Unit 4 - Home Sweet Home

Descriptors

Find out how much you know about houses in different parts of the world.

Read a letter about building a new house.

Study words about homes and houses, and collocations with take, make and do.

Study the language used to talk about the future: is to be, will be, is going to be, is being.

Listen to someone talking about changes to his home. Study the causative have: to have something done.

Practise what you have studied so far in this unit.

Write about your recent news and plans for the future.

Practise language of complimenting.

Practise word stress in two- and three-syllable words.

Post messages about where you live.

Write a letter describing changes in your neighbourhood or changes in your company.

Practise describing recent changes and using contractions when you speak.

Talk to your tutor about the unit and the topic you wrote about in Tutorial 2.

Review the work in the unit.

Test what you have studied in this unit.

Send us your feedback on this unit.

Wordlist

bet

bet (v)

to risk or gamble money on a future or possible event

brick

brick (n)

a rectangular baked clay block for building

story

story (n)

a level of a building; a two-story house has two floors

canvas

canvas (n)

a strong cloth, usually made of cotton

cellar

cellar (n)

a room under a house used for storing things

chimney

chimney (n)

a hole built into the roof of a house to let smoke out from the fireplace

cottage

cottage (n)

a small house, usually in the country

cotton

cotton (n)

cloth made from fibres of a particular plant

flat

flat (n)

part of a building used to live in; in American English: apartment

fold

fold (v), folding (adj)

v: to bend or close something so one part covers another part; adj: able to be folded

foundations

foundations (n)

the base of a building, the part in the ground that the building is built on

framework

framework (n)

the supporting structure

high

high-rise (adj, n)

tall modern buildings with a lot of storeys

hut

hut (n)

a small shelter or house with one or two rooms

lime

lime (n)

white powder containing calcium

mud

mud (n)

a mixture of earth and water

porch

porch (n)

the entrance or side of a building with a roof but no walls; in British English: veranda

rendered

rendered (adj)

covered with cement or plaster

sawdust

sawdust (n)

the dust produced from cutting wood

shingled

shingled (adj)

covered with thin wooden tiles

steep

steep (adj)

rises or is inclined at a sharp angle

stilts

stilts (n)

long vertical pieces of wood used to support a building

storey

storey (n)

a level, or floor of a building

tent

tent (n)

a shelter used for camping, normally consisting of poles, ropes and nylon or canvas material

thatched

thatched (adj)

made of straw, or cut plants like reeds

tin

tin (n)

a thin sheet metal

veranda

veranda (n)

the side of a a building with a roof and floor but no walls; in American English: porch

village

village (n)

a small group of houses with other public buildings, like a church or a school