导读:近日，北京学区房的价格一路高涨，再一次引起了人们的关注。很多人在欢迎，购买天价学区房值得吗？
A friend of mine bought an apartment of some 40 square meters for 8.2 million yuan ($1.2 million) in a school district in Haidian District earlier this year. She was extremely happy that her three-year-old girl would enter an elite primary school in a few years. And she was even happier as she bought the house just before a new round of hike in real estate market prices.
今年年初，我的一个朋友花了820万元（120万美元）在海淀区的一个学区买了一套40平方米左右的房。她特别开心，因为她三岁大的女儿将要在几年内就读一所精英小学了。更开心的是，她在房地产市场价格新一轮上涨前买了这套房。
Well, it sounds like a comforting piece of news for the young mother, and her elation may last for many years. But when seeing my friend and her husband, both employees at established financial institutions, work so hard just for a house in certain school districts, I wonder what is so special about the education institution.
好了，这对于一位年轻母亲而言是一个安慰的消息，她的兴高采烈之情可能会持续很多年。但是当看到我的朋友和她的丈夫在一家已经成立的金融机构作为职员拼命工作只为在某一学区买一套房时，我在想这所教育机构的特别之处是什么。
Recently, soaring real estate prices in Beijing’s coveted school districts have effortlessly made the headlines once again.
近日，北京令人垂涎的学区房价格飙升毫不费力地再一次抢占头条。
The Xicheng district, home to a slew of top elementary and middle schools, has witnessed house prices surging above 200,000 yuan per square meter. A cramped apartment along the north of the second ring road had its price rise from 3.05 million to 5 million yuan within barely half a year. And an average of 100,000 yuan per square meter in the Zhongguancun technology zone and adjacent areas in the Haidian district, where many affiliated schools of top universities are located, is just commonplace.
有着很多顶尖中小学的西城区见证了房价冲上20万元每平方米。二环路北部的一个狭小房子仅仅半年时间从305万元涨到了500万元。中关村科技区及其海淀区毗邻区平均100000元每平方米十分常见，这里是一些顶尖大学附属学校的所在地。
The ever-increasing prices of school district real estate have driven many parents mad and some even fled Beijing, a mega city they once pinned high hopes on. Earlier this month a couple of graduates from China’s prestigious universities, Tsinghua and Peking, complained they could not afford an apartment within a decent school district for their children. The story has gone viral online with many asking why buy such a house now that China’s highly-educated elite can hardly afford one?
空前上涨的学区房地产价格已经把很多家长逼疯，有些人甚至逃离了北京这个曾被寄予厚望的大城市。这个月早些时候，一对毕业于中国著名学府清华和北大的毕业生抱怨他们无法在一个得体的学区为自己的孩子承担一套房。这一报道在网上流传开来，很多人问道，既然中国接受过高等教育的精英几乎不能买下一套房，为何还要买学区房呢？
When an academic degree cannot guarantee decent living amid skyrocketing real estate prices, what’s the point of making every effort to get a ticket for the next generation to top universities?
当学位不能保证在飙升的房地产价格中拥有得体的居住时，竭尽全力为下一代获得进入高等学府入场券的意义又何在？
Apart from a competitive mentality, the result of a rigid education system in China, these young parents are eager to make sure their children stay in a certain social bracket after edging themselves into the middle class or higher social circles.
除了心理竞争，僵硬的中国教育体系导致的结果是，这些年轻的家长渴望确保他们的孩子在进入中等阶级或者是高等社会圈后能够稳定在某一社会阶层。
It is hoped that one day these dysphoric parents will take it in stride when their kids choose a different life trajectory.
希望这些焦虑的家长在他们的孩子选择一种不同的生活方式时能够泰然自若。
