A) Which of the questions below does the description in ex. 2a

answer?

1. Are you the happy owner of your house or do you rent it?

2. Did you build the house yourself or did you buy it from an

estate agent?

3. Is your house a detached, semi-detached or terraced house,

a cottage, a bungalow or a mansion?

4. Is it a modern house or a restored period house?

5. Is there a basement underneath the house? What do you

keep there?

6. How many rooms are there? What rooms are upstairs,

what rooms are downstairs? Do you have any rooms in the

attic?

7. Is your house made of wood or bricks? Are there tiles on

the roof?

8. Are there radiators in each room? Is there a fireplace?

9. Is there electricity and running water? Do you have central

heating or air conditioning in the house? What other

modern conveniences are there?

10. Are the ceilings high or low? Is your house spacious?

11. Is there enough room in the house for all the treasure items

that you have? Where do you keep them?

12. Is your house suitable for pets?

13. Are there carpets on the floor? Is there a comfortable settee

in the lounge?

14. Do you have a shower, a laundry basket, a sink and taps for

hot and cold water in the bathroom?

15. Are the rooms cluttered or tidy?

16. Do you have to share your room with anyone?

17. Do you have enough privacy?

18. Who is responsible for the upkeep of the house, the repairs

and renovations?

19. What does your house look like on the outside? Is there a

garden around the house?

20. Does your house lack anything?

21. Is your house a shelter and haven?

22. Are you planning to move house in the near future?

B) Interview your partner about their dream house, using the

Questions in ex. 3a. If you think some questions are too personal,

make them more polite – ask indirect questions.

A) Use the questions in ex. 3 as an outline for the description of

Your dream house.

B) Work in a small group. Hold a competition for the best description.

LESSON 9.FALLING ANGELS BY TRACY

CHEVALIER

1. Read a short article about Tracy Chevalier’s books. Have you

read any of them? Have you seen the fi lm mentioned in the

article?

Tracy Chevalier is the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, a

novel which was made into a film starring Scarlet Johansson

and Colin Firth.

The film tells us about a poor girl who works in the house of

Johannes Vermeer – a famous Dutch artist of the 17th century.

She becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his

most famous masterpieces – the painting which is sometimes

referred to as ‘The Mona Lisa of the North’ or ‘The Dutch Mona

Lisa’.

As in Girl with a Pearl Earring, in Falling Angels Tracy

Chevalier displays her talent for recreating a particular period

and place. Falling Angels is a powerful novel, as cleverly atmospheric

as Girl with a Pearl Earring.

In January 1901, the day after Queen Victoria’s death,

two families visit neighbouring graves in a fashionable Lon-

Communicative area:inferring meaning from context

don cemetery. They dislike each other but their daughters become

friends behind the tombstones. As the girls grow up and

the new century finds its feet, as cars replace horses and electricity

outshines gas lighting, their relationship develops.

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 1277