Text b. Feng shui

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

Change your room to change your life!

According to this Chinese philosophy, if you recognize your home to allow positive energy to flow, good health, wealth and happiness will be yours.

Your living room

Feng shui is all about your balance. Try to arrange sofas and chairs in a square around a circular table. Avoid an L-shaped arrangement as this leaves a missing corner. The centre of the living room should be left clear. Make sure there is a lot of light, which will promote good energy.

A bookcase is bad feng shui, as its sharp corners generate negative ‘arrows’, and if you have one you ought to put a climbing plant on it to combat this effect.

Put plants in the corners of the room, as they attract good energy and will energize your wealth, but not ones with sharp leaves such as yuccas or cactus. Fresh flowers also bring good energy, but throw them away as soon as they begin to die, and don’t have dried flowers.

Mirrors are vital because they reflect energy. Round and oval ones are best, but they should not be opposite each other, nor should they reflect a door, otherwise your good fortune will go out of it.

To promote harmony between the members of the family, have photos of them around the room, preferably smiling. If you want to find a partner, energize the south-west corner of your living room or bedroom by placing a floor light at least 1.75 m high there, and turn it on every evening. Surround yourself with ornaments and objects in pairs, such as ducks or birds.

To avoid blocking the positive energy in the room, keep everything tidy. Don’t accumulate too many unnecessary things. Take a look at every object, and ask yourself, “Do I really need it? Do I really like it?” If the answer is no, get rid of it.

Your bedroom

You should have the head of your bed placed against a wall, as this gives you a sense of security. Avoid having a bed under a window, as you are exposed to danger and bad energy from outside. If this is possible, use blinds or heavy curtains to cover the window. Never sleep in a place where you can’t see the door – you should always be able to see someone who’s coming in.

Avoid hanging pictures or lights above your bed, as this leads to a subconscious feeling of threat. Don’t put mirrors opposite the bed either, as they ‘break up’ the image, and therefore the relationship reflected in them.

Keep lighting low and soft, and decorate preferably with dark colours. Do not hang paintings of fierce animals, abstract subjects, or water in the bedroom it suggests financial loss. Make sure you never put plants in the bedroom, and don’t have a TV facing the bed, or at least cover it when it is not in use.

Don’t use the same room for your bedroom and your study, as the different energies will be in conflict. If you have to do this, try to separate the areas either symbolically with plants, or with a screen. Cupboards are better than open shelves. Put away piles of files or unfinished work – don’t leave them on your desk. Being tidy promotes positive energy. Wherever you study make sure your desk is in the north-east corner, especially if you are preparing for exams, as this area symbolizes education.

Ex. 2. Answer the questions.

1. Do you know anything about the philosophy of feng shui?

2. What is feng shui about?

3. What is bad feng shui? Why?

4. Where should we put plants? Why?

5. Why are mirrors vital?

6. What should you do to promote harmony between the members of the family?

7. How can you avoid blocking the positive energy in the room?

8. Where should you have your bed placed? Why?

9. Why should you avoid hanging pictures or lights above your head?

10. Can you use the same room for your bedroom and your study? Why not?

11. What area symbolizes education? Do you really believe that the right placement of a desk will help you at the exam?

Ex. 3. Work in pairs.

A tells B about:

-arranging the furniture

-light

-bookcases

-plants and flowers

-mirrors

-family harmony

-finding a partner

-being tidy

B tells A about:

- where to put your bed

- where not to put pictures/lights/ mirrors

- lighting

- paintings

- plants and TV

-studying in your bedroom

- being tidy

TEXT C. ALL SHAPES AND SIZES

Ex. 1. Read some information about various houses which are for sale. Which one is closer to your ideal house and why?

Have you ever considered moving away from the ordinary to the eccentric? Well, now is your chance to view a variety of unusual homes, from stone towers to Victorian hospitals.

1. A smart, local builder decided this small, unused Victorian hospital was an opportunity not to be missed! He set about changing it into two large separate houses. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, then you need to check these two exceptional developments. Each house has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a luxury open-plan kitchen and huge living room. Buy one of these houses and you’re ready to move in immediately, without any delays, as they are already fitted with everything you will ever need, from a Jacuzzi to a dishwasher!

2. This is a three-storey stone-built house enclosed within a walled garden, where a new buyer could grow his own vegetables. In 1980 the building was turned into a guesthouse with a lounge, and a large dining room with wooden walls. The kitchen is spacious and fully fitted with the latest equipment, having a small extra room leading from it which could be used as storage space. There are also five double bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.

3. The outside of this particular house remains the same as when it was originally built. It is a large but simple building, typical of the period, with a twin staircase on either side of the main entrance. Its many windows give the building of impressive architecture that adds a certain character to the area as a whole. On the ground floor, there is a long, open-plan kitchen, dining room which is fully equipped, as well as a luxurious sitting room. Meanwhile, the upstairs consists of four, en-suite bedrooms which make life easier and more comfortable for any buyer. Each en-suite bathroom is in a different colour, according to the design and colour scheme of each bedroom.

4. There is no other house like it in town! Here is the kind of unique building that the more eccentric buyer would be looking for. It is an unusual, round tower, which appears tiny from the outside, but on taking a closer look, one will notice three spacious bedrooms, flooded in light from the Gothic windows, two large workspaces and locally made-to-order cupboards, would please anyone with a keen interest in cookery. The high-ceilinged living room looks out over the local park area and so allows the owner his own little area of greenery while still living in the heart of the city.

5. The outside of this house, which is covered in York stone, is approached from the road through electronic gates, allowing the buyer to have a high level of privacy. The downstairs includes a long kitchen with old wooden floors and matching shelves made by local craftsmen, which add to the general warmth of this home. The lounge has an extremely large, open fire from ceiling to floor for those winter nights! Upstairs, meanwhile, there are three, rather small bedrooms with single wardrobes and wall lights as well as a gleaming white bathroom with porthole windows giving the impression of being on board a ship!

Ex. 2. For questions 1-15, choose from the houses (A-E). Some houses may be chosen more than once.

Which house would you recommend for someone who:

- likes the idea of a room that reminds them of the sea?

- generally has rather extreme tastes?

- enjoys gardening?

- wants to have a bathroom as part of each bedroom?

- insists on a private lifestyle?

- is in a hurry to change homes?

- likes a lot of natural sunlight?

- needs a more natural environment despite their urban lifestyle?

- needs two individual houses attached to each other?

- enjoys heat from a natural fire?

- appreciates the work of skilled carpenters?

- wants a house they can use as a business for tourists?

Ex. 3. Match column A with column B to form the collocations, then read the text again and check your answers.

A

open-plan

storage

double

twin

main

ground

en-suite

electronic

open

B

fire

floor

lights

gates

kitchen

entrance

bathroom

bedroom

wall

staircase

wardrobe

space

single

Ex. 4. Read the text below and look carefully at each line. If a line is correct, put a tick (√) by it. If it has a word which should not be there, write the word at the end of a line.