Pattern

Positive Negative

The rooms are very light. The rooms are very dark.

Which positive features are the most important to you?

What negative features could you put up¹ with?

_______

¹to put up – смириться

Task 11. Read and translate the following word groups with Participle II.

• a three-roomed flat ( = a flat with three rooms)

• a beautifully painted picture ( = a picture which is painted beautifully)

• a ten-storied block of flats ( = a block of flats which has ten stories)

• a well-planned flat

• a nicely furnished room

• a well-cleaned room

• a well-heated flat

• old-fashioned furniture

• a good-sized hall

• beautifully decorated streets

• a badly-repaired flat

• a well-repaired room

• a well-equipped kitchen

Task 12. Read and translate the text.

Alex, my friend, moved to a new flat. It is in a nine-storied block of flats in a quiet residential area near the park. The flat is neat¹, clean and in good repair.

His two-roomed flat is well-planned and nicely furnished. The rooms open from a good-sized hall. The living room is large and light. There are two windows in it facing east and it gets very much sun. The living room is beautifully decorated and comfortable. There is a colour TV set in the corner near the window with a video cassette recorder next to the TV set. In the opposite corner there is a coffee table and two armchairs. By the wall opposite the window there is a sofa. There is a water-colour picture² above the sofa. It is a still life³. Next to the sofa there is a low table with a CD player on it. Alex likes listening to music on his hi-fi. There is a bookcase by the wall opposite the doorway⁴. Alex has some more bookshelves but they are in the hall. In the middle of the room there is a nice carpet. The curtains on the windows match the carpet in colour.

The bedroom isn’t large but is comfortably furnished. There is a window in it facing the park, so the room is very quiet. There is a bed, a bedside table, some chairs and a wardrobe in it. There is a grey rug on the floor and dark curtains on the window.

The kitchen is fairly large and well-equipped. There are two tables, a fridge, a freezer, some cupboards on the wall, a sink and some stools in the kitchen. There is, of course, a gas-cooker here, too.

__________

¹neat /nJt/ - аккуратный

²water colour picture /'wLtq"kAlq/ - акварель

³still life /"stIl'laIf/ - натюрморт

⁴doorway /'dLweI/ - дверной проём

Task 13. Describe Alex’s flat, using the hints below.

The flat: new, a block of flats, nine-storied, a residential area, quiet, neat, clean, good repair, two-roomed, nicely furnished, good-sized hall;

The living room: large and light, two windows, to face east, to get much sun, beautifully decorated, a colour TV set, a coffee table, two arm- chairs, a sofa, a water-colour picture, a bookcase, a CD player, a hi-fi,

a carpet, curtains;

The bedroom: not large, quiet, the window facing the park, a bed, a bedside table, chairs, a wardrobe, a grey rug, dark curtains;

The kitchen: fairly large, well-equipped, two tables, a fridge, a freezer, cupboards, a gas-cooker, some stools.

Task 14. Fill the gaps with “some”, “any”, “no”; translate the text into Russian.

It’s a modern kitchen, nice and clean with a lot of cupboards. There is a washing machine, a fridge, and a cooker, but there is … dishwasher. There are … lovely pictures on the walls, but there aren’t … photographs. There is a radio near the cooker, but there is … TV set. There are … flowers, but there aren’t … plants. On the table there are … apples and oranges. Ah! And there are … cups and plates next to the sink.

Task 15. Fill the gaps with prepositions; translate the text into Russian.

Mr. Bridge’s office is … Hope Street. It is right … the centre … Liverpool. It’s a nice room … the second floor … a large old building. Mr. Bridge is … his room now. This is what his room is like. There are two desks and a table … the room. Mr. Bridge’s desk is … the left … the window. There is a large map … Liverpool … the wall. … Mr. Bridge’s desk there is a lovely picture of Liverpool. … the right … the door there is a filing cabinet¹. There are lots … shelves … the wall with lots … books … them. … the far end … the room there is a TV set. There are nice curtains … the windows. There are a lot … people … the room now.

_________

¹filing cabinet /'faIlIN"kxbInqt/ - бюро; шкаф для хранения документов

Task 16. Work in pairs. You are to rent a country cottage for your family. Phone the landlord and ask him the following questions to find out the information you need.

1. How many rooms are there in the cottage? What are they?

2. How many windows are there in the living room? Is it light?

3. Is it cold in the cottage in rainy weather?

4. Is there central heating in the cottage?

5. Is there a refrigerator in the kitchen?

6. How high is the rent?

7. Are the neighbours good mixers?

8. Is there a bus stop near the building?

9. Are there any shops nearby?

10. How long does it take to get to the city from the place?

Now say, what your decision is. Why are you (not) going to rent the cottage?

Task 17. Work in pairs. Ask your partner questions and find out about his home and neighbourhood; report the information to the class.

1. What kind of home do you live in?

• a flat

• a house

• other (what?)

2. How long have you lived here?

- … for … (months/ years)

3. How far from your Institute is it?

• distance (quite near/ rather far)

• time ( It takes … to get to the Institute by …/on foot)

4. How big is it?

- … about … (square meters)

5. How many rooms does it have?

- … rooms total.

6. Does it have …

• air conditioning

• central heating

• a washing machine

• a balcony

• a view

7. Are there any … in your neighbourhood?

• parks

• shops

• schools

• recreation facilities (места отдыха и развлечения)

• cinemas

• swimming pools

8. Is your neighbourhood …?

- crowded

- safe

- clean

- quiet

Task 18. Read and translate the letter, explain the tense of the verbs in bold type.

2^nd August, 2004

Dear Sue,

How are you? I hope you got my postcard from Portugal. I had a very relaxing time there and felt great when I arrived back in the UK.

However all that was spoilt when I came home and found there had been a burglary. What a mess! The burglars had broken the window in my study to get into my house. They had opened the safe and had stolen all my jewellery¹. They had also smashed my favourite vase and had pulled most of my books out of the bookcase. Finally they had thrown my computer onto the floor and had broken it. It was awful.

As I am sure you can imagine, I was shocked at the time. I am feeling better now, though. I am having a burglar alarm installed² soon, and the policemen think they can get my jewellery back.

Well, I hope, everything is okay with you. Do drop me a line when you have time.

Love,

Sheila.

_______

¹jewellery /'GHqlri/ - драгоценности, ювелирные изделия

²to have a burglar alarm installed /In'stLld/ - установить охранную сигнализацию

Task 19. There was a burglary at 15 River Street yesterday. The burglars broke into the house while the owners were out. Read the description of one of the rooms before the burglary, translate it.

The living room is the largest room in the house. There are two large windows facing the garden in it, so the room is light and very quiet. There is a thick Persian¹ carpet on the floor. Dark oak² furniture looks expensive but is a bit old-fashioned. Some good water colours hang on the wall and there is a large and very beautiful oil painting by the famous Italian artist on the wall, too. There is a piano on the one side of the room with a vase of flowers on it. There are two comfortable armchairs, and several bookcases filled with books on the other side of the room. On a small table near the window there is a music system. There are also some copies of “The Times”, and some foreign newspapers and magazines. A large colour TV set is opposite the armchairs, next to the piano. Light brown velvet³ curtains on the windows match the carpet in colour. The room looks so nice and comfortable.

__________

¹Persian /pE:Sn/ - персидский

²oak /qVk/ - дуб; дубовый

³velvet /'velvIt/ - бархат; бархатный

Task 20. Complete the story saying what the burglars had done; use Past Perfect where necessary.

When the owners of the house in River Street came back they were shocked at what had been done with the living room. The room was in a terrible mess. The window had been broken…

• to break into the house through the window – проникнуть в дом через окно

• to steal (stole, stolen) the painting – украсть картину

• to knock over the vase – опрокинуть вазу

• to spill (spilt, spilt) water – пролить воду

• to dirty the carpet – испачкать ковёр

• to tear (tore, torn) the curtains – порвать шторы

• to overturn the table – перевернуть стол

• to move the armchairs to another place – передвинуть кресла

• to pull the books out of the bookcase – вытащить книги из шкафа

• to throw (threw, thrown) about the papers and magazines – разбросать газеты и журналы

• to find (found, found) and open the safe – найти и открыть сейф

• to steal the jewellery and some important documents – украсть драгоценности и некоторые важные документы

Task 21. Use the correct form (Past Simple or Past Perfect) of the verbs in brackets; read and translate the letter.

Dear Martha,

Happy New Year, though I am afraid the New Year has started badly for us. Last night we (get) back home to find the front door open and the lock smashed. We (be) out all evening – a friend (invite) us to celebrate the New Year with them and we (not get) back home till the early hours of the morning.

It wasn’t difficult to see how the burglars (break) into the house. The lock wasn’t a very good one and they (pick) it with a screwdriver¹ or something. As our next-door neighbours (go) away for the weekend, the thieves (take) the time and had managed to find most of the money we had so carefully hidden away under mattresses and inside flower pots. The first thing we (notice) was the incredible mess they (make). All the cupboards and drawers had been emptied onto the floor. It (look) as if someone (drop) a bomb onto our house. They had also …

_________

¹screwdriver /'skrHdraIvq/ - отвёртка

Task 22. Now finish the letter. Describe what else the thieves had stolen and what other damage they had done. Use the verbs below.

break steal find smash overturn open

throw about knock over throw

Task 23. Think of the end of the story.

When John was driving home, he had an unpleasant feeling that something had happened while he was away. He parked the car and went to open the front door. He turned the key, the door opened and he found himself in the hall. When he went into the living room he saw that someone had been there, because the room was in a terrible mess … .

Task 24. Read and translate the text.