11. Make a list of all advantages of plywood over wood and discuss with your partner.

11. Match the terms with their explanation.

    0. Bentwood a) Wood soften by steam, afterward molded into shapely

yet strong and inexpensive furniture. Classic examples are the Windsor chair with its bow back and arms;

0. Showwood b) Furniture wood from various fruit trees - pear,

apple and cherry;

0. Plywood c) A process in which several thickness of plies of wood

are glued together with the grain of one ply at right angles to the grain of an adjacent ply, and alternation of grains that produces a wood of greater strength than a solid wood;

0. Fruitwood d) This soft red-brown wood from the Pacific coast

has great resistance to decay, insects and weather well;

0. Red wood e) Exposed wood parts of an upholstered piece of

furniture - a chair or sofa - frame, leg, apron.

11. Look at the statements of some well-known American designers below and discuss them.

"There is nothing prettier than a big rusty urn filled with flowers. Though rusted furniture looks wonderful, but it will leave marks on a slate or stone terrace. "

Howard Chistian, manager at Treillage. "Frankly, I like the fact that you don't have to maintain it. Near the ocean , it's a practical thing."

Peri Wolfman, vice president of product development

at Williams-Sonoma.

"I need a little rust and dent to make things comfortable for me."

Heidi Gerquest, an interior designer from Freeport, Maine.

"Rust is a nice counterpoint to minimalism."

Frank Carfaro, a partner at Desiron, a New York store.

11. Answer the following questions:

Do you like rusted things? What feelings can the rusted elements of interior give? Where can rusted pieces of furniture be used in decorating? What rusted elements can be seen in the modern house? Would you like to have any of them at your home? Why?

11. Look around. What fabrics are used in your classroom? Explain if they are suitable for this type of room.

WRITE

11. A friend has written to you asking to recommend fabrics suitable for a child's room. Write a letter in reply describing materials that can suit his / her needs and saying why you recommend them.

12. Look through the texts below and arrange the word combinations into two columns denoting characteristics of vinyl and wool:

Hard-surfaced resembling marble floor

Flexible little soiling

Reproducing different textures soft-textured Easy to maintain aging slowly

Holding water vapor able to stretch

VINYL

One of the most unique discoveries of this generation is undoubtedly vinyl tile, the hard-surfaced flooring that changes its face to suit the company it keeps. Parquet, marble, terrazzo, brick, ceramic tile and flagstone are a few ancestors that vinyl can simulate, although it has set a style of its own, non-imitative and true to the nature and characteristics of the materials. Teamed with Biedermeier furniture textured vinyl is laid in a pattern resembling an Empire wood parquet floor. In the living room the tiles pursue the rambling outlines of flagstone and helps to unify the mixture of furniture.

Undoubtedly, the greatest advantage of vinyl as a decorative floor covering is its amazing ability to reproduce different textures and designs, capturing the quintessence of a classic material in a practical contemporary form. A comparatively recent development in the short but spectacular history of vinyl tile is the introduction of laminates. Actual materials, from wood veneers and cane to pebbles and mother-of-pearl are encased in clear vinyl, resulting in a hard sleek surface with the original texture.

WOOL

Any purchase for the home represents a considerable investment. Carpet is probably the single biggest investment people make for their homes. Wool carpet is extremely cost-effective. It looks good, is easy to maintain.

When considering the purchase of carpet, the performance requirements of the room or area are of major importance. Ideally, a heavy or extra-heavy-duty carpet is required for hallways, family rooms and other busy traffic areas in the home. Rooms which do not usually receive as much wear and tear, such as bedrooms, spare rooms, or the study, can use a light or medium-duty carpet.

Wool outperforms all other carpet fibers and ages slowly and gracefully.

It has a unique ability to hold or release water vapor, it is naturally resilient and flexible, and its extraordinary elasticity enables it to recover its original shape even when stretched as much as 30 per cent.

A good wool carpet has a balanced chain of properties covering comfort, durability, and safety. It satisfies the esthetic, as well as technical, requirements of an interior design and it is easy and economical to maintain.

Wool carpet, soft and luxurious, is an essential ingredient in creating an atmosphere of quality and beauty in your home.

When it comes to modern public buildings like hospitals, clinics, welfare and retirement homes and villages, wool carpet is an obvious choice for floor coverings.

Most importantly, wool carpets help create a warm and friendly environment.

Ease of cleaning and maintenance of the carpet is as much a priority as performance and appearance retention.

Controlled floor maintenance studies carried out on commercial carpets have shown that wool carpets show less soiling than carpets made from nylon, especially in urban environments. Wool carpets showed less soiling than nylon ones after controlled vacuum cleaning and wet cleaning because wool carpet to hold dirt at the surface, where it can be easily removed.