据外电报道，美国抵押贷款协会（MBA）公布的数据显示，因抵押贷款利率自6月以来首度下滑，8月13日当周，经季节调整后的抵押贷款申请活动指数上升，终止了连续三周的跌势。请看外电的报道：

Rates on 30-year mortgages declined this week after posting increases for six consecutive weeks.

In its weekly survey, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.80 percent, down from last week's 5.89 percent, which had been the highest level in four months.

文中的Mortgage的意思是an agreement which allows you to borrow money from a bank or similar organization, esp. in order to buy a house or apartment, or the amount of money itself.也就是"抵押贷款"的意思。来看两个例句：If you fail to repay the mortgage, the bank will repossess your house.（如果你无法偿还抵押贷款，银行将收回你的房子。） 又如：They took out a ￡40,000 mortgage (= They borrowed ￡40,000) to buy the house.（他们抵押贷款了4万英镑买房子。）