楊舟 供稿

When Americans do laundry， they usually use both a washing machine and a dryer2. Even if they dont have their own washing machine and dryer in their own house， they usually use them in their apartment building. There might be some shared washers3 and dryers， or in a laundromat4.

In many homes， the laundry area is in the basement5 of the home， but in newer homes the laundry room is often on the first floor. The laundry room or the laundry area in a basement often has a laundry tub6. People do all kinds of washing in there， not only for laundry but also for any kind of heavy-duty household7 washing.

In some small apartments， they have their own washers and dryers， but they are too small to have a separate laundry room， so instead the washers and dryers are inside the closets8 in order to save space.

Many apartment buildings have a separate area with several washers and dryers that the tenants9 share to do their laundry.

For people who dont have a washer and dryer or who may need to use a larger washer and dryer， they also have laundromats available where they can go and just pay to use the washers and dryers that are at the laundromat.? There are different sizes of machines. Some of them are quite large so that they can wash large items like blankets， or sleeping bags， or comforters10.

People also hand wash some clothes and hang them up to dry instead of using the dryer. When people in the cities and suburbs11 hang their clothes to dry， they usually hang them indoors. It would be unusual to see clothes hanging outside in many cities.

美國人洗衣服時，通常會同時使用洗衣機和烘干機。即使他們自己家里沒有洗衣機和烘干機，他們通常也會在公寓樓里用一些共用的洗衣機和烘干機，或者去自助洗衣店。

許多家庭的洗衣區(qū)是在地下室，但較新的房子的洗衣房往往是在一樓。洗衣房或地下室的洗衣區(qū)通常有一個洗衣盆。人們在里面洗各種各樣的衣服，不僅僅是洗衣服，任何種類的繁重的家庭洗滌都可以用到這些洗衣盆。

一些小公寓里有洗衣機和烘干機，但是它們太小了，沒有單獨的洗衣房，所以洗衣機和烘干機就放在衣櫥里，以節(jié)省空間。

許多公寓樓都有一個單獨的區(qū)域，里面有幾個洗衣機和烘干機，房客們共用這些洗衣機和烘干機來洗衣服。

對于沒有洗衣機和烘干機或可能需要使用更大的洗衣機和烘干機的人，他們還有自助洗衣店。他們可以去那里，只需付費就能使用自助洗衣店的洗衣機和烘干機。自助洗衣店里有不同尺寸的機器。其中一些相當大，所以你可以洗一些大的東西，比如毯子、睡袋，或者被子。

人們也會手洗一些衣服，然后把它們掛起來晾干，而不是用烘干機烘干。城市和郊區(qū)的人們通常把衣物掛在室內晾干。在許多城市，很難看到衣服被掛在外面晾曬。