2022年高级口译阅读：蜗居时代的温情

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　　Four generations under one roof

　　The ground floor is home to a family of four – Richard Evans, 43, his

　　partner, Emma Jones, 38, and their two daughters. It’s a stylish open-plan

　　living space with a bathroom squeezed under the stairs. Richard’s mother, Annie

　　Elliott Evans, 68, lives upstairs, with a glorious, sugar-pink kitchen that

　　soars high into the eaves and a large, elegant bedroom – "My escape." Her

　　mother, Elsie Tipper, 92, has a bedroom and bathroom of her own on the first

　　floor, crammed with great-grandmotherly knick-knacks, and with a stairlift to

　　transport her up.

　　In many countries, this kind of close familial living is common place. But

　　in the UK, where the number of single households continues to rise – and older

　　people are increasingly shipped off to care homes – it’s unusual. How did it

　　come about?

　　"It was Richard’s idea," says Annie, who had lived in the large family home

　　nearby for 30 years, bringing up her four children. "He feels he should look

　　after me. I was used to being in a large, lively household and didn’t really

　　want that to change. And he wanted a nice family home in this area but couldn’t

　　afford it. So we teamed up."

　　Richard, Emma and Annie bought the house, in north London, 10 years ago.

　　"It was a bargain," Annie says. "It had lots of small, poky rooms." Richard

　　knocked through the kitchen on the ground floor, extending it sideways and into

　　the garden. The resulting space has an Aga, flagstone flooring, wallpapers from

　　Cole & Son, vintage furniture upholstered in Missoni Home fabrics, a giant

　　fish tank, quirky vintage ephemera and arty photographs. Richard and Emma have a

　　moody, glamorous bedroom; Isabella, nine, and Boadecia (Bo), eight, share a

　　girly room with bunk beds. "It’s immaculate downstairs," Annie says. "All the

　　girls’ drawings and paintings end up in my kitchen."

　　Isabella arrived soon after they moved in. And six years ago Annie moved

　　Elsie from her sheltered accommodation in Norfolk when she fell ill. "We thought

　　that was it," Annie says. "Now she’s so well looked after, she’ll probably get a

　　telegram from the Queen."

　　Annie spends a lot of time with her granddaughters, picking them up from

　　school most days. The arrange ment works well for Emma, who travels a lot for

　　her work as a fashion buyer. "As I’ve grown older and had children, I’ve

　　realised how important the security and support of family is," she says. "It

　　might seem a strange setup to some, but it’s a very happy home. My daughters are

　　growing up knowing how to share, and learning values that other children their

　　age haven’t learned."

　　"The setup saves all of us money," Richard says. "And it’s a good way to

　　live: Mum is a very hands-on grand mother, so we don’t have to worry about a

　　nanny. But you need your own kitchen and bathroom. And it helps if you’re quite

　　laid-back – I let a lot of things go by." As sole man of the house, he is "taken

　　for granted", he says. "If there are any prob lems, it’s me who sorts them

　　out."

　　They all come and go between floors, but respect one another’s privacy. "We

　　have separate domains," Emma says. "I might grab some milk from Annie’s fridge

　　if we run out, but I’d never go through her stuff or take visitors up

　　there."

　　What happens when she and Richard have a party? "We take Great-grandma’s

　　hearing aid out."

　　For Isabella and Bo, the best thing about their home – apart from Elsie’s

　　stairlift, which their friends love to play on – is being surrounded by family.

　　"Grandma is always at home for us," says Bo, "and makes my favourite biscuits.

　　Great-grandma taught me to knit and sew."

　　"There is always someone to talk to and to help with homework," Isabella

　　says. "When I was little, I didn’t think I’d live with so many differently aged

　　people – not many of my friends do. But I would like my own room one day. Oh,

　　and when you get told off, you can get told off by everyone, which is

　　annoying."

　　Will the family always live like this? "We will probably need more space in

　　the next few years," Emma says. "But when the crunch comes, we may not want to

　　do it. Maybe we’ll all just move to a bigger house."

　　词句笔记：

　　open-plan:房屋或办公室开敞式平面布置的

　　eaves：屋檐

　　upholstered：经过布置的

　　vintage：古老的，过时的，复古的

　　stairlift：座椅电梯，动画片《飞屋环游记》中开头那个小老头坐着上下楼梯的椅子就是这个

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