LOOKING ROUND A HOUSE

&— READING&SPEAKING

Task 1. Cover up the plan of the house at the bottom of this page, then read the description below. When you have done that, cover up the description and try to write the name of each feature into the plan.

I live in a bungalow on the outskirts of the city. There's a small, tree-lined pathleading to the porch.As you go through the front door,you enter the hall.The first door on the right leads to the kitchen-dinerand beyond that there's a small utility roomwhere I keep the washing machine and fridge-freezer. The first door on the left leads to my study,where you'll find my desk and computer. Next to this room, there are some stairsleading down to the cellar,which I use for storage. After the stairs, also on the left, there's another door which goes through to the living room.Directly opposite this room is my bedroomand next to this there's a bathroom.The next room along is a small bedsit,with a bed and basic cooking facilities, which is being used by a student. At the end of the hall there's another door which opens out onto a small terraceand the garden,which has a few flowerbeds and a tiny lawn. There's a shedat the end of the garden where I keep my bicycle and gardening tools.

Task 2. Read this description. How old do you think it is? How much do you think it is worth? £20,000? / £200,000? / £2,000,000?

The house is situated at the bottom of theChessvalley next to the River Chess. It's about 20 miles from London and just outside the village of Chorleywood. It's a really splendid period property. The oldest parts are Elizabethan, but there were some additions in the 1820s.

It seems typically English to me. There are long corridors and huge oak-panelled rooms, and you can imagine all sorts of scenes from history taking place here.

As you come in through the front door, you find yourself in a large hall with an open fireplace, which is unusual. One of the doors on the right of the hall leads into the living room. This room faces south, so it's very sunny, and it has a lovely view of the whole valley. The furniture has been chosen to match the style of the house, so there's a lot of leather and dark, heavy wood. Next to this room there's the dining room which has French windowsleading onto a small patio.

Also on the ground floor there is a study, kitchen and utility room. A wide staircase takes you to the first floor, where there are five bedrooms. The largest is about 25' x 20', a really vast room which looks out onto the garden.

The house is in 2.5 acres of land, and there is a green house, a shed, a swimming-pool and a tennis court.

It's a beautiful place to be at any time of year. In winter it's warm and cosy and in summer there's so much to do outside.

Task 3. Underline any words or expressions from Task 1 and 2 that you think are special to the description of a house: corridors / leads into.

Task 4.Draw your own plan but don’t label the rooms. Write the description like above. Read it to your partner and have him or her label your plan.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1742