Living in a bubble

1 What are the names of the rooms in a house? What do we do in each room? Match the lines to make sentences.

We cook in the living room,

We watch TV in the kitchen,

We sleep in the study,

We eat in the bedroom,

We work in the dining room.

2. Read about Cyril Jean and his house. Answer the questions.

Is this a modern house? Is this a house of the future? Well, no, it isn't Cyril Jean's house in the south of France is 40 years old. There are more houses like this in the south of France. They are called 'bubble houses,' and you can see why!

Cyril Jean is a designer and he loves round things. He collects old records and clocks. He also collects round furniture. And now he has a completely round house for it all.

The centre of the house is one very big bubble. This is both the living room and dining room. There are round armchairs, a round table, and a big round rug in front of a round fireplace. Around the living room are three small bubbles. One bubble is a kitchen with round cupboards, another bubble is the garden room, and the third bubble is a music room for all Cyril's old records. Upstairs there are two more bubbles - a bedroom, and a bathroom.

The doors and windows are also round, of course. The windows are like eyes. There aren't any curtains in the house, because Cyril likes to see the garden a the time.

Bubble houses are the idea of a Hungarian architect, Antti Lova$. Lovag thinks that a lot of modern houses are bad for us, especially tall blocks of flats. He thinks that people are happy in round homes because they are more natural. Cyril agrees with this 'Some people think my house is funny,' he says. 'But for me, this is the perfect home.'

3.Answer the given questions.

1. Where is Cyril's house? How old is it?

2. Why is it called 'a bubble house'?

3. What does Cyril do?

4. What does Cyril collect?

5. How many rooms are there in his house?

6. Is there a garden?

4. Are the sentences true or false?

1. Cyril's house is modern.

2. There aren't any 'bubble houses' in the south of France.

3. There are a lot of clocks in the house.

4. The centre of the house is the kitchen.

5. Cyril doesn't like listening to music.

6. The windows don't have curtains.

7. There are three rooms upstairs.

8. Antti Lovag thinks the house is funny.

What do you think?

• What do you like about Cyril's home? What don't you like?

Describing a room

1 Think of your favourite room. Draw a plan of it on a piece of paper. Write down why you like it and some adjectives to describe it.

My favourite room is... I like it because ...

Show a partner your plan and talk about your room.

2. Read the description. Why is this kitchen more than just a room where you cook and eat?

3. Complete the description using these relative clauses:

which tells the story

that we're going to next Saturday

where we cook and eat

whose family have all emigrated

which is the focal point of the room

which means

we haven't seen

I like best

who are cross and sleepy

where family and friends come together

The room in our house (l) is our kitchen. Perhaps the kitchen is the most important room in many houses, but it is particularly so in our house because it's not only (2) ___, but it's also the place (3)___.

I have so many happy memories of times spent there: ordinary daily events such as making breakfast on dark, cold winter mornings for children (4) ___, before sending them off to school; or special occasions such as homecomings or cooking Christmas dinner. Whenever we have a party, people gravitate with their drinks to the kitchen. It always ends up the fullest and noisiest room in the house.

So what does this special room look like? It's quite big, but not huge. It's big enough to have a good-sized rectangular table in the centre, (5) ____. There is a large window above the sink, looking out onto two apple trees in the garden. There's a big, old cooking stove at one end, and at the other end a wall with a huge notice board (6) ____ of our lives, past, present, and future: a school photo of the kids; a postcard from Auntie Nancy, (7) ____ to Australia; the menu from a take-away Chinese restaurant; an invitation to a wedding (8) ____; a letter from a friend (9) ___ for years. All our world is there for everyone to read! The front door is seldom used in our house, only by strangers. I our friends use the back door (10) ___ they come straight to the kitchen and join in whatever is happening there. The kettle goes on immediately and then we all sit round the table, drinking tea and putting the world to rights! Without doubt some of the happiest times of my life have been spent in our kitchen.