Exterior of your house and area

INTRODUCTION

Task 1.What makes a real home – a lavish house or a happy family? Do you like your home? What makes it special for you?

Read the following quotes. Which one applies to you most? Speculate upon your choice. Share your ideas with the class.

“Home” is any four walls that enclose the right person. Helen Rowland   A comfortable house is a great source of happiness. It ranks immediately after health and good conscience. Sydney Smith

Task 2.Discuss the following questions as a class.

LISTENING

Task 3.You are going to listen to a song called “Home is where the heart is”. What is the way you understand the meaning of this expression? Do you agree to it? You will hear the song several times. Put down the script of the song. Share your results with your classmates. Enjoy singing in chorus.

Task 4.What is important in a home? Complete the table below. Think of more items to add your list. Talk about your table with your partner(s).

Task 5.Brainstorm the ideas related to the topic of “Housing and accommodation”. What aspects of this life sphere appear to be important? Which ones would you like to get acquainted with?

TYPES OF

ACCOMMODATION NEIGHBOURHOOD

HOUSING

ROOMS AND OWNING OR

APPLIANCES RENTING

TYPES OF HOUSES

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

A PLACE TO LIVE

Task 1. Here are listed some types of houses people live in. Match the words to their definitions.

Task 2.Fill in the gaps in the sentences below. Then match your answers to the pictures.

1. I live on the 20th floor of a __________ of __________. In the mornings I use the stairs down but in the evenings I take the lift.

2. My home is a very pretty little __________ in a small village far away from the nearest town.

3. My family have lived in this __________ for hundreds of years and we have always raised sheep and horses here too.

4. This type of house is known as a __________-__________ because it shares one wall with another property.

5. A __________ house has houses on both sides and is very common in the older parts of the city.

6. It's so convenient for my grandmother to have everything on the same floor so I think she's really happy in her __________.

7. It's a bit difficult to remember where our house is because they all look the same on this __________ __________.

8. My brother lives on a __________ on the River Thames.

Task 3.Answer these questions about yourself and, if possible, find out how someone else would answer them.

1. Is your house detached? What sort is it if not?

2. Are time shares common in any part of your country?

3. Is it common to rent bedsits in your country? If so, what sorts of people do so?

4. Do you have any idea of what your dream house would look like?

5. Would your parents like to move into a country cottage when they retire?

6. What do you think living on a houseboat would be like?

7. Do many people live in terraced houses in your country?

BRITAIN EXPLORED

& — READING&SPEAKING

Task 1.Match the pictures with the list of house types.

Task 2.Use the information from the following text to answer these questions.

1. How much do some people borrow to buy a house?

2. What does the text say about the differences in house prices in Britain?

3. How often do people move house? What other people are involved if you want to move house?

4. How is the size of a house still measured in Britain?

There are many different types of housing in Britain, ranging fromthe traditional thatched country cottageto flats in the centre of towns. Houses are often described by the period in which they were built (for example, Georgian, Victorian, 1930s, or post-war) and whether they are terraced, semi-detached or detached. As well as preferring houses to flats, for many people a garden is also an important consideration. Although Britain is relatively small the areas where people live vary considerably: there are new towns and inner cities, suburbs,commuter belts and the open countryside.

Paying for the home you live in is the biggest single item in the budget of most families and getting on the housing ladder can be difficult. First-time house buyerson an average salary may have to borrow 90 or even 100 per cent of the value of the property they want to buy. It is possible for people to borrow up to three times their annual income or sometimes even more. As prices vary, the cost of a six-bedroom farmhouse in a remote part of Scotland is about the same as a small flat in an expensive area of west London. People moving from the north to the south of Britain have to pay a lot more for the same type of house.

The average family moves once every seven years and the process of moving involvesan estate agent (responsible for advertising houses for sale), a building society, bank or insurance company for the finance, and a solicitor to handle the legal aspects of the buying and selling. The size of a house or flat in Britain still tends to be measured by the number of bedrooms rather than the area in square metres.In keeping with a nation of home owners, gardening and DIY are popular spare time activities.

Task 3.Read the text one more time and find the equivalents to the following:

1. n. an area around a large city, from which many people travel to work every day

2. n. a small house, usually in a village or the countryside

3. n. a series of levels which someone moves up and down within an organization, profession, or society

4. n. the thing or things that someone owns

5. n. a type of lawyer in Britain who gives legal advice, prepares the necessary documents when property is bought or sold, and defends people, especially in the lower courts of law

6. n. an area where people live which is away from the centre of a town or city

7. n. someone whose business is to buy and sell houses or land for people

8. n. the money that you earn from your work or that you receive from investments, the government etc.

9. n. a person who has something which belongs to them, especially because they have bought it, been given it etc and it is legally theirs

10. adj. based on or calculated over a period of one year

11. adj. having qualities that are typical of most people or things

12. adv. much or a lot

13. adj. not joined to another building

14. n. the activity of making or repairing things yourself instead of buying them or paying someone else to do it

15. adj. far from towns or other places where people live

16. adj. joined to another house on one side

17. adj. time when you are not working

18. adj. a part of a row of houses that are joined together

19. adj. a roof that is made with dried straw, reeds, leaves etc.

20. v. to use something that belongs to someone else and that you must give back to them later

21. v. to deal with a situation or problem by behaving in a particular way and making particular decisions

22. v. to be a part of something or a result of it

23. v. to find the size, length, or amount of something, using standard units such as inches, metres etc.

24. v. to go to live or work in a different place

25. v. to be different from something in some way

Task 4. Imagine you’re a journalist working for the local newspaper. You have a team task to write a short article about types of housing in Russia. Work in groups of 3 or 4.

ACCOMMODATION

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Task 1. Explain the difference between these words. Use your dictionaries to do this task.

1. shack / hut / hovel / shed

2. houseboat / boathouse / narrow boat / cabin cruiser

3. cabin / cottage / bungalow / villa

4. mansion / palace / castle / estate

5. hotel / motel / inn / guesthouse / pension

6. flat / apartment / bedsit / condominium / penthouse

7. mobile home / caravan / trailer / camper

8. detached house / semi-detached house / terraced house / maisonette / town house

9. surroundings / environment / atmosphere / neighbourhood

Task 2. Match the words below with their description. Pay attention to the adjectives in bold. Do they have a positive connotation or a negative connotation? There is an example at the beginning (0).

0. Old ones were made of canvas and were very basic. Ours is made of nylon and can sleep three people. It's surprisingly cosy,and very easy to set up. However, it can get a bit dampif it rains. _____tent______

1. It's very impressive, isn't it? All those towers, turrets and ramparts. I would imagine that the rooms are very spacious,but I don't think anybody lives there anymore. There are probably no facilities, like electricity or running water. And it's probably very draughty. __________

2. It looks quite small, with probably just two or three rooms on each floor. They're probably a bit cramped,too. I'm not sure I'd like to live so close to my neighbours – you could hear everything that was going on on either side. __________

3. This is my idea of a typical modern family home. A living room, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor, three or four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, a garage and a small garden. It's not very pretentious,which is why I like it. __________

4. Who lives in a house like this? Probably somebody very rich. It's huge, isn't it? With those large windows, it's probably very brightand airyinside. And there's a long, tree-lined drive so that you can park your Rolls Royce collection. __________

5. I think it looks a bit depressing.I don't like high-rise accommodation. I imagine that the rooms are a bit seedyand squalid.It's not at all homely. I feel sorry for the people living there. __________

6. It's very pretty, with the garden and the flowers. It's probably a bit basicinside, and it might get a bit claustrophobicin the winter. A farmer might live here. Or maybe someone who has retired. __________

7. Look at that patio and the fountain! And there's a balcony too. It's probably somebody's holiday home. I imagine that inside it's very roomywith lots of mod cons – air-conditioning, home entertainment system and so on. And lots of cool white marble on the floor. __________

8. It's quite small, but probably very practicalfor an elderly person who has problems getting up the stairs. It looks like there might be a small room in the attic, or it might just be storage space. __________

9. It must be very pokeyinside. It's OK for a holiday, but I'm surprised anybody could actually live here. I suppose the advantage is that if you get bored living in one place, you could just move, together with your home, somewhere else. __________

Exterior of your house and area

? VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Task 1. Read the texts and label the pictures with the words underlined.

The Front

My house has roses growing around the front door and the cat is usually asleep on the doorstep when I come home. In the front garden there is a lovely green hedge which grows so quickly that sometimes I can't get my car through the gate and up the drive to the garage to the left of the house. Above the door the shutters of my bedroom are closed.

The Back

In the back garden we've built a garden pond with a little wooden bench next to it. We're trying to grow some small trees along the fence so that the neighbours can't see in. The garden shed needs tidying because the children play in it in the holidays. It's getting colder in the evenings now and I can see smoke coming out of the chimney on the roof which means there's a fire inside. On the window sill my wife has put some flowerpots with her favourite plants.

Task 2.Complete the sentences using the word in brackets.

1. An (INDUSTRY)_ industrial_area can be polluted because of all the large factories but at least I can get a job easily.

2. Living in an (AGRICULTURE) __________ area means a quiet life away from the city but it's nice to get fresh food from the farm.

3. It takes half an hour by train from this (SUBURB) __________ area to the city centre.

4. I love living in the (COMMERCE) __________ area as I can walk to my office and be near all the big shops too.

5. It's almost all houses and flats in this (RESIDENT) __________ area.

6. Because it is a (COAST) __________ town we can get fresh fish every day.

7. Most cities have a (FINANCE) __________ centre where the banks and insurance companies have their head offices.

8. If you want to catch a train the main stations are in the (CENTRE) __________ part of the city.

Task 3.Complete each sentence (a-j) with a suitable ending (1-10) so that the meaning of the word in italics is clear. Use each ending only once.

Task 4.Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the list below. Use each item once only.

1. I've heard that the developers are building 3 more __________.

2. Residents of the new __________ were complaining about the poor bus service in the evening.

3. They want to turn the town centre into a __________ so they're trying to ban all cars from there.

4. This part of town seems to be a vast __________, with office blocks going up everywhere.

5. The new __________ can hold up to 1,000 vehicles.

6. When they had nothing to do, they would __________ around the shopping centre.

7. Our house is in a __________ about 2 miles from the city centre.

8. The hall has been demolished to __________ the new sports centre.

9. As they live on the __________ of town, they can quite easily go for a walk in the country.

10. The pace of __________ seems much slower to people from the city.

11. We don't want tourists leaving __________ everywhere as this area has been designated as one of outstanding natural beauty.

12. Wheat is one of the __________ grown in this region.

13. The __________ that used to separate the two fields has been replaced by a barbed-wire fence.

14. Those electricity pylons completely __________ over the valley.

15. She dreamed of retiring to a __________ with a beautiful garden.

16. Now that people from the city are buying second homes, __________ are too high for most young people from our village.

Task 5. Answer the following questions using the topic vocabulary.

1. Describe the view you see every day when you look out of the window in your room.

2. What does your university classroom window look out onto?

3. Make up at least 5 sentences to describe the loveliest view you’ve ever seen.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 2703