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UNIT V. DWELLINGS IN BRITAIN
Exercise 1 Read the text. Translate it (orally). Make use of the Vocabulary.
No visitor to Britain can help being struck by the many building sites and the relatively large number of new houses and flats that he sees in the suburbs of towns and cities all over the country. The overwhelming majority of these are two-storey houses, built either in rows (terraced houses), in pairs (semi-detached houses), or singly (detached houses), with a small enclosed garden at the front and the back. In recent years a considerably higher proportion of new housing has been in the form of flats, and blocks of flats have now become a common feature of the urban scene. Nevertheless, the traditional British prejudice in favour of houses has only been modified, not fundamentally changed. An increasing number of people, chiefly elderly persons and childless, prefer to live in bungalows. As is implied above, most of the new residential areas and housing estates have been built on the outskirts of towns and cities, well away from the industrial estates and also at a considerable distance from the town or city centres. In the inner parts of many British industrial towns and cities small areas of slums still continue to exist, however. These overcrowded, unhygienic houses are considered unfit for people to live in, but they are nevertheless still occupied, for the rate of slum clearance is slow in relation to the size of the problem. In addition, almost every older town and city contains large areas of shabby monotonous and depressing terraced houses which are only slightly better than the official slums themselves. Despite all the building that has taken place since the war there is still an acute housing shortage in many parts of Britain. The housing problem is not simply a matter of the shortage of decent houses, however. The essence of the problem in contemporary Britain is that housing is regarded first and foremost as a source of profit for financiers, landowners and builders and not as a social service. Houses ànd flats are commodities and are bought and sold like other commodities. They are allocated, not according to social need, but according to the ability to pay. The fact that several million houses and flats are publicly owned and administered does not basically alter this situation. Broadly speaking, three main alternatives are open to a family seeking a home in contemporary Britain: they may rent a house or flat from a private landlord; they may rent a publicly-owned council house or flat; or they may buy a house of their own, usually on a mortgage. Most, but not all privately rented accommodation consists of older houses and tenements, but is nevertheless in great demand. Rents are high and have been rising rapidly ever since the mid fifties, when the Conservatives began to remove controls, thus allowing the free play of supply and demand to determine the level of rents. Private tenants who cannot pay higher rents may be evicted, for the housing shortage is so great that the landlord can usually find a tenant who is willing to pay what he demands. As a result of this policy there are homeless families in Britain's big cities, notably in London. In the inter-war period, and particularly in the immediate post-war years, large numbers of council houses were built, and let at moderate rents with the help of or from the central government and the local councils. The aim was to provide decent accommodation for working people at rents, which they could afford. Council houses were and still are, in great demand. They are democratically allocated on the basis of waiting or priority lists. It is extremely difficult to obtain a council house or flat nowadays, unless the council is forced to re-house people rendered homeless by slum clearance or road-building projects. Moreover, council rents have also gone up in recent years and are sometimes so high that lower-paid workers or old-age pensioners cannot afford to pay them. Under these circumstances it is no wonder that millions of families decide to buy a house of their own on mortgage. Becoming an owner-occupier, however, is not a very satisfactory solution of the problem, because the burden of mortgage repayments is very heavy indeed. A person looking for a place to live is free to choose but whichever alternative he chooses, whether he is a private or a council tenant or an owner-occupier, he pays dearly for the privilege of having a roof over his head.
Notes no visitor to Britain can help being struck - никто из посетивших Великобританию, не может не удивляться
Vocabulary dwelling, n жилище; dwelling house жилой дом bungalow, n одноэтажный дом на одну семью residential area жилой квартал housing estate участок, застроенный жилыми домами; industrial estate промышленный район outskirt, n, обыкн . pl. окраина, предместье города, пригород slum, n, обыкн . pl. трущобы unhygienic, a зд. не пригодный для жилья в санитарном отношении commodity, n часто pl. товар, предмет потребления allocate, v предоставлять, выделять mort gage, n залог, ссуда, ипотека (для покупки дома) accommodation, n жилье tenement, n сдаваемый в аренду многоквартирный дом private tenant квартиросъемщик (тот, кто арендует квартиру у частного домовладельца) evict, v выселять council house муниципальный дом, жилье let, v сдавать внаем subsidy, n cубсидия, дотация
Exercise 2 Answer the questions about the text (in written form). 1. What is the difference between terraced, detached and semi-detached houses? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What are slums? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Broadly speaking, what are the three main alternatives open to a family seeking a home in contemporary Britain? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Is privately rented accommodation easy to obtain? Yes or no, explain why. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. How are council houses allocated? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3 Record the 1st paragraph of the text beginning with the words «No visitor to Britain can help being struck ...» and ending with the words «... prefer to live in bungalows». The tape with the recording should be presented at the tutorial session.
Exercise 4 Ask 4 - 5 questions about the text (in written form). ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 5 Say, what the text is about. Comment on the content of the text (orally). Your interpretation of the text should be presented in oral form at the tutorial session.
Exercise 6 From the text, select those facts and ideas concerning the main types of dwellings in Britain (in written form). __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 7 Compress the text to 5-6-sentences (in written form). ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 8 Review the Grammar material «The Passive Voice ». Use any Grammar source you like. The main patterns of The Passive Voice are those presented in the chart. Study the patterns. Make sure you know all of them.
Exercise 9 Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form. Wherever necessary, change the word order and the words expressing time. Write down the correct variant in the space opposite the original sentence.
Exercise 10 Translate the sentences from Russian into English. Write down your translation in the space opposite the original sentence.
TUTOR’S REMARKS ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ UNIT VI. THE WEEKEND
Exercise 1. Read the text. Translate it (orally). Make use of the Notes and the Vocabulary.
Most people in Britain work a five-day week, from Monday to Friday. Schools, colleges, and universities are also closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Everyone looks forward to the weekend and when Friday comes along, as people leave work they say to each other, “Have a nice weekend”. Then on Monday morning they ask, “Did you have a nice weekend?” or “What did you do at the weekend?” Students, young people working away from home and single people in general like to go away for the weekend. They may go home, go to stay with relatives or friends in different parts of the country or stay in a hotel or boarding house in the country or at the sea. Most towns in England are not more then four hours apart by train and many are much less; and no one in England lives more then 100 miles from the sea. Therefore it is possible to leave straight from work on Friday and come back on Sunday evening. Those who stay at home at the weekend try both to relax and catch up with all the jobs they are too busy to do during the week. For women who go out to work these include housework, sewing , washing, shopping and sometimes gardening; for men - repairs and other odd jobs in the house, cleaning the car, mowing the lawn and gardening. Saturday morning is a very busy time for shopping, as this is the only day when people who are at work can shop for any length of time. On Saturday afternoon the most important sporting events of the week take place - football, rugby (in the summer, cricket and tennis), horse-racing, car and motor-cycle racing and other sports. Some men go and watch, others sit and watch the sports programmes on TV. In the late afternoon the sports results are announced on radio and television and the sports editions of the evening papers are on sale. Saturday evening is the favourite time for parties, dances, going to the pictures or the theatre, in fact for “going out” generally. For many people it is the climax of the weekend. There is plenty of time to get ready and no one has to worry about getting up early for work the next day. Having gone to bed late the night before, many people have a lie-in on Sunday morning. When they finally get up they have a leisurely breakfast. Some have breakfast in bed, although this depends on your having someone willing to make it and bring it up. However, some breakfast-in-bed enthusiasts will get up, make breakfast themselves and take it back to bed. While having breakfast people start reading the Sunday papers, which they either fetch themselves from the local paper shop or have delivered by the paper boy for a small extra charge. There are at least eight papers which are published weekly on Sunday (though some are the Sunday version of a daily paper ). It is usual for a family to have two or three Sunday papers, and some enthusiasts have more. These people have little time for anything else on Sunday and spend the day submerged in a sea of newspapers. If the weather is fine, people may decide to go out for the day. Often, however, having got up late in any case, they wait until after lunch, which is at 1 or 1.30 p.m. Sunday lunch is traditionally the most important family meal of the week. Most people have a “joint” (a piece of meat for roasting in the oven ) which is roasted, then carved and served with roast and boiled potatoes and one or more other vegetables, such as peas or cabbage, and gravy. Then comes the pudding, for example apple pie and custard, and finally tea or coffee. This meal induces in most people a state of inertia, and they sit talking, reading the paper, watching TV or just dozing, until tea time. In the summer they sit in the garden and more energetic people go out for a walk or to see friends. After what often seems quite a short while it is tea time, that is 5 - 5.30 p.m. Besides the all important tea there are sandwiches, sometimes cold meat and salad, fruit and cream, bread and butter, and jam and cakes. Quite often friends are invited to Sunday tea. Some people spend Sunday evening quietly at home, others go to see friends, go to a concert or film, or go out for a drink. The realization that the weekend is nearly over casts a slight melancholy on the evening.
Notes to look forward to something/doing something - с нетерпением ожидать чего-либо p. m. - после полудня gravy - подливка из сока, который выделяется из мяса при жаренье, тушении и т.п.; такая подливка обязательно подается к ростбифу с йоркширским пудингом (который, в свою очередь, представляет собой кусок теста, обжаренного в растительном масле) custard - сладкий заварной крем, который подается как отдельный компонент к сладкому пирогу (обычно яблочному), а не наносится на пирог заранее Vocabulary boarding house пансион catch (up with), v успеть сделать go (out), v ïîéòè êóäà- ëèáî (÷òîáû ðàçâëå÷üñÿ, îòäîõíóòü ) to have a lie- in оставаться в постели позже обычного fetch, v пойти и принести (привести) submerge, v погружаться take (out), v пригласить куда- либо carve, v резать, разрезать, нарезать induce, v вызывать dozе, v дремать, клевать носом cast (cast, cast), v зд. привносить, повергать
Exercise 2 Answer the questions about the text (in written form).
1. Do the British stay at home for the weekend? If not, where do they go? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Saturday morning is a very busy time for the people at work, isn’t it? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Why can Saturday evening be called the climax of the weekend? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What do the people who stay at home do at the weekend? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Which is the most important family meal of the week? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What is usually served for Sunday lunch? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What does “tea time” imply besides the all important tea? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 3 Record the 7th paragraph of the text beginning with the words «Having gone to bed late the night before ...» and ending with the words «... spend the day submerged in a sea of newspapers». The tape with the recording should be presented at the tutorial session.
Exercise 4 Ask 4-5 questions about the text (in written form). ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exercise 5 Say, what the text is about. Comment on the content of the text (orally). Your interpretation of the text should be presented in oral form at the tutorial session.
Exercise 6 From the text, select those facts and ideas concerning the main ways of spending weekend in Britain (in written form). ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 7 Compress the text to 5-6-sentences (in written form). ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Exercise 8 Review the Grammar material «The Modal Verbs and their equivalents». Use any Grammar source you like. The main patterns of the Modal Verbs and their equivalents (to express mental and physical ability, permission, order, necessity, absence of necessity, advice and prohibition) are those presented in the chart. Study the patterns. Make sure you know all of them.
Exercise 9 Replace the infinitives in brackets by the modal verbs/or their equivalents + Infinitive. Write down the correct variant in the space opposite the original sentence.
Exercise 10 Translate the sentences from Russian into English. Write down your translation in the space opposite the original sentence.
Exercise 11 Review the Grammar material «The Modal Verbs». Use any Grammar source you like. The main patterns of the Modal Verbs (to express near certainty, doubt, strong doubt, reproach, criticism of a past action, absence of necessity in the past) are those presented in the chart. Study the patterns. Make sure you know all of them.
Exercise 12 Replace the infinitives in brackets by the modal verbs + Infinitive. Write down the correct variant in the space opposite the original sentence.
Exercise 13 Translate the sentences from Russian into English. Write down your translation in the space opposite the original sentence.
TUTOR’S REMARKS ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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