Exercise 9. Use the following models in the dialogues of your own and role-play them.

1. – Do you live in digs? – Yes, I take a room in a three-room flat, actually.

2. – Do you have to pay much for your room? – Yes, the rent is very high. It’s hard to find good lodgings at a low price nowadays, isn’t it?

3. – I hear you live at your relatives’, don’t you? – No, I don’t. I rent a room from my mother’s acquaintance.

4. – What does your window face? – It faces a public garden. – Oh, how nice! Green is always pleasant to one’s eyes, isn’t it? – On the one hand it is, but on the other… there’s a children’s corner just opposite my window, you know.

5. – That wall looks quite bare. Why not place the bookcase there? – Oh, that’s a good idea. Let’s try to do it right now.

6. – Are you living out? – No, I prefer living in a hall of residence. I haven’t got enough money to rent a room.

7. – I hear you are moving, aren’t you? – Yes, we’ve received a new three-room flat. I hope you’ll drop in some day, won’t you? – Surely I will.

8. – How do you find my new cupboard? – It looks beautiful. And it doesn’t seem to take much room, does it?

9. – Do you like the flat, dear? – Yes, very much, it’s comfortable and well-planned. And it’s good luck we have a telephone. – Yes, it’s convenient, indeed.

10. – Susan hasn’t got much furniture in her room, but she’s got plenty of books. Look, some of them are quite rare. – Can I have a look at the books? – Certainly. On these shelves she keeps English classics and in the bookcase opposite you’ll find Russian novelists of the 19^th century.

11. – Is David pleased with his lodgings? – Yes, he managed to find a good room very close to the University.

12. – Where are you living? – In a hall of residence so far, but I’d like to rent a room actually. I’ve already found one not far from the University.

Read about living in a block of flats.

I live in a block of flats. My brother lives on the ground floor, and I have a flat on the third floor. Unfortunately there is no lift, so I have to climb three flights of stairs to reach my flat. But I do have a balcony with a wonderful view of the park opposite the flats.

 

Note: Steps are usually outside a building or inside a public building; they are stone or wooden. Stairs (pl) connect floors inside a building and are often covered with a carpet.

 

Learn how to describe a flat or a house.

The rooms on the ground floor are quite dark (≠ light) because they don’t get (= receive) very much sun. They are also quite noisy (≠ quiet) because they are near the roads and the traffic. The other negative thing is that the rooms are draughty (= cold air comes into the room through the windows and under the doors because they don’t fit very well). This means it is expensive to heat the rooms (= to keep the rooms warm). Fortunately I have a very good central heating system. In other ways, it is also very nice: it’s in good condition (= in a good state / doesn’t need to be repaired; ≠ in bad condition), and the rooms are huge/ enormous (= very, very big; ≠ tiny / very, very small).

 

♦ Listening

Unusual Types of Houses

I. Pre-listening task

Here are some words you will hear in the recording. Study their pronunciation and meaning.

 

barge (n) – баржа

tunnel (n) – тоннель

nightmare (n) – ночной кошмар

squeeze (n) – теснота

permission (n) – позволение, разрешение

concrete (n) – бетон

advertisement (n) – объявление, реклама

deck (n) – палуба

storing (n) – хранение

tight (adj) – плотный, тесный

local council – муниципальный совет

save up – делать сбережения, накопить денег

line smth. with smth. – выкладывать / облицовывать что-то чем-то

move in – въезжать

 

II. Listening and comprehension tasks

Listen to 4 people talking about their houses and mark the statements as True or False.

1. All the owners were looking for something unusual to buy.

2. Each of the owners is pleased with the house.

3. Five unusual houses are mentioned in the recording.

4. The houses were originally used for other purposes.

5. All the houses are round.

Listen to the descriptions again and fill in the chart below.

Houses   Characteristics	Boat-house	Underground house	Tunnel house	Garden house
Neighbourhood Floors Rooms bedroom kitchen bathroom living rooms store room Conveniences Garden Other characteristics

III. Follow up activity

· Would you like to live in a house of the kind you’ve heard in the recording? Why? Give your arguments for or against.

B. American Home

American apartments are usually described as one-bedroom (studio apartments), two-bedroom or three-bedroom apartments. Two- and three-bedroom apartments usually have a connecting living-room; frequently they have two bathrooms. Virtually all apartments have built-in closets with doors, which are used instead of wardrobes. Frequently apartments are without lights but have several outlets for table or floor lamps. The walls are often painted rather than wall-papered. The entrance generally is directly into the living room area; halls are rarely in evidence. Floors are generally covered with wall-to-wall carpeting. Apartment buildings usually have laundry facilities on the ground floor. Almost all apartments have refrigerators, most people now use microwave ovens which provide very convenient and fast cooking. Most apartments and houses have central thermostat which regulates the temperature.

There are two types of apartments: a rented apartment and a condominium, which an individual owns rather than rents. In addition there are town-houses which are joint houses or apartments in a compact planned group in a town. Town-houses can be purchased or rented. Rented apartments can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars per month. The purchase price of condominiums and town-houses can range from thirty thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the US the historical preference since the 1950’s has been for people to purchase their own houses in the suburbs rather than in central areas of the cities. Private houses are the most expensive. Real estate firms advertise lands, houses and apartments and provide a market for buyers and sellers. The cost of private houses has escalated sharply in recent years and consequently people have sought to buy town houses and condominiums which generally are cheaper.

A mobile home is the cheapest form of housing that can be purchased. Mobile homes can be moved from place to place by trucks. Mobile homes are located in special mobile home parks, which are sometimes called mobile villages. They are usually on the outskirts of cities. Retired people and young people with low income reside in mobile homes which can be purchased or rented.

(from “Life and Issues in the USA”)

Comprehension questions:

1. How can American apartments usually be described?

2. What rooms do they usually have?

3. What is the most typical decoration of the apartments?

4. Where are laundry facilities installed?

5. What is used to regulate the temperature?

6. What are the two types of apartments?

7. Can town-houses be purchased or rented?

8. What is the purchase price of condominiums?

9. What houses are the most expensive?

10. What can you say about mobile homes?

 

Ø Speaking