的海景：这个袖珍公国还是避税天堂。"这里不征收所得税，大部分业务在摩纳哥的企业也不需要缴纳企业增值税，因此我们发现税收是人们移民到这里的主要原因。另外就是简单的生活方式。"他说（根据文章内容，这里的“他”指的是财富咨询公司WealthInsights的总裁Oliver Williams）。

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