A Japanese construction company has putforward its proposal to solve the issue of rising property prices – startbuilding cities in the ocean.
日本一家建筑公司已经提出了解决房价日益高涨问题的提案——开始修建海底城市。

The famously ambition Shimizu Corporationhas unveiled its template for a modern-day Atlantis, a self-sufficientcommunity that sits on or just under the surface of the sea.
著名的日本清水建设公司已经公开了建设现代亚特兰蒂斯（传说沉没于大西洋的岛屿）的野心蓝图，这是一座坐落于海面或水下的能源自给的城市。
The Ocean Spiral project envisages usinghuge spirals to connect each watertight residential sphere to the ocean floor,where it would create power in the form of methane-producing micro-organismfactories.
海洋螺旋项目设想通过巨型螺旋将防水球形住宅与与海底链接起来，海底的工厂通过海底微生物将二氧化碳转换成沼气燃料。

Other rare earth materials could also bemined from the seabed, and transportation to get down there would come in theform of spheres travelling along the length of the spiral.
还可以从海底采掘稀土元素，球形住宅可穿过螺旋通往海底。
People – as many as 5,000 – would live in asealed transparent ball at the top of the spiral. It would generally sit abovethe surface to take advantage of sunlight, but could be retracted under thewaves in the event of bad weather.
位于螺旋顶部的密封透明球体可容纳5000人。通常情况下，这个球体会暴露在水面之上利用太阳能，但遇到恶劣天气时就会缩回水下。
If you're thinking it all sounds a bitfarfetched, Shimizuhas said the first city could be ready for residents by 2030. It would takejust five years to build and cost 3tn yen (￡16bn) – with later unitssignificantly less.
如果你觉得这一切遥不可及，清水建设已经表示第一座城市将于2030年迎来居民。建设时间仅需5年，耗资3万亿日元（160亿英镑）——而之后完工的建筑耗资则将大大减少。
Speaking to the Guardian, Shimizu's Hideo Imamura said: "This is a realgoal, not a pipe dream. The Astro Boy cartoon character had a mobile phone longbefore they were actually invented – in the same way, the technology and knowhowwe need for this project will become available."
清水建设的HideoImamura在接受《卫报》采访时说：“这是一个现实的目标，并不是空想。铁臂阿童木在手机获发明很久之前就已经有一部手机了——同样地，我们完成这个项目所需的技术也会被开发出来的。”