Unit 6T ask 1【答案】but not very small, the centre of the city, pets, dream of, living room, floors, bedrooms, dark, hobbies, swimming pool【原文】My dream house is not very big but not very small. It is very quiet and it is near the centre of the city.I imagine a large garden with pets including three dogs and two cats. I dream of a large kitchen and a comfortable living room with a big sofa and big windows. I like brightly-lit rooms.There are only two floors, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The furniture is modern and not dark. I would like to have a hobbies room with plenty of books and maps on the walls.Finally, I would like to have a small swimming pool for the summer and a good sauna for the winter.This is my dream house.T ask 2【答案】A.1) kitchen, bathroom, hall2) shops3) central heating112 pounds, first, Mary Jones, 41, 40414B.1) T, 2) F, 3) F, 4) F【原文】Rod: Hello. Is that Oxford 40414?Mary: Y es it is.Rod: Erm... I’m enquiring about the flat which was advertised in th e local paper.Mary: Oh yes?Rod: Wonder if you could tell me, how much is the rent a month, please?Mary: It’s ￡112.Rod: I see. Is it fairly near the city centre?Mary: Y es, it’s only about a kilometre away.Rod: I see. Is it quite handy for the shops?Mary: Y es, within a minute or two on foot.Rod: What about a garden?Mary: Well you have the use of the garden.Rod: I see. And central heating, is there?Mary: Y es, yes. Gas central heating.Rod: I see. Erm... how many rooms are there, please?Mary: Well, there’s one very large bed-sitting room, a kitchen and bathroom and a small hall. Rod: I see. Erm... which floor is it on?Mary: On the first floor.Rod: Oh good. Erm... would it be possible for me to visit it tomorrow, say about 5 o’clock? Mary: Y es, certainly.Rod: Oh good. That’s fine. Could you just give me your name, please?Mary: Y es. The name is Mary Jones [Y es.] and the address is 41 North Parade.Rod: 41 North Parade. Fine. Thanks ever so much. I’ll see you tomorrow at 5 o’clock then. Mary: Y es. [OK?] Good.Rod: Bye-bye.Mary: Goodbye.T ask 3【答案】1) b, 2) c, 3) d, 4) d【原文】Mr. Henschel is talking about his house.I nterviewer: Mr. Henschel, you’re from Germany, and you’re now living in Thailand.Mr. Henschel: Y es, that’s right. I built this house eight years ago.Interviewer: Why did you choose a traditional Thai house?Mr. Henschel: Because I collect Thai antiques and I think they look best in a traditional house. Interviewer: It’s really very beautiful. And very cool here in the garden. What’s above us?Mr. Henschel: Th ere’s a large, open verandah above us. See? There’s an opening here. Y ou can see the sky.Interviewer: And someone on the verandah can look into the garden.Mr. Henschel: That’s right. That’s the living room, at the front of the house, with the stairs next to it. There’s a toilet under the stairs and next to that is the study.Interviewer: What else is there on the ground floor?Mr. Henschel: There’s a dining room at the back of the house, across from the study. Interviewer: And upstairs?Mr. Henschel: The bedrooms, and the verandah. The main bedroom is above the living room. ButI don’t need a lot of bedrooms. I just need room for my antiques.Interviewer: But where’s the kitchen?Mr. Henschel: The kitchen is outside, there, in the other building. Thai houses are often like that.Then the heat and the cooking smells aren’t in the house.T ask 4【答案】1) Electricity comes through an underground cable. Then a thin cable enters our home through a fuse box and a meter.2) The meter counts the units of electricity.3) No. Because they are normally under the floors or in the walls.4) Usually for refrigerators, cookers, water heaters and washing machines.【原文】Electricity comes through an underground cable. Then a thin cable enters your home through a special box, called a fuse box, and a meter. This meter counts units of electricity, and at the end of a month or a quarter your parents pay their electricity bill. Different wires go from the meter toall the rooms in your house or flat. Y ou cannot see these wires because they are under the floors or in the walls. Some wires are for the lights in the ceiling, and others are for all our machines. We use electricity for refrigerators, cookers, water heaters and washing machines. What does your family use electricity for?T ask 5【答案】1) b, 2) b, 3) a, 4) a, 5) c【原文】1) Something’s definitely wrong. It’s not cooling properly. The food that I put in it yesterday was spoiled by today.2) It’s been out of order for several hours. I can’t get a dial tone. I’d like to get it fixed as soon as possible because I have to make some important business calls.3) I wish you could fix the central heating in there. When I go to bed at night it’s so cold that I can’t get to sleep.4) It hasn’t been heating r ight for some time. Sometimes it gets too hot and bums everything. Other times it doesn’t get hot enough, and things don’t get cooked.5) It’s been driving me crazy all summer! It keeps breaking down and it doesn’t keep the room cool. It’s so hot in this r oom most of the time that I can hardly breathe.T ask 6【答案】1) The Kienasts’ Housing Problem.2) It means five Children born of the same mother at the same time.3) They were too small to leave the hospital.4) They decided to add some extra rooms to the Kienasts’ house.5) 12.6) No. The neighbors want to help them.【原文】When Mrs. Kienast’s quintuplets were bo rn, they were too small to leave the hospital. They couldn’t leave the hospital until they weighed enough. During the time when the babies were in the hospital, Mrs. Kienast was busy at home.After the Kienasts’ neighbors learned of the quintuplets’ birth, they decided to add some extra rooms to the family’s house. The house was too small for a big family. It had only five rooms. The neighbors decided to add seven more. They are giving their labor without pay because they want to help.T ask 7【答案】1) She and Pete have worked hard for renovating their house. Now it’s finished, and looks nice. Others say they have done a good job. So she thinks it’s worthwhile.2) Y es, he thinks so. In the house, he can touch various things (e.g. the leather cover of a rare book), and hear Mary working out in the morning on her exercise bar, or playing piano.3) The music room and the breakfast room.4) Those interesting things, such as designing curtains, are finished.5) She likes some kinds of shopping, like buying antiques, but hates ordinary day-to-day shopping.【原文】Mary Fargo and Pete Russell are talking about how they feel about their house, now that they’ve finished renovating it.Mary: Y es, yes. I really feel that it was all worth it now. When people come to see it, they always say they love it, and that we’ve done a super job, and it’s good to hear that.Pate: I sometimes walk around and just touch various things— some of these books are very rare and they’re lovely to hold— here, feel this leather cover. I think a house should be all about the senses. I hear Mary working out in the morning on her exercise bar, or playing the piano.It really sounds like a home as well.Mary: I think I have two favourite rooms — the music room is here. We had the carpet specially made. Y ou can feel the thickness of it, even in shoes. It’s an informal sitting room, really. A lot of our favourite things are in this room. Sometimes, after a heavy day, I like to just sit here and look at the paintings, or play the piano, or listen to music. My other favourite is the breakfast roo m because it’s so bright and cheery, and in the summer we throw the windows open and I can hear the birds, or Pete playing with the dog.Pete: Someone asked me the other day if I could bear to do it all again.Interviewer: And what did you say?Pete: Well of course, it’s all worthwhile in the end. But to tell you the truth, I was almost sad when it was finished. Well, you know that, I wondered what I was going to do next. I loved designing the curtains for example. And I liked doing the wallpaper. And it was especially good because we were doing it for ourselves. I hated doing some of the mundane things, though.Mary: I think it’s a question of degree, really. I like some types of shopping. I love shopping for antiques, for example. And choosing furniture and fabrics. I like doing that. What I hate doing is ordinary day-to-day shopping. I love shopping for a dinner party, for example.Going into all the small specialty shops, the cheese shop, the fishmonger’s and so on. But I hate shopping for washing powder, for example. I don’t like ding the ordinary boring things.T ask 8【答案】A.Social and economic, America’s housing system1.1) smaller houses or apartments2) rental housing3) cooperatives2. the rising energy prices1) cities2) less to heat and light3) underground3. economic factors1) the cost of houses getting higher and higher2) higher interestB.1) It is a way of solving housing problem and helping keep the cost low. In the cooperative, everyone buys a share of an apartment building. If a low-earning requirement is met, the buys can get a low-interest loan from the government.2) During the day, heat from sunlight is collected through windows on the south side of the house. At night, the windows are covered, and the collected warmth heats the home.【原文】In recent years, there have been important social and economic changes in the United States. And, these changes have affected almost all of America’s housing system, from home building to home buying.First of all, American families are growing smaller. People today are having fewer children, or choosing not to have children at all. Many people are marrying later in life. And, about 40 percent of all American marriages end in divorce.All this means that many Americans now want smaller houses. And, a larger percentage are buying apartments.This has created a shortage of rental housing in many parts of the country. It has caused special difficulties for those who are old or poor, and do not have the money to buy a place of their own.Some people are solving this problem by forming cooperatives. In a cooperative, everyone in an apartment building joins together and buys a share of the building. If 20 percent of those living in the cooperative have low earnings, then the group can get a low-interest loan from the government. If people want to sell their share in the cooperative, they cannot receive more than they paid for it. This helps keep the cost of cooperatives low.Recent concern over the cost of energy also has brought changes in American housing. Some people are moving back to the cities, to save the cost of driving long distances to work. And, many Americans have begun to seek homes that cost less to heat and light. Some homes are being built underground. They cost almost nothing to heat, because the temperature of the earth changes very little as the seasons change.Other new houses get their energy from the sun. During the day, heat from sunlight is collected through windows on the south side of the house. At night, the windows are covered, and the collected warmth heats the home.Recently, the American economy has also had a major effect on American housing. Inflation has pushed the cost of homes higher and higher. And, interest rates have become very high. Buyers now must pay as much as 18 percent interest for housing loans.Americans with just moderate earnings now find it very difficult to make monthly payments on new home. In the last few months, even apartments have grown too costly for most people to buy.T ask 9【答案】A.1) Debate on Radio Time.2) Four guests are in the studio. James and Alice are from Sheffield; David and Louise are from a small village in Y orkshire.3) The topic is how living in town compares with living in the country.【原文】Mike: Hello everyone, and welcome to this month’s edition of Debate on Radio Time, the programme for students of English round the world. With me in the studio today I have four guests, James and Alice from Sheffield, and David and Louise from a small village in Y orkshire. How does living in a town compare with living in the country? What do they all think? Let’s start with you, James.James: Living in a town like Sheffield is wonderful. There is so much to do. My parents often go to the theatre or the cinema. I belong to a youth club and go to lots of discos. There’s a good swimming pool at the Sports Centre and a large library. Public transport is good, so it’s easy to get from one place to another. I live very near my school, so I can walk there, and it’s easy to visit my friends.Mike: So you’re very happy. What about you, Alice?Alice: Well, James is right in many ways. But I don’t like living in town. It’s very noisy with all the traffic, and rather dirty. I like going for long walks in the fresh air, but we’ve only got parks. I cycle to school to get some exercise but it’s rather dangerous, and car drivers shout at you. I don’t really like discos or cinemas. I like open fields and a peaceful life. Mike: So you’re a country girl at heart? Do you ag ree with her, David?David: Y es, I do. Y ou’re closer to nature in the country and it’s much quieter. Y ou can watch the plants and animals change with the seasons, and there’s more room to play out of doors.And people are more friendly. They seem to have more time, so they stop and talk to you.There’s less traffic too, so the air stays fresh.Mike: Do you agree with David, Louise?Louise: Not really. I think life in the country is very dull. It’s too quiet. And you can’t really play anywhere because the fields are full of crops and animals. There is less traffic, but people drive very fast on country roads, so they are quite dangerous. I don’t like animals. The nearest youth club is ten miles away. The worst thing is that I have to get up very early.Public transport is very bad in the country, so I have to catch a special school bus from the other end of the village. All my school friends live in different villages, and it’s difficult to see them out of school. Life’s much better in town.Mike: Well, w e don’t agree. Two for and two against. Well, where is it best to live? Can you think of any more points? Have a debate in your class and take a vote. Now it’s goodbye from James, Alice, David and Louise.All: Goodbye, everybody.Mike: Thank you for joining us and until next Radio Time. Goodbye from me.T ask 10【答案】Well, I think I’d prefer to live in a village because ... well, I think the people there are friendly and there is a lot of fresh air. I think life generally is healthier in a village and I like being close to nature. And it’s very important for my work as a writer to have peace and quiet.Well, I’d prefer to live in a city because there’s more going on. Er ... being an actress, I need to go to the cinema and the theatre and there’s far more entertainment in the city than there is in the country, Of course. I also like it because ... um ... people are more open-minded. Peopledon’t ... um ... mind what you do in the city. And for the shopping as well, I mean, I love going to the village shops, but the stores and shops in London can’t compare with anything.Y es, well, I prefer living in a village. It’s safer than a city and there’s less crime and of course there’s less traffic, so it’s much more pleasant. Then, it’s much cheaper than the city. There are…you know, rents are cheaper and so of course are house prices. It’s quiet, it’s…it’s peaceful. Y es, I much prefer living in a village.Y es you. Think of the children Roger. It seems to me that you’re so…so carried away with the idea…that you’re going to…the idea of buying a house at long last that…well…your personal likes and dislikes are…are making you anything but practical. Alex for example. He’ll be going to secondary school next year. And as far as I’m concerned the nearer the school the better. Have you read the description of your beautiful village house? Where is it? Y es, here we are. “Local primary school within walking distance” it says. That of course means that the nearest secondary school will be in Colchester.T ask 11【答案】to, are, of, is, in, for, to, to, of, or, of, to【原文】Is it better to rent furniture or to buy your own home furnishings? Today, many young people are renting instead of buying, and furniture rental is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the United States. The reason for this trend is quite simple. People prefer to wait until they have enough money to buy furniture that they really like instead of buying used or cheap furniture. Renting has another advantage too. It saves people the cost of moving their furniture to other parts of the country when they relocate.T ask 12【答案】For many years, owning a home has been an important part of the American dream. Since the end of World War II, that dream has come true for a growing number of Americans. Just before the war, less than half of all families in the United States owned their own homes. Toda, about 65 percent do.Americans also are living in newer homes than at any other time in American history. The average home today is about 23 years old.Many of these new houses are in suburban areas, just outside America’s cities. About 30 years ago, builders started putting up houses in these areas by the hundreds, and sold them as quickly as they could build them. Today, 35 percent of all Americans live in suburban housing areas that did no exist 30 years ago. The remaining 65 are divided about equally, between cities and small towns.。
