考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：伦敦大使馆

　　London embassies

　　伦敦大使馆

　　Envoy envy

　　招人嫉妒的大使馆

　　Embassies in London are worth a lot of money

　　伦敦的大使馆价值不菲

　　IN 2009 America sold its embassy in fashionable Grosvenor Square for a reported ￡500m ($800m) to Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. By 2017 its new embassy should be ready in gritty Vauxhall. The details of embassies' ownership or leaseholds are not known, but a new survey has created a sort of “fantasy embassy valuation”, estimating how other nations could be cashing in.

　　2009 年，美国以媒体报道的5 亿英镑(8 亿美元)向卡塔尔主权财富基金出售了其位于时尚的格罗夫纳广场的大使馆。美国在地表多沙的沃克斯豪尔(位于英国伦敦南部)的新使馆也将于2017 年建成。使馆所有权和使用权的细节都不为人所知，但是一项新调查却创造了一种“大使馆估算体系”，以此来评估其他国家如何赚得个盆满钵盈。

　　The report, by Spear's, a magazine, and Lichfields, a buying agent, suggests that the embassies of Japan, Germany and Saudi Arabia could be worth more than ￡100m each (assuming they were sold as residential freeholds). More surprisingly, the Nepalese embassy and Zambian high commission, both in Kensington, are worth ￡30m and ￡40m respectively. Many members of the British Commonwealth gained locations in central London decades ago: Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania have swanky central digs that would fetch a fortune.

　　Spear 杂志和买方代理商Lichfields 的一项报告声称，日本、德国和沙特阿拉伯大使馆的价值可能超过1 亿英镑/一座(如果他们把大使馆作为住宅不动产来出售的话)。更令人惊讶的是，位于肯辛顿的尼泊尔大使馆和赞比亚高级专员公署，分别价值3 亿英镑和4 亿英镑。早在数十年前，就有许多英联邦成员在伦敦中心占有一席之地：乌干达、津巴布韦和坦桑尼亚在伦敦中心地带都有房产，都可以大赚一笔。

　　Some are already liquidating their assets. Canada sold the long lease on Macdonald House, its consular section in Grosvenor Square, for ￡306m last year. The Dutch embassy on Hyde Park Gate is for sale and could fetch ￡150m. The Chinese may sell their embassy in Portland Place and search for a new site, perhaps also in Vauxhall.

　　有些国家甚至已经开始清算他们的资产。加拿大去年以3.06 亿英镑的价格出售了麦克唐纳大厦的长期租赁权，麦克唐纳大厦是加拿大在格罗夫纳广场的领事处。荷兰位于海德公园大门的大使馆也在出售，可能会卖到1.5 亿英镑。中国也打算卖掉其在波特兰的大使馆，正为新使馆寻找一个合适的地址，或许也是在沃克斯豪尔。

　　The cheapest embassy appears to be North Korea's semi-detached house in Gunnersbury. But least proportionate to national wealth could be the consulate of Tuvalu, based in a ￡750,000 property inWimbledon. If sold, it could pay off 11% of the tiny state's national debt.

　　最便宜的大使馆似乎是朝鲜在根拿斯贝利的半独立式房屋。但与国民财富最不相当的要数图瓦卢的领事馆了，位于温布尔登，价值75 万英镑。如果出售，所卖得的钱就可以偿还这个小国家国家债务的11%。

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