Upper-Intermediate - Overcrowded Apartment (D2273)

A: 谁啊?大半夜的,敲什么门啊?吵死了。
shéi a? dàbànyè de, qiāo shénme mén a? chǎo sǐ le.
Who is it? It's the middle of the night. Why are they banging on the door? It's so annoying.
B: 开门,开门,警察!
kāimén, kāimén, jǐngchá!
Open the door! Open the door. Police!
A: 警察?哎哟,出什么事了?我们可都是遵纪守法的好公民,不偷不抢也不赌。
jǐngchá? āiyōu, chū shénme shì le? wǒmen kě dōu shì zūnjìshǒufǎ de hǎo gōngmín, bù tōu bù qiǎng yě bù dǔ.
The police? Jeez, what is it? We're all good law abiding citizens who don't steal, rob or gamble.
B: 有人投诉你们这里群租。你是房主吗?
yǒurén tóusù nǐmen zhèlǐ qúnzū. nǐ shì fángzhǔ ma?
Someone has complained that there are too many of you living here. Are you the owner?
A: 不是,我只是租客,我们房东不住这儿。
bùshì, wǒ zhǐshì zūkè, wǒmen fángdōng bù zhù zhèr.
No, I'm just a renter. Our landlord doesn't live here.
B: 你们这里住了多少人?
nǐmen zhèlǐ zhù le duōshao rén?
How many of you live here?
A: 这个我不太清楚,二三十个吧。
zhè ge wǒ bùtài qīngchǔ, èr sān shí gè ba.
I'm not really sure. About 20 to 30.
B: 怎么能住这么多人?
zěnme néng zhù zhème duō rén?
How can so many people live here?
A: 房东隔了一下。单单一个厅就隔成了三个房间。现在好像有十几个房间吧。
fángdōng gé le yīxià. dāndān yī gè tīng jiù gé chéng le sān gè fángjiān. xiànzài hǎoxiàng yǒu shíjǐ ge fángjiān ba.
The landlord partitioned it. Every room has been separated into three rooms. I think there are more than 10 rooms now.
B: 这样做是违法的!你们知不知道?
zhèyàng zuò shì wéifǎ de! nǐmen zhī bù zhīdào?
It's illegal to do this! Did you all know that?
A: 这个不关我们的事。再说现在外面都是这种情况,谁让租金这么贵。
zhè ge bù guān wǒmen de shì. zài shuō xiànzài wàimian dōu shì zhèzhǒng qíngkuàng, shéi ràng zūjīn zhème guì.
This isn't our problem. With the conditions nowadays being what they are, who can afford such expensive rents?
B: 你们住在这里面,怎么不关你们的事?你们这是拿自己的生命开玩笑。
nǐmen zhùzài zhè lǐmiàn, zěnme bù guān nǐmen de shì? nǐmen zhè shì ná zìjǐ de shēngmìng kāi wánxiào.
You all live here and it's not your problem? You are all playing fast and loose with your lives.
A: 没那么严重吧。
méi nàme yánzhòng ba.
Come on, it's not that serious.
B: 一点安全意识都没有。你看看这房子,到处都是安全隐患。你看这电线,拉得乱七八糟的,很容易短路,引发火灾。还有这过道,本来就窄,还堆了这么多杂物,万一发生火灾,你们怎么逃啊?
yīdiǎn ānquán yìshi dōu méiyǒu. nǐ kàn kan zhè fángzi, dàochù dōu shì ānquányǐnhuàn. nǐ kàn zhè diànxiàn, lā de luànqībāzāo de, hěn róngyì duǎnlù, yǐnfā huǒzāi. háiyǒu zhè guòdào, běnlái jiù zhǎi, hái duī le zhème duō záwù, wànyī fāshēng huǒzāi, nǐmen zěnme táo a?
You don't have a clue about safety. Look at this room, there are dangers to your safety everywhere. Look at these power lines stretched every which way. It's easy for them to short circuit and cause a fire. And look at this passageway. It was narrow to begin with and there's so much junk piled up. If there's a fire, how will you get out?
A: 这个,我们也是被逼的,谁不想住得宽敞点,舒服点呢。
zhè ge, wǒmen yě shì bèi bī de, shéi bù xiǎng zhù de kuānchǎng diǎnr, shūfu diǎnr ne.
This... we're forced to do this. Who doesn't want to live in a place that's more spacious and comfortable?
B: 这样,马上给房东打电话,叫他来处理。你们也收拾收拾,赶紧搬走。
zhèyàng, mǎshàng gěi fángdōng dǎ diànhuà, jiào tā lái chǔlǐ. nǐmen yě shōushi shōushi, gǎnjǐn bānzǒu.
Look, give the landlord a call right now and tell him to come here and take care of this. You all have to pack up and move out right away.
A: 哎,又要搬家。
āi, yòu yào bānjiā.
Jeez, gotta move again.

Key Vocabulary

遵纪守法 zūnjìshǒufǎ law-abiding
公民 gōngmín citizen
群租 qúnzū to rent as a group
房主 fángzhǔ owner of property
租客 zūkè renter
房东 fángdōng landlord
to separate, partition
单单 dāndān alone, soley
违法 wéifǎ illegal
开玩笑 kāi wánxiào to make a joke
安全意识 ānquán yìshi security consciousness
安全隐患 ānquányǐnhuàn security risk
短路 duǎnlù short circuit
引发 yǐnfā to initiate, set off
火灾 huǒzāi fire
万一 wànyī just in case, if
to force, compel
宽敞 kuānchǎng spacious

Supplementary Vocabulary

合租 hézū to rent together
遵守 zūnshǒu to abide, comply with
纪律 jìlǜ rules, law
法律 fǎlǜ law
房客 fángkè tenant
责怪 zéguài to blame, accuse
抱怨 bàoyuàn to complain
居住面积 jūzhù miànjī living area
社会现象 shèhuì xiànxiàng social phenomenon
二房东 èr fángdōng someone who sublets an apartment

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