Broaden your mind in the world of translation. Учебное пособие

6 Translate the passage from English into Russian in a written form:

Dual-career marriages are a third emerging pattern. One of the important social changes since World War II has been an increase of women in the labor force. In 1940, despite a sharp increase in the number of working wives during the Great Depression of the 1930s, only 15 percent of all married women living with their husbands held an outside job. By 1960 the proportion had risen to 32 percent and by 1980 to about 50 percent. Today more than half of all married women age 35 years or younger hold jobs outside the home. The proportion of married women in the labor force is highest among those who have no small children-80 percent. Most of these employed women are in clerical or service work with earnings well below that of their male counterparts. Arrangements of this type might be termed dual-employment marriages rather than dual-career marriages.

7 Translate the passage from Russian into English in a written form:

Я живу с семьей в небольшом городке недалеко от Ливерпуля. Большинство людей в Англии живет в небольших городах или в пригородах крупных городов.

Моя мама – учитель средней школы, мой отец управляет небольшой фирмой. У

меня есть сестра и брат. Мою сестру зовут Барбара, ей девятнадцать лет, она студентка. Моего брата зовут Ник, ему пять лет, он ходит в детский сад. Мы обычная семья для Англии. Правда во многих современных английских семьях всего один или два ребенка. Я счастлива в своей семье. Несомненно, между нами часто возникают споры, например, когда Барбара не делится со мной своими книгами или компьютерными дисками, но это вполне обычное явление,

происходящее между родными братьями и сестрами, не так ли? На выходные дни мы часто выезжаем в наш загородный домик, где мы можем гулять, ездить на велосипеде, устраивать пикники или ходить на рыбалку. В воскресный вечер мы устраиваем большой ужин и весело проводим время накануне долгой рабочей недели. Лето, как и многие англичане, мы проводим в жарких странах возле моря.

Мы любим солнце и море. Очень часто мы приезжаем в Италию, но поверьте, что и в Англии есть очень много возможностей хорошо провести время.

8 Match the following idioms to their Russian equivalents:

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The Animals

There is a house in New Orleans

There is a house in New Orleans They call the Rising Sun

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy And God I know I'm one

My mother was a tailor

She sewed my new blue jeans

My father was a gamblin' man

Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs Is a suitcase and trunk

And the only time he's satisfied Is when he's on a drunk

Oh mother tell your children Not to do what I have done Spend your lives in sin and misery In the House of the Rising Sun Well, I got one foot on the platform The other foot on the train

I'm goin' back to New Orleans

To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans They call the Rising Sun

Words on Family life

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2 Unit Housing standards

Houses in the US

When people are asked what kind of housing they need or want, the question evokes a variety of answers: "four bedrooms"; "lots of storage space"; "close to my work"; "low rent"; "a quiet neighborhood"; "a big yard"; "a scenic view"; and so on. To most people, housing quality obviously means more than simply shelter.

"Is it big enough?" is perhaps the first question a family asks when it looks at a new house or apartment. A family might want, for example, a master bedroom for the husband and wife, a separate bedroom for the younger children of each sex, a separate bedroom for each child over 12, a bedroom for a grandparent or a guest, large closets, an extra halfbathroom, a dining room or a kitchen with a good-sized eating area, a large living room, a family or recreation room, a den or library, a patio, a two-car garage, and so on. Since most families would like to have as much space as they can afford, space expectations have risen as incomes have risen.

The layout of a dwelling can contribute to its desirability. But preferences in floor plans change. Up to the 1930s it was considered essential to have a separate dining room. Afterward, a dining area adjoining the living room and kitchen was regarded as adequate. The desired kitchen size tended to shrink when the kitchen was displaced by the living room or the recreation room as the informal centre of family life; however, since the 1980s large kitchens have become more popular. Walk-in closets and dressing rooms between the master bedroom and bathroom have become fashionable. Many people prefer to have the front door open into an entrance hallway, however small, rather than directly into the living room. Bathrooms are generally away from the front entrance. Twoor even threestory houses are as acceptable as ranch houses and bior tri-levels.

Families in the United States expect their homes to have electrical wiring sufficient for lighting and many appliances; a system of hot and cold running water; a central heating system suitable to the climate; a sink, a range, a refrigerator, and cabinets in the kitchen; a bathtub and shower, a flush toilet, and a sink unit in the bathroom; and an automatic washer and dryer in the laundry room. As time goes by, more and more items once

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considered luxuries-such as wall-to-wall carpeting, central air conditioning, a dishwasher, and a garbage-disposal unit-are built into new homes and apartments.

Ceilings in the United States have generally been lowered to a height of about 8 feet (2.4 meters). At the same time, a feeling of spaciousness has been preserved by increasing window areas, enlarging living rooms, and using lighter interior wall colors. Carefully joined, easy-to-clean walls and ceilings are preferred. Wallpaper and wood or plywood paneling are popular decorating options. Kitchen and bathroom floors are being covered with linoleum or tile, and tiled kitchen and bathroom walls have become increasingly common. The floors of other rooms are usually hardwood or covered with permanent carpeting, though asphalt tile flooring is also widely used, especially for family rooms.

A single-family house on its own lot is the type of dwelling preferred by most families in the United States. Row houses are traditional in some cities, and apartment buildings containing up to a hundred or more separate dwelling units are especially common in the central districts of large cities. In such multifamily buildings the common areas-hallways, elevators, garages, basements--are important aspects of livability. Families in the United States generally favor traditional housing forms. Few are willing to live in experimental dwellings, such as plastic bubbles or geodesic domes. "A house should look like a house" is what Americans seem to be saying to the architects.

Housing is expected to be durable and solidly constructed. Some older structures, however, may have roofs that sag or leak, cracked foundations and walls, floors that are not level, and doors that do not fit their frames. Wind and rain may get through the window frames.

Wooden structural elements, such as floor joists and rafters, may be rotted or pest infested. Work done by a previous occupant-do-it-yourself wiring or plumbing, for example-may be unattractive or even dangerous. Multiple layers of paint may conceal the original materials and finish. Some of these defects are immediately visible, but others may be discovered only after occupancy.

A single-family house usually occupies no more than one third of the lot on which it stands. By tradition and usually by law, a house is set well back from the street, making it necessary for the homeowner to maintain a front yard or garden. The backyard is generally

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used for recreation and relaxation. Apartment dwellers normally have no private open space, but there may be yards or patios that they can share with other occupants of their building. Row houses and town houses usually have small yards or patios at the rear.

A vital feature of any dwelling is its accessibility to the occupant's place of work and to stores, schools, homes of friends and relatives, and other frequently visited places. Accessibility is determined not only by distance from the dwelling but also by the time and cost of the journey. Homes are therefore judged in part by their nearness to expressways and paved roads and to rail and bus transportation. Most persons in the United States live less than an hour's commuting time from their jobs.

Homeseekers are often greatly concerned about the quality and the appearance of neighboring dwellings as well as the dwelling that they are considering purchasing. They are generally also concerned about the race, ethnic background, and social or economic class of their prospective neighbors.

In most nations housing standards are markedly below those of the United States. In Mexico in 1991 one fifth of houses had no piped water supply and two fifths of houses had no sewerage. Japan topped the United States, France, West Germany, and the United Kingdom in 1987 in new dwellings but was last among them in residential buildings per 1,000 people and floor area per building. Crowded housing conditions even exist in such other affluent countries as Sweden. Only in relatively few nations are central heating and automatic hot water systems installed in all new buildings.

Housing in the United States is generally of better quality and in greater supply than that of other countries. The main question, however, is whether its housing needs are being met at a rate which its own people consider reasonable. Also important is whether each family has at least the minimum quality of housing necessary for health, comfort, and selfrespect.

Vocabulary

shelter – приют closet – кладовка

patio – внутренний дворик

layout – планировка, расположение

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to shrink – уменьшать, сокращать plywood – клееная фанера geodesic – геодезический

joist – брус, балка rafter – стропило sewerage – канализация

to sag – свисать, ослабевать affluent – изобильный, богатый

Learning activities

1 Answer the following questions:

1 What was considered essential up to the 1930’s?

2 Many people prefer to have the front door open into an entrance hallway, don’t they?

3 What do families in the United States generally favor? 4 Do apartment dwellers have private open space?

5 What is a vital feature of any dwelling?

6 Who lives less than an hour's commuting time from their jobs?

7 Are homeseekers often greatly concerned about the quality and the appearance of neighboring dwellings or gardens?

8 They are generally also concerned about the race, ethnic background, and social or economic class of their prospective neighbors, aren’t they?

9 Crowded housing conditions even exist in such other affluent countries as Sweden, don’t they?

10 What is the quality of housing in the United States?

2 Transcribe the words from the text and use one of them in the sentence of

your own: den, patio, layout, to shrink, appliance, plywood, floor joists, rafters, rear,

sewerage, affluent.

3 Match the words in the box to their definitions:

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