7. Перечитайте текст, сосредоточив внимание на его важнейших деталях, и выполните нижеследующие задания.

7.1. Выберите правильные варианты ответов на поставленные вопросы (на каждый вопрос – только один правильный ответ).

1. How many people in Britain live in their own houses?

a) less than half the people

b) about a third the people

c) one in eight people

d) over half the people

e) more than 40% of families

2. What opportunity of buying a house is used by the majority of the English people?

a) housing associations

b) a mortgage loan

c) sheltered housing

d) a building society

e) an estate agent

3. What are the main housing preferences of many British people?

a) they tend to prefer houses to flats

b) they tend to prefer flats to houses

c) they prefer to have a garden of their own

d) both “a” and “c”

e) both “b” and “c”

4. What residential area CANNOT be found in Britain?

a) new towns

b) inner cities

c) commuter belts

d) suburbs

e) none of the variants given

5. How do the British people measure the size of their houses or flats?

a) in square metres

b) in square miles

c) by the number of rooms

d) by the number of bedrooms

e) none of the variants given

7.2. Заполните таблицу, посоветовав, как следует поступить в каждой из предложенных ситуаций.

What should one do…
1	…to buy a house in Britain?
2	… to rent a house in Britain?
3	…to provide homes for elderly and disabled people?
4	… to improve the standard for housing in Britain?
5	… to make housing more available for young families?
6	… to move to a new place to live in?
7	… to reduce the number of homeless people in Britain?

7.3. Определите, истинно или ложно каждое из нижеперечисленных утверждений (относительно текста). Пометьте каждое предложение как “t (true)” или “f (false)”. Откорректируйте ложные утверждения.

1. The total number of dwellings in Britain is more than 22 million and flats are much more common than houses.

2. In Britain the cost of buying somewhere to live depends on the area.

3. The average British family changes a house once every seven years.

4. Although the number of houses built during the 1980s went up (especially in the public housing sector traditionally provided by local authorities) the number of people owning their own homes has more than trebled in the last 35 years.

5. Gardening is a very popular hobby in Britain.

6. The standard for housing has improved but while most of the old slum areas in cities have been cleared, many of the large squares of flats which replaced them as part of the high rise housing program of the 1960s have been praised as being well designed and built.

7. Many local authorities have been forced to put homeless families in hotels and bed-and-breakfast accommodation because of a lack of suitable flats and houses.

7.4. Дайте развернутые ответы на поставленные вопросы, опираясь на содержание текста.

1. Why do many British people still prefer renting a room or house rather than buying it?

2. Can you imagine a typical British dwelling? Does it have any similarities with a typical Belarusian house? What makes it look different from a standard dwelling of our country?

3. In your opinion, in what country is it easier to buy a dwelling of one’s own: in Belarus or in Britain?