Unusual homes

1. Work in groups of three. What possible reasons do you think people may have for choosing to live in a windmill, a house boat and a railway carriage? Make a list of the possible advantages and disadvantages of living in these unusual homes.

You are more likely to recognise and understand what someone is saying if you already have an idea of the topic, who the speakers are, and the sort of things they will mention.

Before listening to a recording in English, you may find it helpful to think about the topic. You may even wish to note down a few ideas which you think the speakers may mention.

In a listening task, you can guess quite a lot of information by carefully reading the questions beforehand. This sort of preparation can also help you not to panic in a stressful exam situation.

2. You are going to hear interviews with people who live in these three types of home.

Listen to the recording. Tick any advantages and disadvantages you noted in activity 1 which the speakers mention.

What advantages do the speakers mention which are not on your list? What were the main reasons for their choice of home?

3. In your group, try to answer these questions.

1. What state were the homes in when their owners first bought them?

2. How did the people feel at first?

3. How long have they lived there?

4. What conversions have they made?

5. Where are their homes situated?

Try to remember as much detail as possible. Which questions are not answered?

4. Listen to the recording from activity 2 again. Check your answers to the questions in activity 3. Take turns in your group to summarise what the speakers say. Compare what the three speakers say with your ideas in activity 1.

5. Are all three speakers satisfied with their homes? Choose the sentence which best sums up the way each person feels.

a) It makes things very complicated, living here.

b) It is much more practical than I had ever imagined.

c) I would still prefer a house with a garden.

d) I love the feeling of space and the fact that you can change the scenery.

e) The beautiful setting makes up for any daily inconvenience.

In a listening task, you may be asked to complete sentences with information from a recorded interview. The information is not always stated clearly so you may have to interpret this meaning from what the person actually says.

The questions always follow the order of the interview and usually focus on important points. They only require very short answers which are generally words or expressions used by the speaker.

Make sure you read the sentences very carefully so that you know the sort of information you will be listening for. You may even be able to predict some of the answers. In the exam, you will only hear the recording once. But, because you will hear the recording twice in the exam question below, you can identify the information and write in the more obvious missing words the first time you listen; then write in the other missing words and check them all the second time you listen.

6. You will hear an interview with Peter Mitchell, who lives in a tree house. Look at the sentences and complete them by writing one or two words in the spaces. Listen carefully. You will hear this piece twice.

As a child Peter Mitchell had often dreamt of (1) __________ a tree house.

The house is built in a magnificent (2) __________ .

He used to work as a (3) __________ .

He started building the tree house when he needed (4) __________ .

Because it is built of recycled old building materials, the house cost (5) __________ .

Before moving in permanently he used the tree house as a (6) __________ .

He particularly appreciates the feeling of belonging to (7) __________ .

The house has withstood (8) __________ without being damaged.

The construction has not (9) __________ the tree or restricted (10) __________ .

He has not had any trouble with the (11) __________ because as yet you do not need (12) __________ for a tree house.

7. Would you like to live in one of the homes mentioned in this unit? Find out which home other students would choose. Ask them to explain their choice.