麦哲伦英语 第 72 课：American Homes 美国家庭

Many young Americans do not live with their families, but in apartment blocks or residential areas where everyone is more or less of the same age. 很多年轻的美国人不和自己的家人住在一起，而是住在和自己年龄相仿的人聚集的公寓区或住宅区。

Young people often move away from home when they leave school into shared apartments or smaller apartments. 年轻人离开学校后，就从家里搬到合租的公寓或小一点的公寓。

They do their own cooking and cleaning, and go to the family home perhaps for the weekend. 他们自己做饭，打扫房间，可能回家度周末。

Young married couples may move to new suburbs where most people have young families. In the country, some even build their houses themselves. 年轻的新婚夫妇可能会搬到新人聚集的新开发的郊区居住。在乡村，不少人甚至自己盖房子。

If a family's income goes up, they often move to another suburb, where the houses are bigger, with two or even three garages, a swimming pool, a games room for the children, and everything a family could want. 家庭收入增加后，他们常搬到其他郊区，那里的房子更大些，有两到三个车库，带泳池、儿童游戏室，具备一切家庭需要的设施。

Old people often do not live with their grown up children. 老人通常不与他们的成年子女住在一起。

Many live in old people's homes. Some live in special towns, built for old people, where there are no young children and the atmosphere is quiet. 许多老人住在老年之家里。有些老人住在专为老年人修建的小镇上，那里没有小孩，非常安静。

Americans are always on the move, and some families change their homes every few years. 美国人总是在搬家，一些家庭隔几年就会搬一次。

Every year, 20% of Americans move house. Mr. and Mrs. Schultz could start life in an apartment in New York, go on to a white painted wooden home in New England, 每年有百分之二十的美国人改变居所。舒尔兹夫妇可能在纽约的公寓里开始他们的婚姻生活。继而搬到新英格兰一幢白色的小木屋中，

with small windows to keep out the cold in winter, and end their life in a sunny house in California, where oranges grow in the garden, and big windows give a wonderful view of the swimming pool and the sea. 窗户很小，这是为了抵御冬日的严寒。最后在佛吉尼亚阳光灿烂的家中安享晚年，这里的花园栽有柑桔，宽敞的窗外就是泳池和大海的美景。