保障性住房

句子：我们必须加快保障性住房建设，以解决低收入家庭的住房困难。

误译：We must speed up the construction of protective housing so as to tackle the difficulty in housing for low-income families.

正译：We must speed up the construction of indemnificatory housing so as to tackle the difficulty in housing for low-income families.

解释：housing 的第一个意思是houses, flats, etc. for people to live in，即“人的住房”。housing 的第二个意思是a hard cover that protects part of a machine，即“机器部件的外壳”。虽然to protect有“保障”的意思，但是protective housing的意思不是“保障性住房”，而是“防护箱”。比如，protective housing for a battery in a car的意思是“汽车蓄电池保护器”。保障性住房，可译为indemnificatory housing。indemnificatory 的意思是protective against damage or loss, esp. in the form of a promise to pay for any that happens，即“补偿性的”。例如：1. 保障性住房包括廉租住房、经济适用住房和政策性租赁住房。Indemnificatory housing consists of low-rent housing, affordable housing and policy-regulated rental housing.

“保障”的第一个意思是“保护生命、财产和权利等，使不受侵犯和破坏”，作动词用。可以译为 to ensure, to protect。例如：2. 这项法律旨在保障全体公民的合法权益。This law is designed to protect the legitimate rights of all citizens.

“保障”的第二个意思是“确保，使充分实现”，作动词用。可译为 to guarantee。例如：3. 我们要尽一切努力保障农产品供给，以稳定其价格。We must make every effort to guarantee the supply of agricultural products, so as to steady their prices.

“保障”的第三个意思是“起保障作用的事物”，作名词用。可译为guarantee, assurance, safeguard。例如：4. 我们需要更强有力的法律保障来保护消费者。We need stronger legal safeguards to protect the consumers.▲

（本栏目供稿：王逢鑫教授）