PTE精听-四风农场

　　Welcome to the Four Winds Historical Farm, where traditions of the past are preserved for visitors like you.

　　欢迎来到Four Winds历史农场，在这里过去的传统为你们这样的游客保留了下来。

　　Today, our master thatchers will begin giving this barn behind me a sturdy thatched roof, able to withstand heavy winds and last up to a hundred years.

　　今天，我们的茅屋匠大师将开始给予我身后的谷仓一个结实的茅草屋顶，能够抵挡大风并且维持上百年。

　　How do they do it? Well, in a nutshell, thatching involves covering the beams or rafters, the wooden skeleton of a roof with reeds or straw.

　　他们是怎么做到的呢?好，简而言之，用茅草覆盖屋顶包括用芦苇和稻草覆盖大梁和椽木，屋顶的木制骨架。

　　Our thatchers here have harvested their own natural materials for the job, the bundles of water reeds you see lying over there beside the barn.

　　我们这儿的茅屋匠们已经为这项工作收割了他们自己的天然材料，你们看见横放在那边谷仓旁的一束束的水芦了吧

　　Thatching is certainly uncommon in the Untied States today.

　　用茅草盖屋顶在今天的美国确实不太常见了

　　I guess that's why so many of you have come to see this demonstration.

　　我猜这也是为什么你们那么多人过来看这个演示。

　　But it wasn't always that way.

　　当并不总是这样。

　　In the seventeenth century, the colonists here thatched their roofs with reeds and straw, just as they had done in England.

　　在十七世纪，殖民者用芦苇和稻草覆盖他们的屋顶，就像他们在英国做的那样。

　　After a while, though, they began to replace the thatch with wooden shingles because wood was so plentiful.

　　然而，过了一阵子，他们开始使用木板瓦来代替茅草屋顶因为木材是如此充足。

　　And eventually, other roofing materials like stone, slate, and clay tiles came into use.

　　并且最终，其他屋顶材料如石头，石板，还有陶土瓦开始被使用了。

　　It's a real shame that most people today don't realize how strong and long lasting a thatched roof is.

　　真是很遗憾，今天大多数的人没有认识到一个茅草屋顶是多么结实和持久耐用。

　　In Ireland, where thatching is still practiced, the roofs can survive winds of up to one hundred ten miles per hour.

　　在爱尔兰，那里茅草屋顶依然被使用着，这种屋顶更够幸存于高达每小时一百一十英里的风速。

　　That's because straw and reeds are so flexible.

　　那是因为稻草和芦苇是这么的柔韧

　　They bend but don't break in the wind like other materials can.

　　他们在风中弯曲却不会像其他材料那样能断裂

　　Another advantage is that the roofs keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

　　另一个优势是这种屋顶保持了房子在夏天凉爽，并且在冬天温暖(冬暖夏凉)

　　And then, of course, there's the roofs' longevity—the average is sixty years, but they can last up to a hundred.

　　而且，当然了，还有屋顶的长寿命--平均是六十年，但他们能维持到一百年。

　　With all these reasons to start thatching roofs again, wouldn't it be wonderful to see this disappearing craft return to popularity?

　　带着所有这些理由去重新开始用茅草盖屋顶，难道看见这种正在消失中的工艺回归流行不是很美妙吗?