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I. Answer the following questions.
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1. What house do you live in? 2. Where it is situated? 3. How many floors does the house have? 4. How many windows are there? 5. Where do the windows of your flat face? 6. What kind of curtains (hangings, blinds) do you have? Do they go well with the wallpaper? 7. What kind of flooring do you have in your flat? 8. How are the walls of your flat finished? Are they whitewashed, tiled or wallpapered? Do you like to adorn the walls? 9. Is your flat crammed with things? 10. What makes your flat look cosy?
II. Translate the following text into English.
У моей сестры – отдельная квартира недалеко от центра города. Квартира не очень большая, но удобная. В ней две комнаты, кухня, прихожая, ванная. В доме современные удобства. В кухне стоит газовая плита, холодильник, стол, несколько табуреток, шкаф и полки для посуды. Кухня очень чистая и уютная. Она служит одновременно и столовой. На мытье посуды у сестры уходит мало времени, потому что есть горячая вода. В прихожей стоит вешалка для одежды и небольшой столик для телефона. У двери лежит небольшой коврик (a rug). Одна комната служит гостиной, вторая – спальней. В гостиной стоит круглый стол, шесть стульев, сервант, столик с телевизором, два кресла и диван. Над диваном висят книжные полки. В спальне стоит кровать, журнальный столик, платяной шкаф и ночной столик. На полу лежит большой толстый ковер. Сестра очень довольна своей квартирой.
My flat
The house we live in is our home, or in more official speech, our residence or dwelling. Some people live in individual houses. The town building may be five- or nine-storeyed (storied). There are multi-storeyed buildings too. Our first floor is usually called the ground floor in England, and the second floor corresponds to the English first floor. Americans call the floors the same as we do: first, second, and so on.
We live in one of modern flats of the apartment house in a big town. Our family has recently moved into it. Our house is of modern design. There is a big supermarket on the ground floor and it’s very convenient to do everyday shopping. Besides, there is a big market and small shops next to our house. That is why we don’t spend much time on shopping. In front of the house there is a children’s playground and a small garden. Our flat is in a multi-storeyed building on the sixth floor. On the one hand I like it because we have a nice view from the windows. But on the other hand we sometimes have to walk up the stairs when the elevator breaks down. Our house has all the traditional conveniences – cold and hot running water, central heating, gas and a chute to carry rubbish down.
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We have a three-room flat in Lenin Street. We are lucky to live in the house which is not far from the underground station. My house is a 10 minutes’ walk from the bus stop. So we don’t have to go by bus or trolley-bus because it takes us only a few minutes to get to the underground station. I wish there were a park not far from the house because I am fond of jogging and it’s not very pleasant to jog along the streets.
The living-room is the biggest room in our flat. It is a large square room with two broad windows. The windows face the street and it’s a little noisy at noon. The walls of the room are papered with blue wallpaper. There is a thick carpet on the floor and beautiful white and blue curtains on the windows. The curtains make the room very cosy. The room is well furnished. There is a suite of modern furniture with a cupboard and a wardrobe. In the middle of the room there is a pull-out table which we use when guests come. There are six chairs round the table. Opposite the set of furniture there is a corner-sofa. In front of it there is a small coffee table with a vase with flowers and an ashtray on it. To the right of the sofa there is an armchair. On the left there is a lamp. There is also a TV-set with a video and a tape-recorder near the wall. It’s very pleasant to sit there watching TV and drinking tea or coffee. At the wall there is a sideboard and two big bookcases. Crystal bowls, wine glasses, goblets, china dishes and special tea-sets stand on its shelves. All of us are fond of reading and we have a good library. In the evening all the family gathers in the living-room to watch a TV programme, read newspapers or magazines, discuss family problems, receive guests and have parties.
My parents' bedroom is much smaller; the living-room is almost twice as big. The walls of the room are pink. There are some pictures hanging on them. The bedroom is also a cosy room. There is only one window with dark curtains over it. The window outlooks the yard. Against the wall there is a twin bed, a mirror-stand, two bedside tables and many flowers on the windowsill. In the corner there is my mother’s dressing-table with a mirror and a dressing stool. Opposite it there is a dark wardrobe. There is a lovely carpet on the floor.
The room I like best is my study. It is the smallest but I like it very much. First of all because it is my own room, secondly because I furnished it myself and last but not least because it faces the south-east which means lots of sunshine. It is a simply furnished room. In the comer near the window there is a small writing table with a lamp on it. A comfortable office armchair stands near it. On the left there is a computer table with a computer, a processor and a printer on it. Near the wall there is a pull-out sofa where I sleep. On the wall there are shelves full of books, magazines and journals. There is a bookcase by the left wall and two chairs by the right wall. The furnishing is scanty but I have all I need in my room. I wish I had a small TV there. Then I would watch the programmes I want when my parents watch these endless soap operas. The walls in my room are papered blue and the curtains over the window match them. On the walls there are some pictures. A fluffy carpet covers the floor.
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Besides these three rooms, the flat has a kitchen, a small entrance hall, a bathroom and a lavatory. There is also a balcony where we can grow flowers in summer. Our kitchen is large but still it might be larger. However, it is planned in such a way as to make good housekeeping easy. The built-in furniture and all modern conveniences make housekeeping easy. Our kitchen is very well equipped. We have a microwave oven, a coffeemaker, a toaster, an electric mincing-machine, a laundry washer. There is a fridge in the left corner. To the left of the fridge there is a modern set of kitchen furniture with a gas stove for cooking, built-in dish-washing machine and a sink unit. There some wall-cupboards and floor-cupboards with number of drawers, where we keep spoons, forks, knives, frying pans and sauce-pans. There is a sideboard for keeping the dishes, a wall unit for keeping cups and glasses. There is a kitchen table with four chairs around it. Bright curtains on the window make our kitchen look very cheerful. The floor is covered with linoleum. I think our kitchen is rather cosy and we like to gather together in it in the evening, to sit and to talk eating or having tea. We use the kitchen as a dining-room. But when we receive guests or have our family celebrations we have the meals in the living-room. My parents decorated our kitchen in a country style, and sometimes it seems to me we are sitting in a veranda of a country house.
The bathroom has a built-in bath-tub with a shower and a washstand. The walls are faces with Dutch tiles. There is a glass shelf over the wash-stand. There are some sponges, soap-dishes, tooth-glasses with tooth-brushes, some tubes of tooth-paste and bath towels. There is a towel-rail and a towel-horse. We can take a shower or a bath any time. Next to the bathroom there is a lavatory. In the hall we have a hallstand with hooks and coat hanger for coats, hats and umbrellas and a mirror on the wall. A telephone is on a special table under the mirror. So our flat is comfortable and well-planned. I wish our flat were a bit larger, but generally speaking I like it as it is. We are happy to have such a nice flat and try to keep it clean. I can say a lot about my flat. But to make a long story, I must say, there is no place like home. Speaking about our home I don’t mean a flat as it is. I mean people who are dear to me, who love me and are always waiting for me. That’s why wherever I were I would always hurry home.
Vocabulary
residence – местожительство; жилье; дом, квартира
dwelling – жилище, дом, жилье; местожительство; проживание
multi- storeyed (storied) building – многоэтажное здание
apartment house – многоквартирный дом
chute to carry rubbish down – мусоропровод
to face (to overlook, to look on to) smth. – выходить куда-либо (об окнах)
wallpaper – обои
carpet – ковер
curtain – занавеска, шторы
to be furnished – быть меблированной
suite of furniture – мебельный гарнитур
pull-out table – раздвижной стол
ashtray – пепельница
tape-recorder – магнитофон
sideboard – буфет; сервант
bowl – чаша, ваза
wine glass – рюмка
goblet – бокал
two bed – двуспальная кровать
mirror-stand – трюмо
bedside table – тумбочка
windowsill – подоконник
dressing stool – пуфик
writing table – письменный стол
to make housekeeping easy – облегчать ведение домашнего хозяйства
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microwave oven – микроволновая печь
coffeemaker – кофеварка
toaster – тостер
mincing-machine – мясорубка
laundry washer – стиральная машина
fridge – холодильник
gas stove – газовая плита
dish-washing machine – посудомоечная машина
sink unit – мойка
drawers – выдвижные ящики
spoon – ложка
fork – вилка
knife – нож
frying pan – сковорода
sauce-pan – кастрюля
dishes – посуда
cup – чашка, бокал
glass – стакан, бокал, фужер, рюмка
built-in bath tub – встроенная ванна
shower – душ; душевая
washstand – умывальник
sponge – губка
soap-dish – мыльница
tooth-glass – стаканчик для хранения принадлежностей для чисти зубов
tooth-brush – зубная щетка
tube of tooth-paste – тюбик зубной пасты
bath towel – банное полотенце
towel-rail – вешалка для полотенец (в виде горизонтальной палки)
towel-horse – вешалка для полотенец (в виде крючка)
hallstand with hooks – вешалка с крючками
coat hanger – вешалка-плечики для пальто
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