Raymond Watt, 48:

“Home is the house where I live, where my family lives. Home can also be the village or town where I lived and was brought up, and also my native country when I am travelling abroad.”

Belinda Collins, 27:

“As a child, I lived in a small village in Sussex with my parents. When I was 16, I went to London to do a secretarial course. Now I live by myself in a small top floor flat in central London and work in a bank. I often go to Sussex at weekends to see my parents and catch up with old friends. I have two places I call “home”: one with my parents in Sussex, and one in London.”

Dave Bellamy, 17:

“I was born into a large family. I’m the fourth child. We live in a semi-detached house in York. I’m lucky to have a room all to myself. No one can enter it without my permission. It’s the law. I love my room. That’s where I feel comfortable and absolutely secure. My room is “my castle”. When I think of home, I always think of my room with posters on the walls, a lot of books everywhere, and my guitar in the corner. I think the saying is true: home is where the heart is.”

Linda Mansfield, 56:

“I’ve travelled a lot, and now I know: a home is not just a house or a flat where you live. You may have a roof over your head and still be homeless. A home is a place where you belong, where you want to be…”

Where is better to live: in a city or in the country? Here are two views on the problem. What is your opinion?

1) “For me, happiness is in the city, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, discos and bars, all the noise and excitement. I like to feel the pulse of life. I want to know what the latest records, the latest films and the most fashionable clothes are.” I want to have my friends all around me, and have a good time. I like meeting new people all the time. I love nightlife and entertainment. I say variety is the spice of life. I take no interest in what happens in the country. Life in the country is very boring. It’s too slow and eventless. You go on meeting the same people day after day. People gossip a lot. They judge you all the time. You feel isolated and lonely. Time drags on. In a word – it’s unbearable. I vote for a modern city!

2) I live in the country. I like it here a lot. Everything is slow and quiet and peaceful. Everyone knows everyone else. People are friendly and warm, modest and hardworking. I enjoy the fresh clean air of the countryside. I like to grow my own vegetables and I keep a few chickens. I’m never bored, I have more things to do than I have time for. I enjoy the simple things in life, like seeing the crops growing, watching the sunset in the evening or dreaming on a starry night. In the country you feel you are part of Nature.

I don’t understand how people can live in big cities. There are so many problems with a modern city. It’s noisy, and dirty, and smelly. It’s so busy, no one has time for anyone else. I hate crowds and queues. I feel lost and lonely in a crowd. Besides, a big city eats your money up. You have to pay for everything. What’s more, crime is very bad in big cities.