【填空答案】

1. thatcher: n. ［C］someone skilled in making a roof from plant stalks or foliage 盖屋顶者
2. barn: n. ［C］a large farm building for storing crops, or for keeping animals in 谷仓，粮秣房，仓库，牲口棚；informala large, plain building 【非正式】空荡荡的大房子
3. withstand: v. to be strong enough to remain unharmed by something such as great heat or cold, great pressure etc 耐得住，承受住（酷热、严寒、高压等）
4. in a nutshell:spokenused when you are stating the main facts about something in a short, clear way 【口】一言以蔽之，简括地说，用一句话概括
5. beam: n. ［C］a long heavy piece of wood or metal used in building houses, bridges etc 梁，横梁
6. rafter: n. ［C usually plural］one of the large sloping pieces of wood that form the structure of a roof 椽
7. skeleton: n. ［C］the most important parts of something, to which more detail can be added later 骨架，框架；梗概，纲要

【听力原文】

Welcome to the Four Winds Historical Farm, where traditions of the past are preserved for visitors like you. Today, our master thatches 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, thatching involves covering the beams or rafters --- the wooden skeleton of a roof --- with reeds or straw. 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.
Thatching 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.

来源:可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/menu/201208/194996.shtml