秋姐的通用段子：
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* H# s* y" ?2 L) r) A; n' @( ?If I had a lot of money, I would start a school. If I had a school, I would be able to educate many children and teach them right from wrong. Anyone will tell you that children are a country's future. So if my dream comes true, I would be very happy because I will be doing my country a good service.   ' r# F. t8 u+ j, ]% L
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' p$ X, _6 k0 {; B5 A7 o: `If I had a lot of money, I would buy a house. If I had a house, I would be able to move into the new house out of the apartment where I'm living Anyone will tell you that housing is a major problem in a person's life. So if my dream comes true, I would be very happy because I will be leading a comfortable and stable life.* \$ g# @4 b# b2 T+ R

8 g( m) R6 q2 I3 j[ 本帖最后由 zephyrqq 于 2008-8-2 16:49 编辑 ]

Welcome to the Four Winds Historical Farm, where traditions of the past are preserved for visitors like you. Today, our master thatches (1) will begin giving this barn behind me a sturdy thatched roof able to withstand heavy winds and last up to a hundred years. How do they do it? Well, in a nutshell（2）, thatching involves covering the beams(3) or rafters(4） --- the wooden skeleton of a roof --- with reeds（6） or straw(5). Our thatches here have harvested their own natural materials for the job --- the bundles of water reeds you see lying over there beside the barn.  $ L$ r# L* L! H

/ l. V4 _& [4 t2 ^/ X# hThatching is certainly uncommon in the Untied States today. I guess that's why so many of you have come to see this demonstration. But it wasn't always that way. In the seventeenth century, the colonists here thatched their roofs with reeds and straw, just as they had done in England. After a while, though, they began to replace the thatch with wooden shingles because wood was so plentiful. And eventually(7), other roofing materials like stone, slate(8), and clay(9） tiles（10） came into use.
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1 ^4 R# Y  e7 G; p; T) qIt's a real shame that most people today don't realize how strong and long lasting a thatched roof is. In Ireland, where thatching is still practiced, the roofs can survive winds of up to one hundred [自己加了个and] ten
/ w. s$ J6 e6 L1 [/ W5 Y8 a0 jmiles per hour. That's because straw and reeds are so flexible. They bend but don't break in the wind like other materials can. Another advantage is that the roofs keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And then, of course, there's the roofs' longevity
4 n+ t# v# z9 Y% U--- the average is sixty years, but they can last up to a hundred. With all these reasons to start thatching roofs again, wouldn't it be wonderful to see this disappearing craft return to popularity?
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( e" M2 f% b/ G5 I开始听前面，完全不知道所云。把前面的对照原文看了之后大概知道是讲什么后面错误少一些了
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(1)thatch: n.茅草屋顶 v. 用茅草盖屋顶 thatched adj.
+ a/ Z0 U; ^; @; Q1 X(2)nutshell n.坚果壳，简单的一句话 in a nutshell 简而言之
1 ~1 h4 C. Y" o8 H' p7 i(3)beam n.梁，光线# i: b1 o, h2 r& W3 l! r
(4)rafter n.椽 any one of a set of sloping beams that form the framework of a roof' ^. D! D, P% F* i* J2 A9 D8 _
(5)straw n.稻草，麦秸；麦秆，稻草秆；吸管 sraw vote 测验民意的非正式投票 the last straw 最后一击
, v/ Z2 n$ |4 w3 ^) [(6)reed n.芦苇， 芦秆；簧
( q8 N1 D8 o% s  G& Z(7)eventually dav.最后，终于
, v* W' ~0 D; t( T(8),slate n.板石，石板岩；石板瓦（用来盖屋顶的）；旧账，旧仇；候选人名单 v.以石板盖屋顶；提名；预定举行
0 G% u6 U" ]; {' ~, Y(9),slate n.黏土+ z- ?" g8 [% k* z# ?" T% ?# j! ^
(10) tile n.瓦，瓷砖，花砖: L7 X" `5 M3 P1 B
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[ 本帖最后由 zephyrqq 于 2008-8-2 16:57 编辑 ]