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Step 1. Read the following text about the types of dwellings in Britain and the USA.
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Type of dwelling depends on climate, family income and weather you live in a city or in the country side.
In Ukraine the most common type of accommodation is a flat in a block of flats. A block of flats is a multi-storied building with all modern conveniences and it is not very expensive. Many people in our country also have summer houses which can be different. Common people usually have a single-storey wooden of brick house but wealthy people can afford to build a two-storey or even three-storey cottage.
In the West people dream to have a detached house. This is a house for one family and it is rather expensive. There are about 23 million homes (houses and flats) in Britain. Sixteen million families live in their own homes. Five million people rent their homes (accommodation) from local councils and two million live in private rented houses.
A typical British house is for a family of two to four people. There are other houses next to it and opposite it, and there is a garden at the back and another at the front. A typical house has got two floors. On the ground floor there is a sitting room and a kitchen. On the first floor there is a bathroom and the bedrooms.
If people do not earn enough money to live in a detached house they can buy a semi-detached house which is not so expensive. This kind of house is joined to a house on one side but not on the other. Usually it is an accommodation for two families.
In the cities common people usually live in town houses or terraced houses which are in a row of houses.These are houses for several families with the separate entrances for each family but under the same roof. Wealthy people in the West (Europe, the US) prefer to live out of the cities in the mansions, cottages or bungalows if the climate in the country is mild.
Flats in America are called apartments. The most expensive apartments are in the skyscrapers and are called penthouses. Penthouses occupy the upper floors of the skyscrapers and partly the roof where people can have winter gardens, swimming pools etc.
Students all over the world live in the hostels or dormitories but some of them can rent a flat. Usually it is a single-room flat with a bathroom and a kitchen. In America such flats are called studios and in Britain they are called bedsitters.
Step 2. Answer the questions to the text:
1. What does the type of dwelling depend on?
2. What is the most common type of accommodation in Ukraine?
3. What is the most prestigious type of dwelling in the USA?
4. What can you say about typical British house?
5. Where do wealthy people in the west prefer to live?
6. What kinds of flats in America can you name?
7. How are bedsitters called in America?
1.3. WHY DO WE LEARN ENGLISH?
Activity 1. Match the following English words with their Russian/Ukrainian equivalents:
1) to speak fluently a) делать ошибки/ робити помилки
2) to enjoy most b) достигать успехов/ досягати успіхів
3) to listen to records c) говорить бегло/ говорити вільно
4) to do well d) слушать записи/ слухати записи
5) second after e) любить больше всего/ любити більш за все
6) to make mistakes f) учить наизусть/ вчити напам'ять
7) to learn by heart g) второй по численности/ другий за чисельністю
8) to pass exams h) уменьшаться/ зменшуватися
9) to get smaller i) быть сложным/ бути складним
10) to be sophisticated j) сдать экзамены/ скласти іспити
Activity 2. Think why you are learning English. Choose at least three different reasons and then compare your reasons with other students. You may make sentences like in example:
I’m learning English because I want (would like)……
I would like to know English better for……..
to pass exams
to improve knowledge of smth (American or English culture)
for social reasons because I want to meet people
for interest
for my future job (career)
because I need it in my studies
because I want to travel
because my parents want me to learn it
because I often go to international conferences
because it's sophisticated
because it's an international language
to listen to English songs and understand the words
to watch video films in the original
to be competitive on the labour market
Activity 3. Brighton Language School
Step 1. Read about the language school students in Brighton and find out if they share any of your reasons for studying English.
Mario from Colombia said, “I learn English for my school exams. I like being in England but I hate studying. It's difficult. I have to write everything down twenty times or I forget.”
His friend Patricia didn't agree: “I love studying English, but I like speaking best. I try to have lots of conversations with people - that way I get real practice.”
Johann, from Austria, said he used tapes. “Listening is most important. It means I hear the sounds and can repeat them. I listen to the radio too. I don't understand it all, but I get a feeling for the sounds. I study English mainly because of music. I like rock music and I listen to American and English bands. I write songs, too, and sometimes in English.”
We interviewed other students in the same group. Some of them said English would help them in their work in the future, while others said they studied because their parents wanted them to do it. Did they enjoy it? Most said they liked games and role playing but they hated grammar. However, Fatima, a young woman from Morocco, said that grammar was very important. ”Most students say they hate grammar, but you can't really learn English if you don't understand the parts it's made of. We need to practise grammar and vocabulary, too. You see how the language is constructed and you can work out how to make new sentences. I don’t like grammar best. Actually, I like reading! That’s my favourite activity! I study English because I want to study Business Administration.”
Step 2. Now look at this chart, read the article again and complete the chart according to what you read.
| Reason for studying | How does he/she learn? | |
| Mario | ||
| Patricia | ||
| Johann | ||
| Other students | ||
| Fatima |
Activity 4. Now think about your own learning! What do you need to study? Do you need all of the 'four skills' shown below or just one or two? How do you learn? Make a few notes and then compare 'how you learn' with other students in your group.
THE FOUR SKILLS: Speaking Reading Listening Writing
Listening to the radio and records Writing out sentences and phrases
Listening to English speakers Repeating phrases after a tape/ teacher
Recording my own voice Speaking English with friends
Learning dialogues Writing to a pen friend
Learning lists of words Looking up words in a dictionary
Writing down new words/ phrases Reading articles/ books/ magazines
Learning grammar rules Doing grammar exercises
Activity 5. Write three paragraphs about your own learning. Use this guide to help you:
Paragraph one: Your personal background
Include how long you have studied English and where you have studied (mention visits abroad or contacts with English-speaking people).
Example: I studied English for four years in my secondary school in Dnepropetrovsk and then, in 2007, I did a course at an adult institution in the same city. The classes were one evening each week for two hours. I haven't been to Britain but: I have met a lot of visitors from the USA to Dnepropetrovsk and I have some pen-friends from Great Britain.
Paragraph two: What skills you need in English and how you learn
Example: I mainly need to practise speaking and reading. I need 'speaking' for my job and 'reading' for interest. I find it is very difficult to remember words, so I try to keep a notebook for vocabulary. I like reading and talking about things but I don't like doing exercises. I think it is useful to listen to the teacher talking but I also like to listen to cassettes because then it is possible to play them again.
Paragraph three: The reasons why you are studying English
Example: I study English for many different reasons. First, because it was part of my general education at school. Then, because I want to read books and magazines in English, so it is important to study more, and finally because it will help me in my job as a specialist in management.
Activity 6. Read and translate the following text.
Some time ago a newspaper reporter called the modern Earth “a world-village”. It really means that year by year the Earth is getting smaller with the development of communication and increase in international trade. People of different countries and nations have to get along well with the progress in world trade and technology as well as with each other.
Learning foreign languages is especially important nowadays. Some people learn foreign languages because they need them in their work, others travel abroad, for the third studying languages is a hobby. A modern engineer or even a worker cannot work with an imported instrument or a machine if he is not able to read the instruction how to do it. Ordinary people need language to translate the instruction or a manual to a washing-machine or a vacuum-cleaner, medicine or even food-products.
It is only in the course of the last hundred years that English has become a number one world language. In the year of 1600, in Shakespeare’s time, English was spoken only by 6 million people and was a “provincial” language, while French was the leading foreign language of that century. First the English language became widely spoken in the world with the rise of the British Empire. Then success of American industry and the growth of exports in technologies caused increase in circulation of the language. And the third factor of the last decades is remarkable boom in computer-related equipment and technologies as well as influence of British and American pop culture and films.
English is spoken by more than 600 million people today. Geographically it is the most widespread language on Earth. English nowadays is second only to Chinese. It is the official language of the UK, the USA, of Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one of the official languages in Canada and in the South Africa. Throughout the world many people use English as an international language. It is the language of modern science and technology, trade and cultural relations, commerce and business. Half of the world’s scientific literature is written in English. It is the universal language of international aviation, shipping and sports. It is also the major language of diplomacy. Hundreds and hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers are printed in English, most of the world’s mail and telephone calls are in English.
Fortunately, I began learning English even before I could understand the importance of speaking and understanding it. Now I know that it is very useful for a XXI century professional no matter what field you are in. The international connections are getting tighter. One cannot do well without one of the common European languages. As for me I like reading in English and I would like to read Alan Milne, Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll in their native language. Besides, I can watch satellite TV programs, travel abroad and make friends with people from different countries. I have a lot of pen-friends all over the world. They cannot speak Russian, which is more difficult to learn than English. I hope some day I shall meet these people face to face and we shall have a good time together.
Activity 7. Complete the sentences according to the information from the text.
1. The modern earth is getting smaller with the development of communication and increase in......
2. The third factor of the last decades is remarkable boom in...... and technologies.
3. Geographically, it is the most...... on Earth, second after Chinese.
4. The international connections are getting..........
5. They cannot speak Russian, which is...... to learn than English.
Activity 8.