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.

　　A bungalow is a small house with one or two bedrooms and usually one bathroom.

　　A mansion is a real big house with many bedrooms and several bathrooms.

　　A ranch house usually has three or four bedrooms. The “master bedroom” for the mother and father usually has its own bathroom.

　　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.

　　A studio apartment may have a separate kitchen, but the living room is also the bedroom.

　　A condominium, or “condo” for short, is an apartment that is owned by the occupant, not the building owners.

　　Most Americans are happy to talk about their homes. And if they've done anything special in their homes, 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 has shopping centers called malls and residents usually need a car to get around. Most of the houses in the suburbs are one or two stories tall, with private yards, gardens and garages. There are few tall buildings in the suburbs. Cities have neighborhoods, “warehouse” stores, and public transportation (buses, trains and taxis) is usually pretty good. Private houses might only have a backyard, and if there is a garage it is probably small. Cities have a lot of apartment buildings and some tall buildings may seem to “scrape the sky”, so they are called “skyscrapers”.

　　美国住房

　　美国住房通常有私人厨房，一间起居室，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筒，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。

　　平房是小房子，有一间或两间卧室，通常有间浴室。

　　宅第是非常大的房子，有许多间卧室和浴室。

　　牧场式平房通常有三间或四间卧室，父母住的主卧室通常有单独的浴室。

　　城镇住房是两层的套房，厨房、起居室、餐厅通常在一层，卧室在二层。

　　一室公寓房也许有一间分开的厨房，但起居室也兼当卧室。

　　个人购置的公寓套间为居住者所有，而不是大楼的主人。

　　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，也许会告诉你安装极可意浴缸、露天平台或露台等花了多少钱。大部分美国人住在城市，但住在郊区的也不少。郊区有购物中心，称为“步行商业区”，而居民通常需要有一部车去购物。郊区大部分住房都有一两层高，有私人庭院、花园和车房。郊区很少能见到高层建筑物。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，车房也不会太大。城市有许多公寓楼，一些高层建筑就像是“触摸到了天空”，因此它们被称作“摩天大楼”。

　　(文/曾爱民； 英语辅导报高一版 04~05学年度第22期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)