Stage b

Vocabulary Practice

I. Choose the right word:

host – landlord:

1. The … welcomed his guests heartily and immediately made them feel quite at home.

2. The … and all his guests went for a walk to the neighbouring wood.

3. He didn’t know how to tell his … that he had no money to pay the rent.

cushion - pillow:

1. The settee in the parlour was strewn with pretty embroidered … .

2. I don’t like to sleep on a soft … .

3. I can put you up for the night but the trouble is that I have no spare … . Would you mind using this leather … instead?

floor – storey:

1. A dog was barking at the passers-by from a balcony in the fourth … .

2. All the windows of the upper … were wide open.

3. We mounted the stairs to the fifth … and knocked at the door.

lamp – bulb:

1. A beautiful bronze … was standing on the piano.

2. I don’t think I can use this … , I need a 90 watt one at least.

3. Are you tall enough to reach the …? A new … has to be screwed in.

staircase – ladder:

1. A narrow winding … led to the attic.

2. There was a … lying in the yard.

II. Fill in the blanks with prepositions or adverbs if necessary:

1. Marian is … the kitchen. She is near the table … the middle … the room. There is a lamp … the table. There are a lot … things … the table. There is a jug … the middle … the table. Marian has a dish and a spoon … her hands. … Marian there are two pots, two bowls and a frying-pan. Behind her there is a dresser and a kitchen sink … it. There are a lot … things … the shelves … the dresser. There are plates and dishes, and jugs and bowls. There is a loaf … bread … a bread-board, and a tray … tea-cups. … the bottom … the dresser there are two drawers, and two cupboards. Under the drawers … the kitchen sink there are two taps. Over the sink, there is a clock … the wall. … the window, there is a table and some shelves. There are two saucepans … one shelf.

2. If you enter … our kitchen you’ll see a window right … the door. There are light nylon curtains … the window and lots … flowers … the window-sill. … front … the window stands a dinner-table … four chairs … it. … this table we usually have meals. … the wall … the left … the table there are a few shelves … different kitchen things. … the floor … the shelves there stands a fridge. We cannot do … it, especially … summer. … the right wall, … the fridge you can see a sink and a base unit … it. We try to keep our kitchen … good order, so it is always clean and tidy. Come and have tea … us … some day!

3. The flat you live … needs tidying every day. You must air the rooms, dust the furniture … a duster, clean the carpets … a vacuum cleaner. The floor is swept … a broom. The housewife keeps house and other members … the family help her … the house.

4. 1. Have you already moved … the new flat? 2. The walls of the library were lined … bookcases, the arm-chairs were upholstered … leather, the tables littered … newspapers and magazines. 3. The door burst open and we saw a stranger … doorway. 4. The windows of the bedroom looked … … a little garden … the back … the house. 5. Who dwells … this cottage? 6. The boy saw a man go into the house … the side door. 7. I must have misplaced the key … the cupboard, I can’t find it anywhere. 8. Tell the children not to forget to wipe their feet … the door-mat. 9. For hours at a stretch he would sit … a chair looking … … the window. 10. You may dry your hands … this towel, it is quite clean. 11. Before going to bed he usually turned … the light … the room. 12. Where is the entrance … the cinema? 13. She said she remembered having put … the gas … the kitchen … she had finished cooking. 14. My brother was sorry he couldn’t buy the sideboard, it was a little too large and he is short … space.

III. Insert articles if necessary:

1. In his own small room Martin lived, slept, studied, wrote and kept … house. Before … window looking out on … tiny front porch was … kitchen table that served as … desk, library and … typewriting stand. … bed, against … rear wall, occupied two-thirds of … total space of … room. … table was flanked on one side by … bureau, manufactured for profit and not for service. … bureau stood in … corner, and in … opposite corner, on … table’s other flank was the kitchen oil-stove on … box, inside of which were dishes and cooking utensils, … shelf on the wall for provisions, and … bucket of water on … floor. Martin had to carry his water from … kitchen sink, there being no tap in his room. … small closet contained his clothes and … books he had accumulated and for which there was no room on … table or under … table. (J. London).

2. We have … nice flat with … modern conveniences. It is on … fifth floor of … nine-storeyed house in … Green Street. As … building is high it has … lift. … lift can take you to … floor you like. In our flat there is … balcony, … telephone and, of course, … central heating, … electricity, … cold and … hot water. … rooms are square. … largest is … sitting-room. In … evening we all gather there to watch … television. Sometimes we sit down around … table which stands in … middle of … room and talk about … events of … day. All … members of … family like to be at … home together.

3. Mary dear,

It’s less than … month that you’re away from … home but it seems ages. We miss you badly, so it’s sweet of you to write often. We are all fairly well and pleased you’re too, in your room at … hall with … nice roommate. Dad and I are back to … work after … holidays, Granny does most of … work about … house – just … usual run of things, as you can see. I can’t say I see much of Lucy and Mike, but we speak much over … phone. Their latest news and chief topic of … conversation is … new flat, of course. They are moving to … house somewhere around … end of … month. As you can imagine it’s quite … event for them and they are, certainly, anxious.

Their new apartment is in … block of … flats in … new district on … outskirts of … city. It’s … pretty long way from … centre, but that doesn’t matter much as there is … underground round … corner. Lucy is … little upset that … flat is on … top floor of … twelve-storeyed house, but this can’t be helped and, after all, there’s … lift.

As far as I know, it’s … two-room flat with … bathroom, … lavatory, … spacious hall and … balcony. … kitchen is very comfortable, with … electric cooker and … built-in furniture. There are also … few built-in wardrobes in … hall and … bedroom which is very convenient, no doubt. There are all … modern conveniences in … flat: … electricity, … central heating, … hot and cold water supply.

That’s our news for … present. There is nothing else I can say, just that we are lucky with … weather. It’s fairly warm and doesn’t at all look like … autumn. How are … things with you? We all send you our love and kisses.

Yours, Mum.

IV. Fill in the blanks with “it is” or “there is/are”:

1. … a beautiful picture. 2. … three drawers in the table. 3. … fine roses in the vase. … a present from a friend of mine. 4. Hurry up! … no time to lose! 5. … the only room to let. … no other rooms here. 6. … not a pantry. … no pantry in this flat. 7. … no gas in the house. … an electric cooker, … very convenient. 8. … a pity … no telephone in your room. 9. … two large windows in the bedroom, so … quite light. 10. … really a nice table but … no place for it in my room. 11. … no fruit at home. 12. … a new house opposite your school? 13. … a lot of furniture in their flat. 14. … a gas-stove and a fridge in our kitchen.

V. Fill in the blanks with “some”, “any”, “no”, “none”:

1. I need … paper. Have you got … ? 2. is there … news for me? 3. I would gladly give you … money, but I have … . 4. There is … butter in the fridge but there isn’t … cheese. 5. Buy … more dictionaries, they’ll be of great help. 6. There are … house plants on the window-sill, but on the wall there aren’t … . 7. They have three daughter but … sons. 8. … people say I am the very picture of my granny. 9. Have you got … relatives in Yalta?

VI. Insert “many”, “much”, “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”:

1. Come here! There are … vacant seats near us; three or four. 2. I must hurry, there isn’t … time left. 3. His study is packed with furniture. There is very … spare room in it. 4. Roy is … older than Steve. He is already thirty, while Steve is twenty-one. 5. How … built-in cupboards are there in your flat? 6. He’s a newcomer here. Very … people know him yet. 7. I’m not going to buy … furniture, just … chairs and a table. 8. The man isn’t talkative. He talks rather … but does … . 9. I can’t say it’s a busy shopping street. There are … shops here but not very … . 10. Put the grand piano into this room. It’s not very big either, yet … larger than that room.

VII. Supply the missing words:

A building may be one-, two- and three-storeyed or even higher. There are lots of multistoreyed houses in Moscow. American multistoreyed buildings are called … . our first floor is usually called the … in England, and our second floor corresponds to the English … .

The house we live in is our … , or, more officially, our residence or dwelling. The place that we stay in when we go to the country in summer is called a … . the windows of the house you live in may face the sea, a river, a square or a street; it may … south, north, west or east. When people … a new flat or house they usually have a … party. Most of the flats nowadays have all … such as telephone, … , …., … and … . the entrance to the house from the street is called the … door. There is always another entrance, too, leading into the house from the yard – the … door. The … leads to the upper floors.

We enter a flat. We wipe our feet on the door … at the door-step and find ourselves in the hall. Its furniture consists of a half-stand, a small table and a mirror. We take our coats off and hang them on the … . then we go into the … , which is the room for general use during the day. Besides this room the flat has bedrooms, a bathroom and a lavatory and a … .

VIII. Compose 3 situations using the following words and phrases:

1. close and stuffy; to put the fan on; cool; to doze; an arm-chair; a divan-bed; to take out a pillow; a clean pillow-case; a sheet; to pull the blinds down.

2. a sitting-room; papered pale-green; cream-coloured curtains; a parquet floor; a couch with cushions; a favourite place; to face a TV-set; to enjoy a TV programme.

3. to tidy up; to dust; a duster; a broom; to sweep and wash the floor; to air; to wash up the breakfast things; to wipe the dishes; a tea-cloth; to make a cake; a dresser; to invite guests.