Text two
Inside an English house
Hi, my name is Erik. I live in a small town in the south east of England.
I live in a semi-detached house. This means that my house is joined to another house. My house is made of bricks.In my house there are three rooms downstairs and three rooms upstairs. We have central heating which keeps our house warm. Some houses have an open fire place but we don't.
(Over 90 per cent of homes have central heating.)
Rooms Downstairs
Kitchen
If you come in to my house through the back door, you will find yourself in the kitchen. There is a carpet on the floor.
In my kitchen there is:
The fridge (refrigerator ) - This is the place where mum keeps things cool. There is also a freezer under the fridge where mum freezes things.
Dads computer - Not everyone in England has a computer in their kitchen but my dad has.
Cupboards - We have cupboards for food and for plates etc.
The Cooker - We have an electric cooker. It has four rings on top and a grill and oven underneath.
Microwave - Very quick and easy to use.
Washing Machine - Mum washes our clothes here and hangs them out in our garden to dry.
Sink - I help my mum wash up the plates in the sink. We wash the dishes in washing up bowl in the sink. We take the bowl out when we wash our hands.
Dishwasher - We put our plates, cups and cutlery in here to wash them.
Living Room
Some people call this room the lounge. It is where the television is and the comfy chairs. We have a carpet on the floor to keep our feet warm.
In my living room there is:
A table with chairs - to eat our food at Settee - In America I think they call this a sofa. It is a comfy 2 seater chair. Two comfy chairs. Television, DVD Player and Video Recorder - We also have satellite TV.
Cupboards. Bookcase
Bathroom
Most houses have a bathroom upstairs but ours is downstairs.
In my bathroom there is:
A toilet. A bath - We fill the bath up with water and then climb into it to wash ourselves.
A sink with two taps (one for hot water and one for cold) I clean my teeth at the sink and also wash my hands and face. A shower .Laundry basket - This is where I put my dirty clothes for washing.
I like having a shower best.
Rooms Upstairs
The three rooms upstairs are all bedrooms. They all have carpets on the floor and are kept warm by radiators in the room.
In my bedroom I have:
My own computer .Wardrobe - to hang my clothes in .Cupboards with drawers for my other clothes
Cupboards for all my toys. Bookcase for my books.
My bed. My bed is high up as I have my desk underneath it and my computer. Telly. I have my own television
Outside my House
We have a back garden and a front garden. In the back garden there is a swing and a lawn (an area of grass) for me to play football on and to ride my bike. Mum likes to grow vegetables in the garden and plant flowers. At the bottom of my garden is a river.In the front garden is a small lawn surrounded by loads of flowers and plants.
Text three
The building industry is currently the subject of considerable government interest and discussion. The conclusion of various reports and papers is that construction industry practice must change in order to reflect current thinking on environmental and ecological issues.
Greater consideration has to be given to the environmental impact of buildings, not only to the direct effect on the environment (visual, transport, infrastructure, etc), but also to the indirect effects such as the cost of transport of materials, ‘embodied’ energy cost, and eventual recyclability (hoped to be some way off!).
Frequently little thought is given to the finite availability of some resources and the fact that current levels of usage cannot be sustained.
However, the design of ecologically friendly housing can become an ‘exercise in extremes’, with architects striving to design the ultimate house, regardless of cost, and incorporating many features offering only minimal advantage. It is obvious that for techniques to become widely adopted (without being ‘forced’ by the government!) they must be economically viable as well as ecologically sensitive.
Having a wide range of experience in the building industry as speculative builders and developers, we obviously keep a ‘keen eye’ on cost, and hope to steer a ‘middle course’ between the ideal and practical.
Questions
Where do you live?
Did you live somewhere else when you were younger?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a house or in a flat?
What rooms should a house /flat contain?
Would you like to have a study or a workshop?
Do you like modern homes or old ones?
What kind of furniture do you have?
Do you think everybody should have their own rooms?
Where would you live if you could choose?
Would you buy or build your home?
Lexical units
architect építész
attic padlás
back door hátsó ajtó
back garden hátsó kert
balcony erkély
bar rács
bath fürdő(kád)
bathroom fürdőszoba
bed ágy
bedroom hálószoba
block of flats tömbház
bookcase könyvespolc
brick tégla
build épít
builder építő
building épület
building industry építőipar
ceiling mennyezet
cellar pince
central heating központi fűtés
coffee table dohányzóasztal
comfy kényelmes
construction építés(i)
convert átalakít
cooker tűzhely
corridor folyosó
creeper kúszónövény
cupboard rakodós szekrény
decorate falat fest, dekorál
desk íróasztal
detached house családi ház
digs albérlet
dishwasher mosogatógép
door ajtó
double bed franciaágy
downstairs alsó szint, lent
electricity elektromosság
energy cost energiaköltség
environment környezet
fence kerítés
floor padló
floor tiles padlólap
floorboards parketta
French window erkélyajtó
fridge hűtő
front garden előkert
fully fitted teljesen felszerelt
green belt zöldövezet
hedge sövény
high-rise block magasház
impact hatás
inhabitant lakos
insulation szigetelés
kitchen konyha
lamp lámpa
laundry basket szennyestartó
living room nappali
lounge nappali, hall
material anyag
microwave mikró
mortgage jelzálogkölcsön
move költözik
open fire place kandalló
opportunity lehetőség
oven sütő
pantry kamra
plumbing vízvezeték
population népesség
porch terasz
privacy magánélet
rent bérel
residental area lakónegyed
rug szőnyeg
semi-detached house ikerház
settee kanapé
share a room egy szobában lakik vkivel
shelf (tsz.:shelves) polc
shower zuhany
sink konyhai mosogató
sofa pamlag
staircase lépcsőház
suburb kertváros
switch kapcsol(ó)
tap vízcsap
television televízió
telly tévé
terraced house sorház
toilet WC
upstairs felső szint, fent
villa villa
vineyard szőlőskert
wall falat fest, dekorál
wallpaper tapéta
wardrobe akasztós szekrény
washing machine mosógép
well located jó fekvésű
whitewash meszel
window ablak
wiring villanyvezeték
within easy reach könnyen elérhető
Pictures and tasks
Look at these pictures and speak about them. Start by describing what you can see in the picture, then go on and talk about anything that comes to mind in connection with the picture.
Cities, towns, villages
Text one
As I have already told you, as a child I lived in a very small village, actually in the outskirts of one, as where I lived we didn’t have any neighbours or institutions, houses were just scattered among the vineyards. But when I was 14 and went to secondary school, I moved to Pécs, which was a city, even in the first half of the 70s. Actually, a lot of development took place when I was there, so I could see the big housing estates grow out of the ground. Pécs has a special atmosphere which caught me at the moment I went there. I spent all my free time exploring the city in the first year. I walked the whole length of the city, and admired the obvious and hidden beauties of it. Later, when I was a college student I was still fascinated by the details, but not with the bustling noisy modern city Pécs had turned into by the end of the decade. So when I finished my studies in 1981 I was happy to leave it. I have been there since, but have never spent more than two days, and the whole place was alien. I feel nostalgia for the city of my teenage years but of course you cannot travel back in time, and the modern-day city is not what I like. So I left the city in 1981 and went to work in a moderate size village on the Plains. That place is a town now, but it used to be a village then, although the population was twice as much as it is today.It had a secondary school where I taught English and the people were friendly, and the whole place was OK. I was happy there, but circumstances took several turns and I moved to the village where my parents lived at that time, and a few years later to the town where I’m living at the moment. I have been living here for 15 years but town life is not for me. I would much rather live in a village where I could have a garden and could go out in such bright autumn sunshine we are having at the moment. I don’t know whether I will have the opportunity to move, I’m not making any plans.
Text two
I was riding on the bus with my mother and I was very exited. My mother was on her way to work in an ice cream kiosk on the promenade at the seaside resort of Hunstanton.
We lived in the village of Dersingham just six miles from Hunstanton and it was the start of the school summer holidays in 1947.
We had just got over a very rough winter with lots of snow but now in July the weather was dry and warm.
My father had just come out of the army after 25 years and he had started work as a school caretaker.
My mother said she would take me to work with her and I could play on the beach.
I was only eight years old and that summer I spent most of the days, weather permitting, playing on the beach.
I made lots of friends with other local boys and girls. By the time I went back to school in September I had fallen in love with Hunstanton beach.
When the next summer arrived I was a year older and a lot more adventurous so my mother let me go in the blue lagoon swimming pool where I soon learnt to swim.
But once again I spent a lot of my time on the beach. There was so much to do and see with the rock pools full of shells, mussels, crabs of all sizes, cockles and small fish.
Each day I could not get down on to that wonderful beach quickly enough.
After the great flood of 1953 my mother changed her job and I left school and went out to work. I would still go to Hunstanton every weekend and the first thing I would do was to have a walk on the beach, my beach.
The years went by but then in 1962, after serving two years in the army, I got a job in a public house right beside the beach at Hunstanton.
I would stand in the doorway on a summer's evening and watch the sun set over the sea. It was truly wonderful. You can go all around the world and not see a sight like that.
Then in 1966 I got married and we went to live in a house right next to the beach. At the same time I started to dig bait in my spare time. So here I was, not only living beside the beach, but also working on it nearly every day.
I dug bait on Hunstanton beach for the next 30 years and I got to know every nook and cranny.
From the wonderful red, white, and brown cliffs to the north, along the golden sand as far south as the rich black mud that would squelch through your toes when you walked across it in your bare feet.
And even now, in my 66th year, I still go down to that beach every day. My beach. The beach that I fell in love with way back in that summer of 1947.
Text three
My kind of town
By Sorrel Downer
You wouldn't believe how many people want to buy a town." When Rudy Nielson says this, you can't help but doubt him. Given the money one must need to acquire a thriving settlement and the hassles that would certainly come with rescuing a declining one, town ownership seems like an option for only the most foolhardy investor.
But for romantics and visionaries – those people who see dusty streets, abandoned houses and a for sale sign and think "opportunity" – it makes perfect sense. There are dozens of mountain villages, medieval hamlets and mining communities on the market around the world, many for less than half the price of a flat in London or New York. And buying one is about buying a dream; having the freedom to play, to have things just so, to be an altruist one day and a small-scale despot the next. The buildings are just a bonus.
Nielson knows this because he has bought and sold a few towns. His company, Niho Land & Cattle, based in British Columbia, acquires them from mining companies, usually breaks them down into lots and then sells them to people looking for a place to park a mobile home for hunting and fishing weekends. But sometimes he brokers them whole.
Questions
Do you live in a city or in a small place?
How long have you been living there?
Would you like to stay there all your life or would you like to move?
Is your place a nice place to live?
What kind of shops are there?
What are services like?
What’s the best thing about your place?
Do you have a lot of traffic?
Are there any historic places, museums or exhibitions?
What would you change/develop if you could?
Lexical units
abandoned elhagyott
acquire elsajátít
admire csodál
adventurous kalandos
alien idegen
altruist emberbarát
bait csali
bare foot mezítláb
broker tőzsdealkusz
bustling nyüzsgő
but for... ha nem lenne ...
caretaker gondnok
circumstances körülmények
cockles kagyló
crabs rák
cranny rés
decade évtized
declining hanyatló
despot zsarnok
development fejlődés
dig ás
doubt kétség
explore feltár
fascinated elbűvölt
flood áradás
foolhardy ostoba
hamlet kunyhó
hassle vita, kavarodás
hidden rejtett
housing estate lakótelep
institution intézmény
investor befektető
kiosk bódé
length hosszúság
lots itt: telek
medieval középkori
mining communities bányászfalvak
moderate size közepes méretű
mussels kagyló
neighbour szomszéd
obvious nyilvánvaló
opportunity lehetőség
outskirts széle (városnak)
ownership birtoklás
promenade sétány
public house kocsma
rough durva
scatter szétszór(ódik)
settlement település
small-scale kicsi
squelch cuppog, tocsog
thrive virul
to have things just so legyen minden úgy, ahogy vki
szeretné
vineyards szőlőskertek
weather permitting ha az időjárás engedi
Pictures and tasks
Look at these pictures and speak about them. Start by describing what you can see in the picture, then go on and talk about anything that comes to mind in connection with the picture.
Travel and holidays
Text one
As a child I travelled a lot. My grandparents used to live in Budapest, and I often travelled either to them or with them. My grandfather worked for a factory that made train carriages, so both he and his wife could travel at discount prices. so anytime they travelled by train I could accompany them if it was a school holiday. I loved travelling by train. I remember the fast trains to Budapest were drawn by two big steam engines. At that time they looked enormous for the small child I was.Later, when I was at secondary school in Pécs, I could travel home only once a month. By train, of course, the coach network was not so good at that time and was terribly expensive. I had to change trains several times, but only when I was 21 years old did I take the wrong train, and only once, and of course I got off at the next station and waited for the right train. I loved travelling by train and I hated cars and coaches. The Budapest trams and buses were even worse, I felt sick while travelling on them, so I rather walked if it was possible, no matter how far I had to walk. The same in Pécs. I never used the local buses.First I travelled abroad when I was ten. My mother, brother and I went to Germany. By train, of course. Both my brother and me had pen-friends in East Germany, those children were neighbours and we were invited for a visit. It was unforgettable, partly because we didn’t use to go on holidays. My parents could go on holiday after the works in the vineyards were over, that is in November, and then they usually went to a hot water spa for two weeks, but we couldn’t go with them, because of the school or because they didn’t want to take us. We usually spent time with our grandparents during the summer holidays, later with friends, and even later we took up summer jobs. When I was a student I travelled a lot to Poland, I even learnt to speak Polish, but I have forgotten most of it since then. I still love travelling and when I had young children I always took them on holidays and travelled with them everywhere in the country. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford too many holidays abroad, but I tried my best. When I retire I will visit every country I have always wanted to visit, but never had the opportunity.
Text two
My Trip to Northern Thailand
By Kirstin Graber, 11years old, Golden, Colorado
The best vacation I have ever had was when I went to Thailand. My mom had to write an article about it so I got to go with her.
Thailand is much cheaper than the U.S. In Bangkok, I went to a restaurant like McDonalds, but it was much cheaper. I got a kids’ meal for about 75 cents. Then I went to a Baskin Robbins, and got a small ice cream cone for about a quarter. A donut on a stick was just 50 cents.
My favorite city is Chiang Rai in the northern part of Thailand. There are many hills in this area, and it is green and beautiful. In the hills of Thailand there are six hill tribes: the Ahka, Karen, Lisu, Yao, Hmong, and Lahu. They have their own languages and customs. We went on a boat upriver to a Karen village. They had a big boa constrictor. It was really gross, and I did not touch it. In the Karen Village, I rode elephants. It was not very fun because elephants take big steps, and so it kind of makes you sick.
The teen life in the tribal villages is different than ours because they don’t have very nice homes. Sometimes they don’t even have homes. In Thailand, though, you don’t have to worry about the children playing alone in the front yard because the parents know their children are safe and nobody is going to take them.
In the city, I went with my mom to a girls’ orphanage called the House of Grace. There were a lot of Akha girls around my age there, and some as young as age 6. They always smiled and I liked them. We played a lot of basketball together. The girls built their own basketball court, and it was a good one too. They thought my blond hair was the coolest thing. I let them have a couple of my hairs, and they thought that was cool.
If you go to Thailand, bring lots of shorts and a few pairs of pants. There is a lot to buy in Thailand and it is not expensive. I bought an Akha doll with a china face and Akha clothing.
Thailand has a royal family, and I went to visit the Queen Mother’s gardens and home in the mountains. On the way home, we stopped at a market and they were selling wine with a big centipede in it. In Chiang Rai, I went to a night bazaar (an outside market with lots of vendors), and they were selling food that included bamboo larvae, and cooked crickets and grasshoppers. I tried one bamboo larvae, and it tasted a little bit like a French fry.
It helps to know to know a few Thai words, such as “I don’t speak Thai”. You say it differently depending if you are a boy or girl. I met some friends in Chiang Rai who kept trying to teach me Thai words, but I couldn’t get it right. I kept practicing, and finally I learned several words.
That was my trip to Thailand and I hope you get to go there some day.
Text three
Holidaying at home
14. August 2006
August is traditionally the busiest month of the year for holidays and this is a particularly topical subject at the moment because of all the disruption that people are having to endure at airports. It would seem that the police have managed to thwart a terrorist attack on this occasion, but I wonder what implications this will have for air travel in the future and the holidays people choose to take.
Even before the events of recent days, there was a definite trend in Britain towards people choosing to holiday in their home country. And why not? There are lots of good reasons to do so. If air travel is becoming less pleasant and straightforward with all the new security checks, people may well prefer to drive somewhere and have a holiday closer to home. Also, with global warming on the increase, the weather is much better in summer in northern Europe than it was maybe thirty years ago. It is no longer necessary to flock to the Mediterranean to find hot weather and good beaches. There was even a report on the news a few weeks ago suggesting that many hotels will have to be built at British seaside resorts to accommodate the many more holidaymakers in the future who will be attracted by the hotter weather.
So, what makes a good British holiday? Well, traditionally people have liked to sit in their deckchairs at the seaside enjoying an ice cream or a good portion of fish and chips. Kids like to play on the beach and maybe take a ride on a donkey. There are so many other things to do on holiday in Britain as well. You can go walking and explore the Highlands of Scotland, or maybe take a city break in London, Edinburgh or Bath. The possibilities are endless. You don’t have a language problem in your own country and you often don’t have as far to travel either.
Whilst people will undoubtedly still want to travel to far-flung destinations all over the world, maybe the rising cost and difficulty of air travel will persuade many to stay at home. What do you think about the idea of taking a holiday in your own country?
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