II. A lot needs doing to it

2.1.  Have you ever decorated a house / a room yourself? Would you like to?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of Do-it-yourself (DIY)?

• Which jobs mentioned below can be done by yourself? Which jobs need professional help? Discuss it in groups of three, use the constructions like these:

Example: The windows are filthy. They need cleaning. –

a) I can clean them myself. or b) I should have them cleaned.

to fix the door (creaking) to install air-conditioning (stuffy) to paint / do the ceiling (peeling) to install / put in central heating

to rewire the house to redecorate the house to repair the roof (leaking) to repair the pipes (dripping)

2.2.  Match the words with the pictures and say what needs doing to the outside of the house. Use the verbs in the box.

Example: Some bricks need repairing.

bricks chimney doors garage garden gate hedge path

roof steps TV ariel windows frames window pane

clean up cut paint rebuild repair replace straighten

2.3.  You will hear somebody being shown round the house.

B efore you listen, study the plan of the house, paying attention to:

- how many rooms there are on each floor,

-how they are arranged,

-what size they are.

Listen to the recording.

Write the names of the different rooms on the plan.

2.4.  When the owner of the house first moved in, they had a lot of things done. Can you remember any of them? Listen to the recording again, if necessary, and complete the sentences. Use the words in the box to help you.

build ceiling convert cupboard lower make put in raise redecorate take down

1. In the dining-room, they had a new …… put in.

2. And they …… the dining-room decorated.

3. They had the study doorway …….

4. In the main bedroom, they had …….

5. In the kitchen, …….

6. They had the downstairs store-room …….

7. (staircase)

8. (living-room)

9. (upstairs ceilings)

10. (upstairs bedroom)

11. (upstairs bathroom)

2.5.  Here are the first words of some paragraphs of an article. With a partner, discuss what you think the article will be about.

• I never did like polystyrene ceiling tiles …

• Jean rose shortly afterwards …

• This was another piece of good luck …

• They also called the electricity and gas boards …

• Everything in the house was …

• The insurance company …

2.5.1. Read the text to find out if you guessed correctly. The Day The Ceiling Caught Fire

I never did like polystyrene ceiling tiles. Quite apart from the fire hazard, they don’t look very good. So when I moved into a house whose previous owner had covered every ceiling with polystyrene tiles, I fully intended to take the lot down. I really did. It was just that there always seemed to be other things to do that were more urgent.

Now I can tell you that nothing is more urgent. If you have such tiles on your ceiling, take them down now. Tomorrow may be too late.

For that’s the other thing about polystyrene tiles. They can turn a small fire into a killer. On the whole, we can congratulate ourselves on a very lucky escape.

Saturday, May 17, began as a fairly ordinary day. I got up at about 7 o’clock, took my wife Jean a cup of tea in bed, then set off for the south coast on business.

Jean rose shortly afterwards, did a few domestic chores, then left the house to make one or two family calls.

It was just as well that she did, for within an hour the house was filled with lethal black smoke and fumes. Burning plastic dripped from the ceiling, starting little fires in carpets or furniture.

A neighbour spotted the smoke pouring out of the shattered dining room window and called the fire brigade. Another neighbour managed to locate Jean, and she and the firemen arrived more or less simultaneously.

This was another piece of good luck, because it meant that they didn’t have to break down a door to get in. Once inside, they put out the flames in what seemed a remarkably short time and without a mess; in fact, the only evidence that the fire brigade had been inside the house was that the fire was out.

They also called the electricity and gas boards, who sent representatives to check the safety of their respective installations. “The wiring’s all right – must have been a gas leak,” said the man from the electricity board. “Nothing wrong with the gas – must have been an electrical fault,” said the gas man. Both were right, in a way. The trouble seems to have started in the electrical wiring of the cooker clock.

One thing is certain: without those ceiling tiles, it would have been a very localised fire, and might even have gone out by itself. As it was, the fire spread from the kitchen to the adjoining dining room. The heat shattered seven panes of glass, and charred one window frame so badly that it had to be replaced.

Two elderly armchairs in the dining room were destroyed, but the sofa escaped, as did the dining table. The fire brigade put out the flames before they reached the hall and stairwell, or it might have been a much more serious matter.

But the smoke damage…

Everything in the house was covered with an oily black film, almost impossible to remove. Every single item of clothing and bedding in the house needed to be washed, even those in drawers and cupboards.

There seemed to be nowhere the smoke hadn’t penetrated. Everything we owned had to be sorted out into one of three categories: ruined, cleanable, or useable immediately (well, more or less). All the goods in category two – by far the largest – we bundled into a spare bedroom, and we’re still working our way through the contents.

The insurance company paid up, with no more than the ordinary delay, for the damage to the house and the interior decoration. The ceilings have been covered with an ornamental plaster which has approved fire resistant qualities.

Now, four months later, things are slowly returning to normal. We feel we can invite people into our home again. But nothing can make us forget that we had a very lucky escape. The fire could have started at any time. Had it broken out during the night we would undoubtedly have been killed by the fumes long before anyone raised the alarm.

The discovery that you aren’t fireproof is a very frightening one.

(from Property Mover – adapted)

2.5.2. Find words or expressions in the text which mean the same as:

1) to confine flames within a particular part or area;

2) causing death;

3) to come back to the usual state;

4) happening or done at the same time;

5) that doesn’t burn;

6) to fall in drops;

7) to become black by burning;

8) to discover the place where sb is;

9) synthetic thermoplastic material looking as white rigid foam.

2.5.3. Explain the meaning of the following:

1) stairwell;

2) to pay up;

3) fire hazard;

4) to escape;

5) electricity and gas boards;

6) bedding;

7) adjoining room;

8) to penetrate.

2.5.4. Find in the text English equivalents for the following:

1) неисправность электропроводки;

2) принести чашку чая в постель;

3) в некоторой степени / в некотором роде;

4) масляная черная пленка;

5) отвечать требованиям противопожарной безопасности;

6) затушить пламя;

7) поднять тревогу;

8) заметить дым, валивший из закрытого ставнями окна;

9) утечка газа;

10) свалить все в свободной комнате;

11) все снять (сорвать).

2.5.5. Read the following sentences and decide whether they are true or false, according to the text in Exercise 3.3.

1. Polystyrene tiles are dangerous.

2. The author and his wife realise they were wrong to put them on the kitchen ceiling.

3. One day when they were both out a fire broke out.

4. It started with a gas leak in the cooker.

5. A neighbour saw flames coming out of the kitchen window and called the fire brigade.

6. Another neighbour told Jean that her house was on fire.

7. Luckily she had left the door unlocked, so the firemen didn’t have to break it down.

8. The fire brigade didn’t make a mess.

9. Two chairs in the dining room escaped.

10. But the dining room table was badly damaged.

11. Most of their possessions were ruined by smoke.

12. They were lucky the fire didn’t start at night.