去年，2014，我正好做了这么一件事。没有花你说的那么多时间，也没有选那么短的内容，但是真的坚持了一整年。
1、2014年1月4号的录音：
这个当时也是在练了两三个星期之后才录的。
2、一年后的2015年1月5号的录音：
平均下来，大约每周练了五天，每天约45分钟。没有每天都跟着原版音频读，但不时会拿出样板音频反复听几遍。
这个时间要是用来读/听书，一年下来也有厚厚一摞了，虽然还是比不过你，但足以自豪一下了！
我是08年9月开始闭门造车，纠正口音的，这些年一直在这儿混，有两年真的是走火入魔啊（当时被人这么说我还挺生气的）！口音这个东西，我当初觉得改得了，现在六年多都过去了，虽然我的进步非常有限，可我还是觉得这是件可为的事儿 -- 闭门造车不行，若有老师有环境，成年人虽慢一些，但还是可以改到很好的程度的 -- 当然花这么多的时间精力，是不是负担得起、是不是值得，又是另一回事儿了。
同一段文字，我10年12月也练过一段时间，还有幸存的配乐录音，这个非常难听，真希望当时有人告诉我实话。
心脏不够强壮的就不要点开这个录音了吧。VOA的朗读其实很难学的，拐来拐去的，我们学不像！
希望再过四年我回头听上面最新录音的时候，会有今天听这个四年前的录音时一样的感觉，那至少说明自己听力有明显进步。：-）
原文和播音视频在这里：
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
An evergreen tree is a Christmas tradition in many American homes. The tree is usually a pine or fir dressed with lights and other colorful decorations.
Families might buy a cut tree or go to a tree farm and cut one down themselves. Some people bring a live tree in a pot into their home for the holidays and then put it back outdoors.
Some people rent a Christmas tree. Companies might bring the same live tree to the same family year after year. Or the tree might get planted in a park or someplace else where it could help the environment.
There are some trees that can be reused year after year because they are made of plastic or metal. Or, instead of a tree, some people have a small, sweet-smelling rosemary plant, cut to look like a little Christmas tree.
Another popular evergreen this time of year is the mistletoe plant. It has small white berries and leaves that feel like leather. The traditional Christmas mistletoe is native to Europe.
Ancient Druids believed mistletoe had magical powers. The plant can be found growing on apple trees, lindens, maples and poplars. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant. It connects itself to a tree and steals nutrients and water.
Today mistletoe is best known as an excuse to steal a kiss at a Christmas party. Kissing is a tradition if two people stand under mistletoe hung in a doorway.
Another plant that many people connect with Christmas is the poinsettia. Poinsettias are native to Mexico. They can be white or pink, but most are bright red. They are named after the first American ambassador to Mexico. Joel Poinsett liked them enough to send some back to the United States.
Babies or pets that chew on poinsettias might get sick. But experts say the plant is not as poisonous as some people think.
Like millions of other houses, the home of America's first president is decorated for Christmas. George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate is in Virginia.
Visitors can hear stories about what Christmas was like at Mount Vernon in the eighteenth century. The museum where visitors begin their tour is decorated with Christmas trees.
Yet Mount Vernon would not have had Christmas trees during the late seventeen hundreds, when Washington led the country. They did not become popular in the United States until the eighteen hundreds.
Visitors learn that in Washington's time, there was greenery inside the mansion, but that was probably the extent of the decorations.And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
