Ex.8. You want to rent a country cottage for your family. Phone the landlady ans ask her all possible questions. She may want to ask you as well.

Do you let a room? Do you want to rent?

Is it furnished? Do you want an apartment?

What / How much is the rent? Do you have children?

Are there any children in the neighborhood? How much space do you need / What do you need?

What are the amenities? How much rent do you want to pay?

Is there a telephone in the flat? Any bad habits?

Ex. 9. Read and say how different people feel about their houses. In what way are their characters revealed when they speak about the housing problems?

BILL

Well, I'm the sort of person who doesn't bother too much where to live. I mean the area where the house is. It can be in the town or in the country - honestly I don't care. But I do like comfort. I reckon at my age I deserve it. Cold, that's the thing I really can't stand. I must have a place with a good heating system - central heating is the best because it's so easy. Yes, I suppose there's one more thing, I must have a place of my own. I don't want to be sharing with people at my age. Perhaps I am getting old. I'm too attached to my independence now; I couldn't give it up to go sharing with other people.

MARY

I don't want to leave the place where I'm now. No, I don't really want to move at all. It's so cozy and I've got all my friends, round here. But they are going to pull them all down, all these old houses, so I suppose I'll have to move, I'd quite like to go out into the country actually, because I was born in the village and I do miss the country air. But the problem is that country places are so expensive. I can't effort it.

JOHN AND JENNY

We are thinking of moving. We have been looking for something a bit bigger. Now the children are growing up and there isn't much room where we are. We saw a very nice place yesterday. It's in the country, about 10 miles from Winton. I'd like to live in the country. There's only one thinking that puts me off through — the journey into work every day. There's a bus service into Winton from the village but it only goes once a day.

The new house was built in 1950 and is on a small housing estate with its own private gardens for the use of residents. It's a two-storied house with a large sitting-room, overlooking the gardens, a dining-room, a kitchen and a cloakroom. Upstairs there are two double bedrooms, and one single, and a bathroom and a separate toilet. The house in centrally heated throughout with gas-fired central heating, including a small radiator in the hall. The kitchen is fully fitted with ample cupboards and storage space. I'm afraid there in no garage, but parking space is provided for the use of residents at a small annual rental.

Ex.10. You've moved to a new flat in a suburb. You like it. Advise your friend to move to this district. (Speak in favor of the place.)

Ex. 11. Speak on the problem of different living conditions based on the following texts.

1)

I live in a three-floored house, with a small garden at the back. The garden at the front is very small and, in fact, forms part of the gardens which belong to the whole of the estate. We have our own garage, and driveway at the front of the house, and, as you enter through the front door, you go into a hall where you can get into the garage to the left, and then as you go into the hall, further down you'll find the kitchen and the dining-room - the main living area in the house. The dining-room opens up on to the rear garden, so that the children can get in and out during the day-time quite freely. Then, the second floor has a sitting-room and a bedroom with a bathroom; and then, upstairs on the third floor, there are two small bedrooms, another bathroom, and a larger bedroom with its own bathroom. So, it's a three floor house with four bedrooms.

2)

I rent a flat and live together with my colleague. Sharing a flat certainly has some advantages. To begin with, it should be cheaper, and if you are sharing with people that you get on well with, it is nice to have some company at home rather than being alone and all on your own. Also, the household chores are shared, and that is very important. Particularly when you are younger, and you are living apart from your parents for the first time, it can be very enjoyable to live with people of your own age, whose interests and life-style you share.

However, sharing a flat does have some distinct disadvantages, and the main one is that the flat is not your own. So you cannot do what you want in it. What happens if your flat-mate wants to play music? To a certain extent you have to be unselfish. What is more, there can be little privacy.

I would say that as you get older, it is probably better to live on your own. Having had my own flat for a few years, I would not like to have to share again.

3)

Erm, it was in the slums of Birmingham. It was one of a terraced house, and it had smashed windows, tiles were off the roof, and when you went inside, the wallpaper was coming off the walls and three was, erm, dry rot, and it was all camp, and no carpets. There was no proper sanitation. There was a lot of mess about the place. Erm, there were rats upstairs and no clean bed-sheets or towels or anything like that. It was all very messy and untidy. And the children that lived in the house were also very dirty and didn't have very nice clothes or anything like this. And it just seemed so unfair, you know, it was such a shame that some people should have such a hard life. And it must have been awful to live in that sort of conditions because there was nothing to look forward to, or obviously no treats or anything like that.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1111