2.Tell me about the house/ flat you live in.

A. We have a nice flat in a new block of flats. Our flat is on the fourth floor. It has all modern conveniences: central heating, gas, electricity, cold and hot running water, a lift and a chute to carry rubbish down. There are three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a hall in our flat.

The living-room is the largest and most comfortable room in the flat. In the middle of the room we have a square-table with six chairs round it. To the right of the dinner-table there is a wall-unit which has several sections: a sideboard, a wardrobe and some shelves. At the opposite wall there is a piano and stool before it. Between the two large windows there is a little table with a colour TV set on it. Near the TV set there are two cosy armchairs. A small round table, a sofa and a standard lamp are in the left-hand corner. This small table is for newspapers and magazines. My father is used to having a rest sitting on this sofa reading books, newspapers, magazines or watching TV.

The bedroom is smaller than the living-room and not so light as there is only one window in it. In this room there are two beds with a bedside-table between them. An alarm-clock and a small lamp with a pink lamp-shade are on the table. In the left-hand corner there is a dressing-table with a big mirror. In this room we have a built-in wardrobe with coat-hangers to hang clothes on. There is a thick carpet on the floor and plain light-brown curtains on the window.

It’s really wonderful to have a room for yourself. My room is not large but very cosy. There isn’t much furniture in it, only the most necessary. It has a writing-table and an armchair before it. In the right-hand corner there is a bookcase full of books, magazines and newspapers. A small table with a tape-recorder is standing in the left-hand corner. Near it there is a sofa with some cushions.

In my opinion, the study is the best room in our flat. But the warmest place in our flat is the kitchen, I think — the place where the whole family gathers every evening not only to have supper together, but also to speak and rest. I like the English proverb: “My home is my castle” because my flat is, indeed, my castle.

B. I live in a detached house. It is made of bricks and tiles. In my house there are three rooms downstairs and three rooms upstairs. We have central heating with radiators in each room which keep our house warm. We also have an open fireplace.

If you come into my house through the back door, you will find yourself in the kitchen. In the kitchen there is a fridge (refrigerator), a freezer, a cooker and cupboards. There is also a freezer under the fridge. We have lots of cupboards and an electric cooker. Our microwave is very quick and easy to use. We wash our things in the washing machine and hang them out in our garden to dry. We wash up the plates in the sink as we don’t have a dishwasher.

Downstairs there is also a lounge. Some people call this room the living-room. In our lounge there is a table with chairs, a settee (in America I think they call this a sofa - it is a comfy 2-seater chair), two comfy chairs, a television, a DVD Player and Video Recorder. We also have satellite TV. There are some cupboards and a bookcase.

Most houses have a bathroom upstairs but ours is downstairs. In my bathroom there is a toilet, a bath, a sink with two taps (one for hot water and one for cold), a shower and a laundry basket. This is where we put our dirty clothes for washing.

The three rooms upstairs are all bedrooms. They all have carpets on the floor, except my room. In my bedroom I have my own computer, a wardrobe - to hang clothes in, cupboards with drawers for other clothes, cupboards for all other stuff like old toys etc. There is also a bookcase for my books and my bed. It is high up as I have my desk underneath it and my computer. I also have my own television.

Outside my house we have a back garden and a front garden. In the back garden there is an area of grass for us to play football on and for my little brother to ride his bike. Mum likes to grow vegetables in the garden and plant flowers.

Welcome to my house!

С. It goes without saying that all of us have our own ideas about home because it can't mean the same to all people. As for me I'm sure that homes are not just places. Home is your little world where you live according to yow own rules and interests. It's a place where you feel comfort, warmth and reliability. My own home should be quite large and spacious, because I hate tiny rooms with small windows. Undoubtedly it should be handy for bus stop, shops and all public places like clinics, schools, etc. Evidently all these things are significant, but nevertheless warm and friendly relations between members of the family are considerably more important than large rooms and modern furniture. I think that if you live under pressure in a flat of your dream it won't seem so wonderful, modernized and comfortable for you. And I prefer to live in a common fiat without particular modem conveniences, but where there are harmony and friendly atmosphere. It is true that all of us encourage warm relations between family members and all of us want to see the members of their family respecting, helping each other and sharing the same joys and troubles. I believe you will agree that these simple things help people to form the mood of friendly atmosphere in their homes.

We say "East or West, home is best ", the English say "My home is my castle". I personally agree with these statements, because it is home that always awakens the most pleasant feelings and high emotions in my soul. Always after a hard day I return home and think "At last I came home". For me there is no place like home.

Though my house is situated rather far from the centre of our town I think that my house is perfectly located. It is a short way to the bus stop and I cannot say it is a great problem for me to get to any place in the town because public transport works well. It takes about five minutes to get to the post office, pharmacy and hairdresser's. There are three schools, two kindergartens, about five shops, a church and a market not far from my house. I should say that it has never been a problem for me to get to the hospital, as both nursery and adult hospitals are separated from my house only by the road. And as far as the road is concerned it's not a busy one, that's why I can't say that noise troubles me.

The only thing I don't like about my flat is the view from my windows because one of the windows in my flat faces a nine-storied grey building and all the others look on a private neighborhood.

At first look my house is a common grey and boring building. It looks like hundreds of other buildings in our town, but for me it is the best house in the world.

I live on the second floor in a three-room flat. Our flat is always filed with happiness and joy. Even after the first few minutes in our flat you can understand all hospitality and friendliness of this place and the family which lives there. Our flat is very warm and cosy, so it makes you feel at home.

I should say that as you come in through the front door, you find yourself in a long hall. It is a place where we greet our guests and it's the place where you can get the first impressions about our flat, that's why we made our entrance hall in such way that each thing there creates the feeling of comfort. There is a grey carpet on the floor, but walls and ceiling are papered white. Such contrast between the dark floor and the light walls is very spectacular. It is the darkest room in our flat, because we have only one small lamp there but the darkness makes our hall rather mysterious. Near the door there is a little seat and a mirror. A wardrobe with a coat racks stretches near the right wall but on the left wall there is only a long artificial flower and three pictures, made in one style.

The first door on the right of the hall leads into my parents' bedroom. It is a very convenient room, though there isn't much furniture there. There is a double-bed near the wall and two bed-side tables by its sides with photos. In front of the bed stands a dressing table with a big mirror. It's the place where my mother makes up every morning. There are always a lot of perfumes on this table and it isn't a surprise that the room is always filled with their scents. There is also a door to the balcony. In summer it is usually open and I like to enjoy the fresh air and cool swish of leaves that come from it.

The next room after the bedroom of my parents is my own bedroom. First of all I should say that it is my favourite room in our flat. I have always tried to make my room cosy, because to my mind your room is your face. My bedroom is the place where I wake up every morning to the refreshing smell of coffee from the kitchen and where every day of my life starts.

Though my room isn't very large I can say that it is rather spacious for me because I live alone. My bedroom is also my study, so you can see a table near the window and three bookshelves on the wall with various books. Not far from the table there is my bed, near it stands a bed-side table with the telephone. You can also find a wardrobe, a chest of drawers in my room and a fluffy carpet on the floor.

In my opinion my room is very cool and light. It is always filled with the sounds of my favourite music. Certainly my room is very lovely and comfortable. Here there are a lot of beautiful things that make it funny and merry; I have a lot of toys which sit on my bed and on the shelves. I collect postcards and statues as well, that's why a lot of them are situated on the chest of drawers and on the shelves. But my room isn't very green, because I don't like flowers and frankly speaking I don't enjoy the view from my window.

But in general I adore my bedroom and I always feel myself comfortable in it. I like to receive guests in my room and we like to listen to music together, to drink tea with sweets and candies and to talk about our problems, interests and news.

As far as our living room is concerned I'd like to say that it is the largest and the busiest room in our flat. Every evening we gather together there and discuss some problems and events, watch TV or read magazines. This room is filled with cheerful and friendly humor; here you can always hear happy laughing and joyful voices.

The walls in this room are white but sofa and armchairs are red. There is a table for magazines between two armchairs and near the front wall a wardrobe and a suite of furniture stand. There is also a TV set in the living room. We usually like to have a cup of coffee there and to talk.

To the right of the hall or in front of the living room there is our kitchen with all its conveniences where we sit chatting for hours in winter. Our kitchen is rather small, but cosy and warm. It faces east, that's why there is a lot of sunshine there especially in the morning. The air of this room is usually filled with the delicious smells of my mother's cooking, because mainly she is the hostess of the kitchen.

The walls are papered blue there. As scientists say blue is the colour that is the most universally preferred as blue rooms instill peacefulness, blue can also help us feel calm and confident, that's why I like this room and spend there quite a lot of time.

A table and four stools stand near the window with wonderful gaily-coloured curtains. In the corner to the left of the door you can see a sink and a gas cooker. Next to the cooker stands a working top and over it there are wall cupboards.

Between the kitchen and the living room there is a bathroom and a toilet. Our bathroom is rather large. Its walls are covered with blue tiles, but the floor with grey ones. In the front of the door there is a bath. Near it you can find a sink and a mirror over it with some shelves. There is also a back for clothes and a wash machine in this room. I'm sure that our bathroom is very stylish and nice.

So it's my flat, my "home, sweet home". Sometimes after a long journey I return home with such pleasure and happiness, that I feel myself like a baby that returns to its mother. I love every corner and every thing in my flat. "My home is my fortress", it is my territory, my place where I feel good and comfortable. Nobody can disturb me here.