Do many Englishmen live in houses?

In Britain families like to live in houses rather than in flats or apartments. 'Apartments' is American English. 78% of people live in houses and only 21% live in flats. Most houses are made of brick.

Many live in two storey terraced or semi-detached houses. Some­times when people get older they move to a bungalow which is a house with only one storey.

A country cottage which is made of stone or a mansion is only a dream for most people.

While in most European countries in particular in cities, people tend to live in flats, a high percentage of British families live in houses with their own gardens. The majority of houses and flats are owned by the people who live in them, while about 35 per cent are rented, mostly from the local councils. Whole terraces of 19th century workers' houses are being reno­vated in many cities and new housing estates are being built on factory wastelands and in disused docklands. Some of these new residential areas are so pleasant that better-off families like living in them and the houses are becoming too expensive for workers with low incomes.

There are now more than thirty new towns in Britain. They all have been planned and built since 1945. They have a park-like quality; the houses are surrounded by green open spaces, gardens and trees. The central square is a shopping precinct, or traffic-free zone, which is covered on all sides to keep shoppers dry. Each new town, with populations between fifty and eighty thousand, has its well-designed industrial estate within cycling distance of every home.

Exercises

a. Read the text and write out the Sentence where the verb is used in the Present Perfect Tense.

Fill in the following table with a few examples of your own: The Perfect Tenses

=J Grammar Notes

1 The Perfect Tenses are used to express the completion of an action by a given time in the present, past or future.

2 The Perfect Tenses are often.used with the following words: ever, never, just, this week, this month, this year.

Have you seen him this month?

3 Verbs in the Present Perfect Tense are often translated into Russian with the help
of Past Tense.

b. Translate the following pairs of sentences into English, paying attention to the use offenses:

1 Я никогда не был в Нью-Йорке. — Я был в Лондоне в прошлом году.

2 В прошлом месяце мы изучили лишь две темы. — А всего этот предмет включает 25 тем.

3 Где он отдыхал в этом году. — Не знаю, но в прошлом году он побывал в Испании.

4 Вы уже посмотрели фильм "Влюбленный Шекспир"? — Да, я посмотрел его как только он вышел на наши экраны.

c. Complete the following sentences paying attention to the use of tenses:

1 I haven't seen you since________________________________

2 We've been here for_____________________________________

3 She hasn't spoken to me__________________________________

4 I haven't had the time to_______________________________

5 Nobody has written to me_____________________________

6 It has not rained_____________________________________

7 Have you ever________________________________________,

d. Write down the words which are pronounced in the following way:

[a'paitmsnt] ____________ _ [pa'sent] ___________

['teres] ____________ [ps'sentid3] ___________

[Ълпдэюи] ____________ _ [ma'dsoriti] ___________

['maenjn] ____________ _ ['ston ] (a floor) ___________

e. Read the following questions paying attention to the intonation,
for your group^mate to answer:

1 'Which of the S two, |'flats or a/ partments,| is A'merican ^ English?

2 'Do 'Englishmen pre'fer 'living in s houses?

3 'What 'types of 'houses are 'popular in 'cities and * towns? 'Do 'all of them 'have/ gardens?

4 'Do 'most 'people 'own or / rent houses?

5 From 'whom are 'houses 'rented * mostly?

6 'What 'sites are 'usually 'used to develop 'new,resi'dential 'area; in» cities?

7 'What do the ^;'new 'towns' in 'Britain ) look like?

f. Have a look at the picture and say what type(s) of houses you see. Would you prefer to live in a semi-detached house or a terraced house?

g. Have a look at the plan of a semi-detached house and describe the house. Say why there are three bedrooms, to your mind. Do you think the interior of a terraced house might look very much the same?

A plan of a semi-detached house

Upstairs

Moving to a Wilcon Home is now incredibly easy.

In fact there are a whole range of ways we can smooth out the process of buy­ing a truly luxurious new home.

Our Part Exchange Scheme takes the worry out of selling your home - and you don't even have to pay any estate agent fees. Alternatively our Easy Mover, Easy Start or Deposit Paid schemes may better suit your needs.

Which makes a Wilcon Home more attractive than ever. And we should know. We've been building many of the finest homes in the country since 1905. Simply call us or cut out the coupon and send it — it won't cost you a penny.

i. Answer the following questions:

1 What type of house do the agents________________________

advertise?

2 How much could such a house ______________________

cost, to your mind?

3 Who could afford it? ______________________

4 What services did the agents offer ______________________

to prospective clients to make them

interested?

5 Are the services of real-estate agents developing in Russia?

6 In what types of houses do you_________________________

think most professionals/managers/

skilled workers live? I

j. Work in pairs

Imagine you are an Englishman, who is interested in buying a Wilcon Home. Have a talk with your friend and ask him for advice.

k. Translate the following words and expressions into Russian and write a few sentences of your own with them:

to live in luxury a luxury hotel

to buy luxuries a luxury ocean liner

a luxurious hotel/ocean liner/house

1. Say if you agree or disagree with the following statements and substantiate
your point of view:

1 More and more people like living in houseboats.

2 Only old people like living in caravans, or moving homes.

3 An Englishman's house is his castle.

4 Many people like visiting historic palaces and castles.

2. Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle has been the home of kings and queens for nearly nine centuries, and is by far the oldest royal resi­dence still in use. It was originally built not as a resi­dence but as a fortress.

Soon after it was erected as a military post it started to be used as a royal residence. No trace remains of the earliest royal

apartments, which were built of timber and other perishable mate­rials. But some kind of royal lodging existed in 1110 when King Henry I held his court in the castle as the records say. 50 years later, during the reign of his grandson King Henry II the occupants were able to enjoy the luxury of the stone buildings, There were two sets of apartments, one for domestic use in the Upper Ward and the other for ceremonial purposes in the Lower Ward.

Now in the Upper Ward the State Apartments stand and the Lower Ward is occupied by St. George Chapel. The second set of apart­ments was destroyed by fire a little over a century later, since when the royal lodgings have been confined to The Upper Ward.

The castle was reconstructed a few times. The first reconstruction, by King Henry III after his marriage was the last word in luxury for the age. King Edward demolished this residence and erected a new and more spacious range of apartments which stood for more than three centuries. These apartments were still standing when King Charles I spent his last Christmas in captivity at the castle in 1648, shortly before his execution. After the Restoration his son, King Charles II, replaced them with a new palace in the fashion­able Baroque style.

King George IV carried out the castle's last and greatest recon­struction, He did not destroy King Charles's elegant apartments but he had the smaller rooms converted into a wing to house visit­ing royal families. He built new private apartments for himself. The larger rooms were remodelled for ceremonial use. All the new work was dominate by the Gothic style.

So successful was the design of this great reconstruction and so sound the workmanship that little alteration has been needed since. The basic structure of the palace is much the same as that used by Queen Elizabeth II today.

Exercises

a. Read the text and write out the sentences in which the verbs are used in the Perfect Tenses and translate them into Russian.

b. Write down the words which are pronounced in the following way:

I'penjabl] ___________ _ j

['lAkJan] ___________ _ J

[Ug'zjuanas] ___________ __ |

[n:'modl] ___________ _ ]

[ts kan'vsit] ___________ _ j

[ta di'mohj] ___________ __ |

с Insert correct articles: 1

1 This text speaks about... history of... Windsor Castle.

2 If I'm not mistaken... castle is located very close to... London,... capital of... Great Britain. <

3 It was built as... fortress. \

4... castle was erected as... military post. I

5 At that distant time London was secured by two fortresses, one of; which has survived as... Tower of London.

6... main entrance to... Windsor Castle is... gateway built by... King Henry VIII in 1509 when... castle was already more than 400 years old.!

d. Write down the nouns corresponding to the following verbs and translate
them into Russian. Make a few short sentences.

e.g. to house — house — Since the hotels were full, they housed their friends.

to use________________________________________________

to record______________________________________________

to reign_______________________________________________

to range______________________________________________

to start_______________________________________________

to stand______________________________________________

e. Write down the families of the following words:
e.g. to reside — residence, resident, residential

to lodge___________________ to occupy_________________

to originate________________ to destroy__________________

to demolish

Make a few short sentences with the above words.

f. Write down the adjectives formed from the following words with the help of suffixes -able or -a/. Add a few nouns to the adjectives you have formed.

eg. to perish — perishable (food, materials, goods,...)

tradition — traditional (songs, festivals, occupations,...)

residence___

ceremony__

to understand
to read_____

occupation

g. Read the following questions on the text for your group-mate to answer:

1 'How 'long has 'Windsor 'Castle been a 'royal» residence?

2 'What was it о t riginally?

3 'Have the o'riginal 'royal a'partments of the 'castle sur-^ vived?

4 'What are the 'Upper 'Wards and 'Lower 'Wards of the

castle» famous for?

5 'What 'English 'kings con'tributed to the,recon'struction

of the ^ castle?

=U Do you know this?

Leeds Castle is the oldest and most romantic of England's 'stately homes' in the south east county of Kent. It was built in stone by a Norman baron nearly 900 years ago. The earliest of the queens whose loved home it was, was the Spanish princess Eleanor of Castile. She saved the life of her cru­sading husband Edward I after he was.struck down by. an assassin's poisoned dagger

at Acre. Edward's love for this noble stately woman proved the guiding star of his life, the happiest part of which was spent with her at Leeds Castle. After her death he wrote 'In life I loved her dearly and I cannot cease to love her in death'. At every place where her bier rested on its journey to Westminster, he raised a cross in her memory. The name of the last cross was the chere reine (or Charing) cross which has survived in the London thoroughfare of Charing Cross.

3. Versailles

There is probably no name in France which has much prestige at­tached to it as that of Versailles. And many millions of visitors flock there every year to see the world's most famous palace and to discover its historical significance. The ensemble of Versailles rep­resents perfect arrangement of the buildings, the gardens, the fountains, the lakes and the avenues.

The first mention of the name of Versailles was made in 1075. Until the end of the XVI century the estate of Ver­sailles was a modest crown dependency. Then it became the property of a powerful Gondi family. At that time Henry IV enjoyed stag hunt­ing in this desolate country of forests, in the company of his elder son who later, as Louis XIII, bought the surrounding land and in 1623 built a hunting lodge on a hillock. Shortly after he bought the domain of Versailles from the Gondi family and, on the site of the hunting lodge, built a chateau. He laid out the first flower beds, turning this charming estate into a sort of hermitage where he was going to retire for the rest of his days as soon as his son came of age. His untimely death put stop to these plans but he passed his pas­sion for Versailles onto Louis XIV, who transformed the chateau into a fairy-tale palace. He renovated the decoration of the apart

ments, erected new outbuildings, a small Orangery and a Menag­erie to shelter his ever growing collection of exotic animals. The largest sums were spent on the gardens.

Andre Le Nitre designed the general layout giving them perspective that were out of proportion compared with the size of the building. The King came to Versailles to forget the worries and strain of rul­ing. But in May, 1664 great festivities which were held there spread the reputation of Versailles throughout Europe. The in­creasing interest in Versailles soon made the King add new build­ings onto the three sides facing the garden which thus comprized the New Chateau and made it more in keeping with the monu­mental proportions of the gardens. In 1682 Louis XTV decreed that Versailles was to be his official residence.

The New Chateau, designed by Louis Le Vau, is totally different from the former one. Now it is a majestic palace in the Italian and distinctly Baroque style with sand coloured facades. The outside walls are animated by statues, low reliefs and protruding columns. The flat roofing is concealed by a ballustrade decorated with fire ornaments and trophies.

Exercises

a. Read the text and complete the following sentences:

1 The ensemble of Versailles represents perfect arrangement of

2 The first mention of the name of Versailles_________________

3 Until the end of the fourteenth century the estate of Versailles was

4 Then it became the property of_______________

5 At that time Henry IV enjoyed stag hunting_____

b. Write out a few sentences from the text on the following:

■ the role of Louis XIII in founding Versailles

■ the role of Louis XIV in the history of Versailles

i Andre Le Notre

■ Louis Le Vau

■ the present sight of Versailles

с Write down the words which are pronounced in the following way:

d. Sum up what new facts you learned about Versailles from the text.

Do you know this?

1 In May-June 1717 Peter the Great stayed at Versailles.

2 On May 20,1782 the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, Future Paul I, visited Versailles.

3 In January, 1871 the German Empire was proclaimed there.

4 In January, 1875 the French Republic was proclaimed in the Chateau of Versailles.

5 On June 28,1919 the Treaty of Versailles ending the First World War was signed there.

e. Write down extensive answers to the following questions:

1 Are palaces and castles very nice places to live in?

2 Why do many palaces and castles have big gardens around?

3 Layouts of palaces in European countries are very much alike, aren't they?

f. Describe the appearance of a few historic estates located in the suburbs of Moscow
(in Archangelskoe, Kuskovo, etc.)

Pioneer of open-plan interiors in homes and offices

After studying civil engeneering at the University of Wisconsin, Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) worked for tows H.Sidlivcux the great Chicago architect. He became Sullivan's chief assistant and took an active part in some of the great achievements in Chicago's commercial architecture. In 1889 Wright began ac­cepting commisions of his own and set up his Oak Park Illinois studio. LXuing the next 20 years he built his revolutionary 'Prairie houses', characterized by low-slung roof planes, ribbon windows, and terraces that extend the house into the landscape. The Prairie house demon-Falling water' built for the ^strated Wright's theory of -organic archi- Pittsburgh department store tectum', according to which buildings owner Edgar Kaufmann, this should blend naturally with their sur-house at Bear Run, Pennsylva- roundings.

nia, is cantilevered out over a Wright was a structural innovator as natural waterfall. The core of _well experimenting with steel cantile-the house is a rocky ledge that _{yers and poured} concrete. He was the forms the heart of the fireplace. _{first tQ totroduce open plannlng by}

eliminating confining walls in buildings and create dynamic interi­ors with spiral ramps. The Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wis­consin, /f/aleisin West, his Arizona winter home and studio, the Kaufmann House in Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim museum in New York City are striking examples of Wright's creative genius. In a professional career spanning 70 years, Wright built close to 500 structures and designed scores more. His work was daring and controversial, but always in the forefront of modern architec­ture. He once summed it up:

I am not interested in the architecture of yesterday, or today even, I am constructing a new tomorrow.'

1 Английский для гуманитариев

Exercises

a. Read the text and explain the use of articles in the first paragraph.

b. Write down the words which are pronounced in the following way:

[in'tiana] ____________ [(ta) ik'spenrrant]

[eks'trana] ____________ __ ['djnyssjj

['a:kitekt}3] ____________ __ [kn'eitiv]

[ss'raundirjz] ____________ __ [,kontre'v3:jl]

с Read the following questions for your group-mate to answer. Write down the answers:

1 'Was the 'name of 'Frank 'Lloyd

'Wright fa^ miliar to you?;---------------------

2 'What did you * know about him? ________________

3 'What do you 'know about him

» now?

4 'Why was he 'called a 'structural

inno» vator?--------------------------------------------------------

5 'Do you 'like the ap'pearance of

'Edgar 'Kaufmann's / house?______________________

d. Describe the outlook of this house and say if it is one of the revolutionary
Prairie houses built by F.L.Wright.

e. Write down synonyms of the words in italics:

the great Chicago architect_________________________

the great achievements in Chicago's commercial architecture

pioneer of open-plan interiors______________________

striking examples of his creative genius_______________

his work was daring and contraversial________________

it was in the forefront of modern architecture___________

f. Write out the antonyms of these words from the text:

a conservative______________ to reject___________________

traditional_________________ to destroy_________________

minor____________________ _ to create__________________

passive____________________ _ artificial__________________

g. Make a few sentences of your own using the following examples:

1 The young architect soon began accepting commissions of his own.

The young sculptor began ______________________________

The young artist stopped_______________________________

2 He was the first to introduce open planning.

_____________ to extend the house into the landscape_________

_____________ to use these materials______________________

h. Write a short essay Frank Lloyd Wright and his contribution into modem architecture.

i. Say if you agree or disagree with the following statement and substantiate your point of view:

F.L.Wright's new tomorrow has not come yet.

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