Englich for Talking. Учебно-методическое пособие

Ex. 23. Read the description of the house.

a)Answer the questions, using the words from the text.

b)Retell the passage.

The house is situated at the bottom of the Green valley next to the River Hudson. It is just outside the village of Glenwood, twenty five minutes drive from the city. It is an unusual house for the area and is considered a really splendid period property. The oldest part is Elizabethan, but there were some additions in the 1820s. The door of the house is painted black and it is solid and heavily panelled, in the centre of the middle panel there is a lion's head with a brass ring in its mouth.

It seems typically English. There are long corridors and huge oakpanelled rooms, and all sorts of scenes from history taking place here can be imagined.

As you come in through the front door, you find yourself in a large hall with an open fireplace, which is very wide. The fireplace has woodwork over it, reaching to the ceiling. There are columns on each side of the fireplace. Above it there is a shelf on which there is a clock and framed photographs.

In English homes, the fireplace has always been, until recent times, the natural centre of interest in a room. People like to sit at a window on a summer day, but for many months of the year they prefer to sit round the fire and watch the dancing flames.

On the right, there is a door leading into the living room. It is a large, high, long room, so full of mirrors, pictures, books, chandeliers and hangings. This room faces south, so it's very sunny, and it has a lovely view of the entire valley.

The furniture matches the style of the house, so there's a lot of leather and dark, heavy wood. If you keep going down the hall, past the lounge room, there's the dining room which has French windows leading onto a small patio.

There is also a study, a kitchen and a utility room on the ground floor. A wide staircase takes you to the first floor, where there are five bedrooms. The largest is about 20×25 a really vast room which overlooks the garden.

The house is in 2.8 acres of land, and there is a green house, a shed, a swimming-pool and a tennis court.

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The garden is one of the nicest things about the place. A driveway runs down the left-hand side of the house to the garden. On the right of the house there is an orchard with apple, plum and orange trees. At the rear there is a large grassed area surrounded by a border of trees and shrubs.

It's a beautiful place to be at any time of year. In winter it's warm and cosy and in summer there's so much to do outside.

Questions:

1.Where is the house situated?

2.How old do you think it is?

3.Do you think it is possible to get there by bus?

4.How many different rooms are mentioned and what could you do in each room?

5.What is the fireplace like? What is it used for?

6.What kind of furniture is there in the house?

7.What view can one have from its windows?

8.What can one see around the house?

9.What is so special about the dining room?

10.What impression does the description of the house produce on you?

11.Do you believe that homes reflect their owners' mode of life, occupation, character?

Ex. 24. You will hear a dialogue between a married couple, Linda and Jeremy, who are talking about a house that they have just seen and that they are thinking of buying. They don't always agree.

1.Listen to the tape and answer the questions.

2.Describe the house that they are talking about. 1) What is Linda's opinion about: a) location

b)lounge

c)kitchen

d)bedrooms

2)What is Jeremy's opinion about: a) location

b)lounge

c)kitchen

d)bedrooms

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3)What does Linda like about the house?

4)What does Jeremy dislike about it?

5)What does Linda want to change in the house?

6)What does Jeremy suppose to do with the stairs?

7)What is Linda's general impression of the house? What is Jeremy's?

Ex. 25. Give a comprehensive answer to the questions:

1.Is your house detached? What sort is it if not?

2.What types of houses do you know? Say a few words about them.

3.Are time-shares common in this country?

4.Is it common to rent bedsits in this country? If so, what sort of people do so?

5.What's your address?

6.Are there any advantages of living in high-rise flats? What are they?

7.What is the basic idea of home for you? Does it coincide with that one of the British?

8.Do you have any special feeling about the privacy of Russian kitchens? What's that?

9.Don't you think essentially our blocks of flats are of the same patterns? What must be done to change the situation?

10.What inconveniences of flat life are we faced with?

11.Have we got variety in our choice of furniture? Prove it.

12.What things (appliances) could make your life as a housewife easier? Give reasons.

13.What furniture (do you have?) would you like to have in your room? Why?

14.What are these rooms and locations for: utility room, shed, patio, study, cellar, attic?

15.Has your house (flat) changed, or have you changed it, in any way since you first lived there? Explain.

16.Name some ways in which you think your parents' (grandparents') life was better/worse than yours is?

17.The house of your dream – what is it?

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Things to do

Ex. 26. Read the letter and say why Louise wants her mother to come to her.

A.Dear Mum,

Well, the good news is that we're here! We moved in on Monday.

Steve is happy. The bad news is that the furniture hasn't arrived yet so we have to sleep on the floor. We're still painting the sitting room but we've borrowed a CD player so we can listen to music while we're working. A friend has just given us some curtains for the sitting room but we haven't put them up yet. I've never put up curtains before so I hope they don't fall down! We've also got a carpet. We bought it in a sale yesterday, but we haven't laid it yet. Perhaps you can help us when you come. Have you ever laid a carpet?

Oh, and that pot. Do you remember that story. I got this pot in Korea. I liked it very much. The only way I could get it home was to cuddle it in my arms. When I got to the airport, I put the pot down and someone put a cigarette out in it. I was furious and shouted at him. Now the pot is here in my new flat!

Mum, come over to us. We're looking forward to seeing you. Love,

Louise

B. Write a letter to your mother (sister, friend) and say that you have just moved into a new flat. Write what you have already done in it. Ask for her advice or help.

Ex. 27. a) Read the text and speak about the advantages and disadvantages of sharing a flat.

Sharing a flat certainly has some advantages. To begin with, it should be cheaper and if you are sharing with people that you get on well with it is nice to have some company at home rather than being all on your own. Also the household chores are shared, and that is very important. Particularly when you are younger and you are living apart from your parents for the first time, it can be very enjoyable to live with people of your age, whose interests and life-style you share.

However, sharing a flat does have some distinct disadvantages, and the main one is that the flat is not your own, so you cannot do what you want

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in it. There may be some particular house rules you've got to keep to, the rules laid down by your landlord or landlady.

On the other hand you mustn't be an intruder. What happens if you want, for example, to go to bed but your flat-mate wants to play music? To a certain extent you have to be unselfish. What is more, there can be little privacy.

I would say that as you get older, it is probably better to live on your own. Having had my own flat for a few years I would not like to have to share again.

b) Write short paragraphs discussing the advantages and disadvantages of sharing a flat. Give reasons. Conclude with your own preferences.

Ex. 28. Speak on the following or make up dialogues:

1.The high cost of accommodation makes life difficult in big cities.

2.It may be wonderful to own a big, old house, but think of the upkeep! (cost of keeping smth. in good conditions or repair).

3.You want to rent a house. You've read a lot of advertisements. At last, you seem to have found what you've been looking for so long. You like the house, your husband doesn't.

4.Your friend's apartment is furnished with objects of value. Every piece is worthy to go into a museum. Tell your fellow students what you think about it. Let them ask you questions.

5.You've found a lovely old house in the country. It's just what you want but a friend of yours asks you to take her/his advice not to rush into it. He/she persuades you to think it over.

6.You are having trouble with your landlady. The room is expensive and not very comfortable. Will you move out?

7.Help your friend to furnish his/her new flat.

Ex. 29. Comment on the following:

1.There is no place like home.

2.If you're yearning for the good old days, just turn off the air conditioning.

3.If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all.

4.He gave the room a professional look. It was indeed an amazing room... It was hideous and yet, he didn’t know why, agreeable. It had a homely, lived-in air, and you felt that that incredible jumble had a significance. All those incongruous objects belonged together because they were part of her life.

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Things to enjoy

Ex. 30. Read the poem.

My mother's very busy

with mop and cloth and broom; I help her dust furniture

and tidy up the room; She says we're having company

to stay for dinner, too, So she wants everything to shine

and look as fine as new. My mother's always trying

to keep our home so neat, I find it very pleasant,

as I enter from the street; I help her sweep the carpets

and wipe each window frame, But we would keep it just as nice

if no one ever came.

Ex. 31. Read the jokes and retell joke 1 in direct speech and joke 2 in indirect speech.

1. Arriving home one evening a man found the house locked up. After trying to get in at the various windows on the first floor he finally climbed upon the shed roof and with much difficulty entered through a second-floor window. On the dining-room table he found a note from his wife: “I've gone out. You'll find the key under the door mat”.

2.A: I'd like to have a room at your hotel. B: OK. I'll show you up.

A: Oh, It's very small and there's nothing in it. I don't like it. I will not have it.

B: We don't ask you to sleep here. This is not a bedroom. This is the lift.

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Text 1.

Eating out

The days of reviling London's food and restaurants are long, long gone. The restaurant scene in this city can rival even Paris for the sheer number and variety of establishments, and the marvelous and talented new generation of chefs in the kitchen. People are willing to spend their money on high quality food and good service, and restaurants are starting to catch on to the concept.

Hours for Eating & Drinking

Breakfast is usually served from around 8am to 10:30am, and lunch is from noon to 2:30pm. Afternoon tea is served from 3 to 5pm, and dinner runs from 7 to 11pm (most Londoners dine after 8pm). In practice you can eat what you want when you want if only you know where to look in London (for odd-hour dining, Soho and Covent Garden have the most options dining round the clock).

With the liberalization of Britain's archaic licensing hours, many pubs now open all day from 11 am to 11 pm. Monday to Saturday. Sunday hours are noon to 3pm and 7 to 10:30pm.

International Restaurants

Every significant cuisine in the world is represented in London. You can choose from Afghan to Vietnamese, with just about every shade of regional cooking in between. The top end is still dominated by the French, though home-grown chefs are making a determined assault with their own brand of “Modern British” cuisine, which is a match for any cuisine in the

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