III. Reading comprehension

1. Answer the questions

1. What is an earth home?

2. How are earth houses built?

3. How warm are earth houses?

4. How is maximum heat and light obtained in the northern hemisphere ?

5. How long do earth houses last?

6. What impact do earth houses make on the environment?

7. How much does it cost to maintain earth houses?

8. What are the technical issues?

9. What is the commonest construction method?

10. What must the walls and the roof be like?

11. Why is waterproofing important?

12. Why are roof panels included into the structure?

13. Why is the whole building lined with insulating materials?

14. How is heat gained in summer?

2. Read the statements and say whether they are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones

1. Earth houses are built on a hillside.

2. Earth houses are cold, dark, and damp.

3. The houses are much exposed to the elements.

4. The houses can last for hundreds of years.

5. Earth houses don’t spoil the environment.

6. Energy costs are very high.

7. You have to paint them and repair the roof on a regular basis.

8. You can build an earth house just anywhere.

9. The roof does not have to be strong enough.

10. The walls must resist the pressure of earth around the building.

11. Waterproofing is not very important.

12. Roof panels introduce natural light and permit ventilation.

13. The soil cover can’t reduce seasonal variation in temperature.

14. In summer considerable heat is gained through roof panels.

3. Choose the correct word or word combination

1. Earth houses ... in part underground.

a. are lined b. are built c. are included

2. Earth houses are well-....

5. used b. excavated c. insulated

3. The houses are ....

a. durable b. damp c. visible

4. Earth houses can ... for hundreds of years.

a. support b. resist c. last

4. Earth houses don’t ... the landscape.

a. include b. spoil c. expose

4. Energy ... are very low.

a. costs b. losses c. impacts

4. The roof has to be strong enough ... the weight of soil on top.

a. to reduce b. to repair c. to bear

8. The walls must ... the pressure of earth around the building.

a. prevent b. resist c. line

9. Waterproofing is supposed to prevent ....

a. maintenance b. ventilation c. moisture

10. … can introduce natural light and permit ventilation.

a. roof repairs b. roof panels c. roof sides

11. You can’t build an earth house just anywhere, so you must have ....

a. technical issues b. construction methods c. planning permission

12. The whole building is to be lined with ... to reduce variation in temperature.

a. insulating materials b. masonry c. concrete

4. Complete the sentences

1. An earth house is ...

2. Forget any idea that ...

3. They are warm ...

4. They are less exposed to ...

5. They are less visible than ...

6. You don’t have to ...

7. The commonest construction method ...

8. The roof has to be ...

9. You have to prevent ...

10. You can include roof panels to ...

11. Earth houses are ...

12. The soil cover reduces ...