Read this application form, noting how the couple describe the house in question and its furniture. As you read, answer the question below.

If the couple decided to sell the house next month, which of these features could they say it had?

1. two bathrooms

2. polished wooden floors

3. a slate roof

4. attractive wallpaper throughout

5. three bedrooms

6. a spacious garden shed

7. a mature vegetable garden

8. a state-of-the-art kitchen

9.

When my wife and I moved into our present house, it was little better than a slum, completely unfurnished apart from a few bits and pieces which the former occupant had either forgotten to or - more likely - decided not to take with her. (These included an enormous sideboard that weighed a ton, a chest of drawers with its only remaining door hanging off, an ugly bookcase with all its panes of glass cracked, and a broken nineteenth-century piano stool.)

The floors then were just bare boards with one or two mats and strips of lino. We now have fitted carpets in every room except the bathroom (where we have special long-lasting tiles at over & 20 per square foot,) and the kitchen (polished parquet floor), plus several sheepskin rugs in the reception rooms. On arrival, we found most of the interior decorated with faded, flowery-patterned wallpaper, peeling at the picture rail. We have painted throughout in magnolia (windows and sills wine-red or stripped pine) except in the lounge, where we have had hessian hung. A few tasteful reproductions and a number of old German prints (all expensively framed) are on the walls, along with some carefully selected posters in the children's rooms.

Numerous structural alterations have been carried out, notably the conversion of the old garden shed into a second bathroom, complete with bath, basin, bidet and W.C. (lambswool-covered lavatory seat and press button flush) and the extension of the conservatory to make a sun lounge - with window seats all around it - leading on to the newly-laid patio. The roof, meanwhile, has been completely renovated, slates giving way to tiles, double glazing has been fitted on all windows, and the old fireplaces have been blocked up, except in the lounge which has retained its grate and mantlepiece for the old-world image it creates. In terms of heating, we have graduated from electric fires to gas fires, con vector heaters, storage heaters and recently to full gas-fired central heating with extra-large boiler and double radiators, each with its own thermostatic control.

We have also made dramatic improvements in the kitchen. The old installations were ripped out last year and in their place came: a new sink unit with mixer tap and double drainer, a line of smart cupboards all along one wall and two rows of shelves along the other, a split-level cooker, eye-level grill, double oven -you name it, I think we've got it. Upstairs, the old iron double bed we inherited has been replaced by elegant twin beds with interior-sprung mattresses and continental quilts (duvets), of course.Our children, Alexandra and Charles, have recently moved out of their bunk beds and into single beds in separate rooms; these have been specially equipped with a desk, blackboard and easel, and toy chest. All bedrooms have built-in wardrobes now and my wife has her own personal dressing table.

Our more expensive purchases, apart from the above, include:

a leather upholstered lounge suite comprising a four-seater sofa -or should we say settee? -and two armchairs. (We remember with horror the year we had to make do with a studio couch plus a few pouffes and cushions.)

a solid wood table and set of matching dining room chairs, plus a microwave oven, a new shower unit in the master bathroom, plumbed in of course, so that no unsightly pipes are visible.

new stereo equipment, colour TV, a video recorder, home computer and cocktail cabinet.

It may interest you to know, finally, that we have made a formal complaint about the ghastly tallboy and divan that our neighbours have had standing in their back garden for nearly six months. (Our garden, incidentally, has been recently landscaped and completely transformed: gone is the vegetable patch; in its place aneat lawn and flower-beds.) All our (new) friends say we have done a wonderful job on our property. One or two have invited us to join the amateur dramatic society and they are even giving us the names of private schools in the area. I hope you will consider our application favourably.

(the text is taken from ‘The Heinemann ELT English Wordbuilder” by Guy Wellman)

ACTIVE VOCABULARY (example from “Read, Learn and Speak” by Z.A.Saharova)

home дом, домашний очаг

feel at home чувствовать себя как дома

basement подвал

chimney дымоход

balcony балкон

flower box цветочный ящик

window / window frame окно / оконная рама

French window большая стеклянная дверь

window shutters оконные ставни

front door / back door парадная дверь / черный ход

door handle дверная ручка

spyhole глазок

front steps входные ступеньки

porch крыльцо

staircase лестница

veranda [vq'rxnda] веранда

patio ['pxtiOV] открытая площадка для отдыха перед домом

PREMISES AND OUTHOUSE

at the front of the house перед домом

at the back of the house

lawn

orchard

kitchen garden

flower-bed

fence

hedge

pond

summer house

court

green-house

garage

tool shed

pavement

back yard

to face smth

позади дома

лужайка

фруктовый сад

огород

клумба

забор

живая изгородь

пруд

беседка

площадка для игр

оранжерея, парник

гараж

сарай для хозяйственного инвентаря тротуар задний двор

на заднем дворе

выходить на

ACCOMMODATION AND MAINTANANCE

conveniences

central heating

radiator

refuse chute [SHt]

to have running water

brick house

wallpaper

to paper

to paint (a door white)

paint comes off (peels off)

freshly-painted / unpainted

tiles

tiled

parquet floor [pa:kei]

to whitewash

to remodel

удобства

центральное отопление

батарея центрального отопления

мусоропровод

иметь водопровод

кирпичный дом

обои

оклеивать обоями

выкрасить (дверь в белый цвет)

краска сходит

свежеокрашенный / некрашеный

кафельная плитка, черепица покрытый кафелем

паркетный пол

белить

перестраивать

Vocabulary Work

1. Read the words below, crossing one out:

[i:] – peel, sheet, suite, dish

[u:] –tool, chute, good, stool

[ A ] – shutter, oven, bunk, towel

[ au ] - double, lounge, house

[ L ] – wall, carpet, wardrobe, sideboard

*******

2. Practice good reading, paying attention to:

a) Loss of plosion:

front door; brick-built; next to it; and bamboo chair; ground floor; first floor; but no;

b) Alveolars replacd by dentals:

in the kitchen; on the ground floor; between the front room; use the telephone; hand the key over; in the morning of in the evening;

c) Pronunciation of the linking [r]:

after eleven-thirty; baths are included; there is a good fire-place; except for a large sagging sofa.

*******

3. a) Use the text to find English equivalents to the following:

1. to go from one place of residence to another;

2. to repair and paint a building so that it is in good condition again;

3. to be provided with the things that are needed for a particular kind of activity and work;

4. forming a permanent part of a wall (room); something that cannot be separated;

5. a comfortable seat with raised arms and a back, wide enough for four people;

6. to connect a piece of equipment such as a washing machine to the water supply.

b) Use the words from (a) to fill in the gaps in the following sentences:

1. After we had had our taps ___________ we papered the walls and tiled the floor of the kitchen.

2. We _________a few days ago and happy to have good living conditions.

3. The kitchen was very convenient, ___________ with wardrobes and state-of-the-art devices.

They decided to _________ their old house instead of buying a new one.

*******

3. Say how the owners of the house described the things and features their house used to have. What changes did they make?

sideboard; chest of drawers; bookcase; piano stool; floors; interior; garden shed; conservatory; fireplaces; electric fires; old installations; double bed; bunk bed; studio couch; garden.

Cover the right-hand column. On the left are listed the uses of some rectangular pieces of material that no household should be without. Guess what they are and then check your answers in the right-hand column.

	things to sleep between	(a pair of) sheets
	something to clean and polish table tops	a duster
	something to wash your face with	a flannel
	and to dry it with	a towel
	something to wipe your mouth with after eating	a serviette or napkin
	something to put round baby's bottom	a nappy
	things to keep you warm in bed	blankets (bedspread/duvet)
	something to blow your nose with	a handkerchief (tissue, hankie)
	something to wash up with	a dishcloth or scourer
	and dry the dishes with	a tea-towel or tea cloth
	something to cover the table before laying it	a table cloth
	something to put hot dinner plates on	a table mat
	something to clean the floor with	a floor cloth
	things to stop people peeping through the
	windows at you	net curtains (or blinds)

(the exercise is taken from ‘The Heinemann ELT English Wordbuilder” by Guy Wellman)

*******

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14