House and Flat

Sean A. Stack

Most people in Britain live in houses, with only a few, usually in the poorer areas of the city, living in flats. Many flats were built in the ‘60s, but now these great blocks of flats are often in ruins, and some have already been demolished to make room for more houses. The terraced houses which the blocks replaced are being rebuilt, and far more popular. Terraced houses are usually for working families, but now in London, where houses prices are very high, the middle classes are moving into them and changing the character of entire streets. In the suburbs one finds older middle class areas, with semi-detached or detached houses, all with large gardens, and a garage for the car.

Most houses have two or three bedrooms on the upper floor. These are often furnished with fitted furniture, which is built especially to fit that room. There will be a bed or a double bed for the married couple, a desk, a dressing table, and bedside table, where a lamp and an alarm clock would stand. On the ground floor there will be a bathroom and toilet, a kitchen, a living room and perhaps a dining room. Only the largest houses have a study or library nowadays.

Twenty years ago, to have all modern conveniences (all mod cons as they are called for short) meant to have running water and an indoor toilet. Now, a house is considered primitive if it doesn’t have a bath and a shower, a washing machine and a dishwasher, a cooker and a microwave oven, a refrigerator and a freezer. Of course, a television in the living room is considered a necessity, and there is usually a video-player there as well. There will be a three piece suite, consisting of a sofa and two armchairs, a coffee table, usually covered with newspapers opened at the television page, and probably some cabinets displaying favourite ornaments, or old family photographs, or books.

The dining room is usually next to the kitchen, at the rear of the house, and is dominated by the big dining table under a tablecloth, surrounded by chairs. There will be pictures on the wall, but usually there is no other furniture in this room, expect perhaps a small cabinet for cutlery and crockery. Every room is carpeted, except for the bathroom and the kitchen.

One can tell a lot about the owners of a house by looking at the garden. If it is neat, with a short lawn and well-kept flowerbeds, you will find tidy, houseproud, conventional people. If the lawn is overgrown, and the flowers choken by weeds, you have found a house of lazy people – the house will probably be dirty inside as well. If the garden is used for growing vegetables, you will find careful, practical people inside, who probably enjoy to work in the garden if it is for something useful, like homegrown potatoes or cabbage. But if you find a garden where all the plants have been covered by concrete, then you’ve found someone who hates people staring at this garden to see what sort of person he is. So don’t stand there looking too long, or he may come out and hit you.

1. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if necessary.

2. Explain the difference between the words below:

A study – a cabinet

3. Write in the missing words and use them in sentences of your own:

___ ruins, to make room ___, to move ___, ___ the suburbs, ___ the upper floor, to consist ___, to be covered ___, next ___, ___ the rear ___ the house, except ___, to stare ___, to come ___.

4. Prepare a report on housing in this country using the text above.

Memory Practice

Learn the following dialogues by heart:

Dialogue № 1

– So you have moved into a new flat, haven’t you?

• Yes, last Saturday we had our house-warming party. Now we have a nice three-room flat with all mod cons in a new block of flats in the centre of the city. Here’s the front entrance.

• Shall we have to climb the stairs?

• No, there is a lift to take us up… This is our landing… By the way, Pete’s flat is two flights down.

Dialogue № 2

– Let me help you out of your coat. Hang your hat on that peg… Now I’ll show you round the flat. This door leads to the living room.

• What a spacious room! What’s the floor space?

• About 25 square metres, I believe.

• I like the pattern of the wallpaper. It makes the room look gay.

• The room is not well furnished yet. The sofa fits in very well, but the writing desk looks out of place here.

• But don’t cram too much furniture into the room. There should be enough space to move about. I don’t like heavy pieces of furniture.

• You are quite right. An overcrowded room doesn’t show good taste.

• You get a fine view from the balcony!

• On the right you see a shopping centre. Everything is close at hand.

Dialogue № 3

– Here is our bedroom.

• A very nice room. A cheval mirror, a dressing table… But where is the wardrobe?

• We have a built-in wardrobe. It’s very convenient. Much floor space is saved.

• Is this your kitchen? We also have a gas cooker/stove and a refrigerator for storing perishable foods in. But we have no refuse chute.

• These shelves are for kitchen utensils and this is a sink with a rack for dishes above.

• Indeed, you are lucky to have such a nice apartment!

1. Explain the difference between the words below:

Comfortable – convenient

2. Read the dialogues and make up your own ones using the italicized vocabulary

Dialogue № 4

can’t make head or tail of sth – understand

or rather – to be more exact

it’ll cost you a pretty penny – cost much

it is not likely to fall in value – price is not going down

scaffolding – poles and planks to help construction

How much will it be? – How much will it cost?

Have it your own way – just as you please, if you don’t want to tell me, I don’t want to know.

If I were in your shoes – in your situation

French windows – a pair of light doors made of glass in a frame usually opening out on to a garden or balcony