American Houses 美国的住房
American houses usually have private kitchens，a living room and sometimes separate areas for eating and watching television. A house usually has its own mailbox，a yard with plants or perhaps a lawn，and a place to store garbage out of sight.美国住房通常有私人厨房，一个起居室，有时吃饭和看电视的地方是分开的。一所房子通常有自己的邮箱，一个种有植物，或者也许是草坪的院子，还有存放垃圾的地方。
A bungalow is a small house with one or two bedrooms and usually one bathroom.平房是小房子，有一个或两个卧室，通常有一个浴室。
A mansion is a real big house with many bedrooms and several bathrooms.宅第是非常大的房子，有许多卧室和几个浴室。
A ranch house usually has three or four bedrooms. The“master bedroom”for the mother and father usually has its own bathroom.牧场式平房住宅通常有三个或四个卧室，父母住的主卧室通常有自己的浴室。
An apartment is usually one living space within a building. Several apartment can be in the same building，with a shared yard，parking spaces，and garbage.公寓套房通常是大楼里的一个居住空间。几个套房可以都在同一座楼里，共有一个庭院、停车场地和放垃圾的地方。
A town house is a two-floor apartment. The kitchen，living room and dining room are usually on the first floor and the bedrooms are on the second floor.城镇住房是两层的套房，厨房、起居室、餐室通常在一层，卧室在二层。
A studio apartment may have a separate kitchen，but the living room is also the bedroom！
一室公寓房也许有一个分开的厨房，但起居室也兼做卧室。
A condominium，or“condo”for short，is an apartment that is owned by the occupant，not the building owners.个人购置的公寓套间为居住者所有，而不是大楼的主人。
Most American are happy to talk about their homes. And if they've done anything special in their home，they'll let you know what it was，and maybe tell you what it cost to put in the Jacuzzi，deck or patio，etc.Most Americans live in cities，but nearly as many live in suburbs. Suburban American has shopping centers called malls and residents usually need a care to get around. Most of the houses in the suburbs are one or two stories tall，with private yards and gardens and garage. There are few tall buildings in the suburbs. Cities have neighborhoods，“warehouse”stores，and public transportation（bused，trains and taxis）is usually pretty good. Private houses might only have a back yard，and if there is a garage it probably is small. Cities have a lot of apartment buildings and some tall buildings may seem to“scrape the sky”，so they are called“skyscraper”。
大部分美国人高兴谈论他们的住宅。如果他们在家里做了什么特殊的事，他们会告诉你是什么事，也许会告诉你安装亚可磁、露天平台或露台等花了多少钱。大部分美国人住在城市，但住在郊区的人也不为少。美国郊区有购物中心，称做mall（步行商业区），而居民通常需要有一部车去购物。郊区大部分住房都是一两层高，有私人庭院、花园和车房。郊区很少见到高建筑物。城市有居民小区、仓储商店，公共交通（公共汽车、火车和出租车）通常也很不错。私人住宅也许只有一个后院，要是有车房，车房也不会大。城市有许多公寓楼，一些高层建筑就象是“触摸天空”，因此称作摩天大楼。