Supplement reading Unit 1. What is “home”?

Ex. 1. Read and translate the following text.

A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either living in the wild or shared with humans in a domesticated environment. “Home” is also used to refer to the geographical area (whether it be a suburb, town, city or country) in which a person grew up or feels they belong, or it can refer to the native habitat of a wild animal. Sometimes, as an alternative to the definition of “home” as a physical locale (“Home is where you hang your hat”), home may be perceived to have no physical location - instead, home may relate instead to a mental or emotional state of refuge or comfort. Popular sayings along these lines are “Home is where the heart is” or “You can never go home again”.

The word “home” can be used for various types of residential community institutions in which people can live, such as nursing, retirement homes for seniors, prisons for criminals, treatment facilities, etc.), and foster homes. A home is generally a place that is close to the heart of the owner, and can become a prized possession.

In computer terminology, a “home” may refer to a that branches off into other tasks, e.g. a homepage or a desktop. In a full screen editor, home is often used to mean the top-leftmost character cell, or the leftmost cell on a line in a line editor. These are the initial ones used by left-to-right languages. A standard 101-key PC keyboard contains a Home key. Many home pages on the with introductory information, recent news or events, and links to subpages. “Home” may also refer to a home directory which contains the personal files of a given user of the computer system.

Ex. 2. Read the following idioms with a word “home”, translate them and use them in the sentences of your own.

Idioms

at home

a. in one's own house or place of residence.

b. in one's own town or country.

c. prepared or willing to receive social visits: Tell him I'm not at home. We are always at home to her.

d. in a situation familiar to one; at ease: She has a way of making everyone feel at home.

e. well-informed; proficient: to be at home in the classics.

f. played in one’s hometown or on one's own grounds: The Yankees played

two games at home and one away

bring home to, to make evident to; clarify or emphasize for: The irrevocability of her decision was brought home to her.

home and dry (British Informal ) having safely achieved one’s goal.

home free

a. assured of finishing, accomplishing, succeeding, etc.: If we can finish more than half the work today, we’ll be home free.

b. certain to be successfully finished, accomplished, secured, etc.: With most of the voters supporting it, the new law is home free.

write home about, to comment especially on; remark on: The town was nothing to write home about. His cooking is really something to write home about.

bring home the bacon

a. to provide for material needs; earn a living.

b. to accomplish a task; be successful or victorious: Our governor went to Washington to appeal for disaster relief and brought home the bacon—$40 million.

chickens come home to roost

The fact that chickens usually come home to rest and sleep has long been known, but the idea was used figuratively only in 1809, when Robert Southey wrote, “Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost” (The Curse of Kehama).

Synonyms

1. abode, dwelling, habitation; domicile, house

2. hearth, fireside

3. asylum