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考研英语阅读篇章: 奥巴马欲在加州沙漠里购置别墅?
Fanned by the Los Angeles Times' very plugged-in Hot Property columnist and real estate reporter Lauren Beale, rumors have flared that President Obama and his family have bought a home in the California desert.
消息灵通的洛杉矶时报房产热专栏作家劳拉·比尔再曝消息，称美国总统奥巴马及家人在加利福尼亚州的沙漠里购置一栋别墅。
Beale's sources say Obama is in escrow on a 3-acre property in Rancho Mirage's Thunderbird Heights, an exclusive gated community once home to Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. It has a 20-foot waterfall with a lagoon, a putting green with a sandtrap, and more recreational opportunities.
The home had been listed for as much as $12.5 million over the past few years, but most recently landed at $4.25 million, and real estate agent Marc Lange suggested back in May that the seller would be willing to take $4 million. Lange and his colleague Carl Blea hold the listing at HOM Sotheby's International Realty.
Local real estate watchers speculated last month that the Obamas might be interested in the house. The local Desert Sun newspaper reported that the Obamas might be house-hunting in the area, and even offered some advice, with the Thunderbird Heights pad its top pick. Meanwhile, Variety's Mark David, aka the Real Estalker, said that if they were house-hunting in the desert, then "surely they had a look-see at the most expensive listing currently on the open market in Thunderbird Heights, a contemporary(当代的) compound on a gated, 3.29 acre valley view lot with a $4.25 million price tag."
The main house has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a "master retreat with gym, tanning and spa rooms" in 6,100 square feet, according to the listing. There's also a 2,000-square-foot "casita" -- perfect for the Secret Service, perhaps? -- with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. The grounds' 3 acres also include a pool and two spas. Elevators ease travel at the compound.
Because the property is on a hilltop abutting(靠近) a bighorn sheep preserve, it's exceptionally private and secure, the listing says.