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.

Ex.12. Comment on the proverbs.

1. My house is my castle. 2. There is no place like home. 3. East or West home is best. 4. Men make houses women make homes. 5. Dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad. 6. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Ex. 13. ROLE PLAY

Play a game "Finding somewhere to live". The class is divided into two groups: one half is looking for accommodation, the other half for houses, flats, rooms to let. Each person writes an advertisement describing exactly what he personally needs or has to offer. The idea of the game is to find the right tenant and the right accommodation. Each prospective tenant goes from landlord to landlord, showing his ads and reading the landlord's. When eventually a reasonably suitable "match" is found, negotiate the rent and conditions.

Ex.14. Role-play the following situations connected with looking for accommodations. Work in pairs.

1. Suppose one of you is a landlady who has a room to let, the other is a girl / boy who is in search of a room. The landlady shows you round the flat. Here are some useful phrases.

- Shall I ___?

- I'm wondering ___.

- What about ___.

- You don't have to ___.

- That's great (lovely) ___ jolly good.

- Do you want me ___

- That sounds fair (interesting).

2. You've just seen the room. A friend of yours asks you about the impressions both of the room and the landlady. The impressions are favorable.

- How do you find the room? (a beautifully modernized flat, a built-in wardrobe, convenient)

- How much do you think of the landlady? What does she look like? (talkative, sociable, a smiling type of a person,...)

- Do you hope you'll get along well together?

3. You are speaking with your mother / father over the telephone. You are very unhappy about the lodgings (the roof is leaking, it faces north, very dark and cold; a kindergarten is in front of the house; a great deal of noise; the bed is creaking, the room-mate is too much talkative, to get on nerves). Begin with:

- Hello, mum. That's Helen speaking. How are you getting on?

Ex.15. Read the text and describe the favorite room in your flat.

My favorite room is our kitchen. Perhaps the kitchen is the most important room in many houses, but it is particularly so in our house because it's not only where we cook and eat but it's also the main meeting place for family and friends. I have so many memories of times spent there: special occasions such as home­comings or cooking Christmas dinner; troubled times, which lead to comforting cups of tea in the middle of the night; ordinary daily events such as making breakfast on dark, cold winter mornings for cross, sleepy children before sending them off to school, then sitting down to read the newspaper with a steaming hot mug of coffee.

Whenever we have a party, people graviate with their drinks to the kitchen. It is always the fullest and noisiest room in the house. So what does this special room look like? It's quite big, but not huge. It's big enough to have a good-sized rectangular table in the center, which is the focal point of the room. There is a large window above the sink, which looks out onto two apple trees in the garden. The cooker is at one end, and above it is a wooden pulley, which is old-fashioned but very useful for drying clothes in wet weather. At the other end is a wall with a large notice-board, which tells the story of our lives, past, present, and future, in words and pictures: a school photo of Megan and Kate, a postcard from Auntie Nancy in Australia, the menu from a take away Chinese restaurant, a wedding invitation for next Saturday. All our world is there for everyone to read!

The front door is seldom used in our house, only by strangers. All our friends use the back door, which means they come straight into the kitchen and then we all sit round the table, drinking tea and putting the world to rights! Without doubt some of the happiest times of my life have been spent in our kitchen.

Ex.16. Scan the texts for some particular information about the most traditional types of housing in Great Britain and in the United States.