Domestic chores

Have you ever met a woman who never touched a broom or a floor-cloth in her life? Nearly all women but a queen have to put up with the daily routine doing all sorts of domestic work. But different women approach the problem differently.

The so-called lady-type women can afford to have a live-in help who can do the housework. She is usually an old hand at doing the cleaning and washing, beating carpets and polishing the furniture. She is like a magician who entertains you by sweeping the floor in a flash or in no time making an apple-pie with one hand. Few are those so lucky as to have such a resident magician to make them free and happy.

Efficient housewives can do anything about the house. Tidying up is not a problem for such women. An experienced housewife will not spend her afternoon ironing or starching collars; she gets everything done quickly and effortlessly. She keeps all the rooms clean and neat, dusting the furniture, scrubbing the floor, washing up and putting everything in its place. She is likely to do a thorough cleaning every fortnight. She removes stains, does the mending, knits and sews. What man doesn't dream of having such a handy and thrifty wife?

The third type of woman finds doing the everyday household chores rather a boring business. You can often hear her say that she hates doing the dishes and vacuuming. So you may find a huge pile of washing in the bathroom and the sink is probably piled high with plates. A room in a mess and a thick layer of dust everywhere will always tell you what sort of woman runs the house. What could save a flat from this kind of lazy-bones? Probably a good husband.

Finally, there are housewives who do not belong to any group. They like things in the house to look as nice as one can make them. But they never do it themselves. They'd rather save time and effort and they do not feel like peeling tons of potatoes or bleaching, and rinsing the linen. It is simply not worth doing. They persuade their husbands to buy labour-saving devices — a dish-washer, a vacuum-cleaner, a food processor or... a robot-housewife. Another way for them to avoid labour-and-time-consuming house chores is to send the washing to the laundry, to cook dinner every other day, or at least make their husbands and children help them in the home.

In the end, there exist hundreds of ways to look after the house. You are free to choose one of them. What kind of housewife would you like to be?

I. Match the names of household objects with the verbals denoting household chores:

► Pattern: a) A toaster is used for making toasts.

b) It's nice to have a toaster as you can easily make a couple of pieces of toast for breakfast.

1. a vacuum (cleaner) A. washing up

2. a sewing machine B. ironing and pressing

3. a dish washer C. peeling potatoes

4. a washing machine D. heating a flat

5. an electric iron E. polishing the floor

6. an electric potato-peeler F. beating carpets

7. a floor polisher G. washing clothes

8. a refrigerator (a fridge) H. mixing all sorts of foodstuffs

9. a boiler I. making and mending clothes

10. a carpet beater J. refrigerating food

11. a mixer K. vacuuming (cleaning) / hoovering

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13