beyond the phrases - · pdf fileb. ola, a girl from poland, is moving into this house. listen...

Beyond the Phrases

Lesson 5Let me show you around

Copyright © Robert Burgess, March 2010

Let me show you around

Common Phrases

Let me show you around / Would you like a tour?•

This is the kitchen / living room / bathroom.•Over here is the •

I live here alone.•I share this place with a couple of friends.•

A. Look at the house below. What type of house is this?Would you like to live in a house like this? Why?•What do you think are the best and worst things about this house?•Where are the ‘vocabulary’ words in the picture?•

B. Ola, a girl from Poland, is moving into this house. Listen to the conversation between her and her landlord and answer the questions below.

What does Ola think about:1.

The kitchen?•

The bathroom?•

The living room?•

Upstairs?•

What is she unsure about?2.

C. Listen to the recording again and complete Ola’s notes on the left.

Copyright © 2010, Robert Burgess Beyond the Phrases 2

My Room

Fully furnished

Rent = £300 per month

Rent due =

Housemates

•••

BillsGas •Electricity

••

Lesson aims

Vocabulary: •Rooms and features of a house or flat

Grammar: •Prepositions of place/ The past passive to say something was done

Vocabulary

the shedthe roof

the gardendownstairs

a wallthe front doorthe bedroomthe garage

the bathroomthe kitchen

the utility roomthe living roomthe driveway

a windowupstairs



1. Match the words on the left from the recording with their meanings on the right.

Rent Someone who lives in a house belonging to someone else Mortgage Money that we must pay each month for certain services Landlord The people that you share a house with Tenant Money that we must pay each month to stay in a house Due date A loan we take out to buy a house Instalments Something that’s used to heat houses and cook Bills The person who owns a house Electricity When we must pay something (a bill or rent) Gas Paying for something slowly in small pieces Housemates Something that’s used to light homes and operate appliances

2. This recording talked a lot about where things are. To do this, it used some very important words called ‘prepositions’. Match the pictures below with the correct word and then use this to complete the plan of Ola’s house.

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

Listen to the recording again and complete the plan of the house below.

Downstairs Upstairs

Dining room Toilet Master bedroom Hallway Stairs Study Claude’s room Ola’s room En suite bathroom Landing Utility room Front garden

behind above next to on opposite over in under between



1. Using this map, complete the sentences below.

Ola’s room is _______ the bathroom.•Ola’s room is ______ the living room.•The stairs are ______ the hallway.•Lisa’s room is _______ Claude’s room.•The study is _______ Lisa’s room.•The garden is ______ the house.•

2. Can you use these prepositions and rooms to describe your own house? Say:

What rooms are in your house?•______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Where are these rooms?•______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How are the rent and other bills paid for in your house?•______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Look at the pictures below, all of which show different features of a house.

Decide which of the three words describes each picture best. •What is the difference between this correct word and the two alternatives? •(Use a dictionary to help you.)Whichofthesearemostimportantwhenfindingsomewheretolive?•

Hallway Bathroom Kitchen Garage Landing En suite Utility room Driveway Corridor Outhouse Pantry Off-street parking

Chimney Basement Veranda Balcony Central heating Loft/attic Patio Mezzanine Fireplace Cellar Conservatory Porch

A

E

B C D

F G H



The extract below is taken from ‘Everything is Illuminated’ by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Read the extract and decide:

What is so unusual about Menachem’s house?1. Why does it take four minutes to walk from one cellar to the other?2. What work has Menachem had done recently?3. What is his favourite thing about the house?4. What are his hopes for the house?5.

The house was actually two houses, connected at the attic when Menachem’s risky trout venture proved so remarkably lucrative. It was the largest house in Trachimbrod, but also the least convenient, as one might have

to climb and descend the three flights of stairs and pass through 12 rooms in order to get from one room to another. It was divided by function: the bedrooms, children’s playroom and study in one half, the kitchen, dining room and lounge in the other. The cellars – one of which housed the impressive wine racks, which, Menachem promised, would one day be filled with impressive wines, the other used as a quiet place for Tova’s sewing – were separated by only a brick wall, but were, for all practical purposes, a four-minute walk apart.

The Double House revealed every aspect of its owner’s new affluence. A veranda was half completed, jutting like broken glass off the back. Marble newels of idle spiral staircases connected floors to ceilings. The ceilings were raised on the lower flowers, rendering the third floor rooms liveable only for children and midgets. Porcelain toilets were installed in the outhouse to replace the seatless brick stools on which everyone else in the village took shits. The perfectly good garden was uprooted and replaced with a gravel walk, lined with azaleas that were cut too short to flower.

But Menachem was most proud of the scaffolding: the symbol that things were always changing, always getting a little better. He loved the skeleton of makeshift beams and rafters more and more as construction progressed, loved them more than the house itself and eventually persuaded the reluctant architect to draw them into the final plans. Workers, too, were drawn into the plans. Not workers, exactly, but local actors paid to look like workers, to walk the planks of the scaffolding, to hammer functionless nails into gratuitous walls, and to pull those nails out and examine blueprints. (The blueprints themselves were drawn into the blueprints, and in those blueprints were blueprints with blueprints…)

Menachem’s problem was this: he had more money than there were things to buy. Menachem’s solution was this: rather than buy more things, he would continue to buy the things he already owned, like a man on a desert island who retells and embellishes the only joke he can remember. His dream was for the Double House to be a kind of infinity, always a fraction of itself - suggestive of a bottomless money pit - always approaching but never reaching completion.

risky = ryzykownyventure = przedsięwzięcielucrative = korzystnyconvenient = dogodnyimpressive = imponującypractical = praktycznyaffluence = dostatek newel = poręcz

midget = karzełscaffolding = rusztowanie budowlanerafter = krokiewfunctionless = bez funkcjigratuitous = niczym nie uzasadnionyblueprints = szczegółowyplandziałaniato embellish = upiększyćfraction = część



Menachem had a lot of work done on his house.

1. Look through the text for details of the different things Menachem changed in his house and use this to complete the sentences below.

A veranda • was half completed.The ceilings • were __________ on the lower flowers. Porcelain toilets • were __________ in the outhouse. The garden • __________ and __________ with a gravel walk. Workers • __________ into the plans.

2. Who did each of the jobs above? Can we tell from the sentence?

3. Compare the following sentences:

Somebody built this house in 1983.(active)

This house was built in 1983.(passive)

Thefirstsentenceisactive.Ittellsusexactlywhobuiltthehouse.•

The second sentence is passive. In this sentence, the person who •actually built the house is unimportant. The actual building of the house is more important.

The Passive Word order is much stricter in English than in Polish. In Polish, two sentences like:

“Ela sprzątała kuchnię.”“Kuchnię sprzątała Ela.”

Mean exactly the same thing.

In English, however, we cannot do this.Englishwordorderisfixedinactivesentences.

Subject + Verb (conjugated) + Object

Ela cleaned the kitchen yesterday.Ela is cleaning the kitchen now.Ela won’t clean the kitchen tomorrow.

Sometimes, however, the object of a sentence is more important than the subject, or we don’t want to mention the subject for some reason. In this case, we need to use a passive form.

Object + to be (conjugated) + verb (past participle)

The room was cleaned (by Ela).

The room is being cleaned (by Ela).

The room won’t be cleaned (by Ela).

Note: we don’t need to say ‘by Ela’. The sentence makes sense without it.As you can see, this rule applies to almost any tense in English.


A. Look at these before and after pictures. For each one, change the active sentence into its correct passive form. Follow the example below.

The car was The car is yellow now black

A mechanic painted the car black a few days ago.The car was painted black a few days ago by a mechanic.

1. Yesterday, Mathew’s hair was long. Today it is short.

A hairdresser cut Mathew’s hair yesterday. Mathew’s hair _________ by a _________.

2. Last week, this clock was broken. Now is works.

A watchmaker fixed this clock last week. This clock _________ by a __________.

3. The photographer wasn’t happy with the original picture. Now he is.

The photographer modified this picture. This picture _________ by a __________.

B. The following sentences all contain both passive and active verbs. Decide which is which andfillthegapswiththecorrectform.

Richard’s parents __________ (die) when he was very young. He and his sister __________ (bring 1. up) by their grandparents.

I saw an accident last night. Somebody __________ (call) an ambulance but nobody __________ 2. (injure) so the ambulance __________ (not need).

Where ________ (these photographs / take)? In London? __________ (you / take) them, or did 3. somebody else?

Sometimes it was very noisy living in London, but it wasn’t a problem for me. I ________ (not 4. bother)byit.Tobehonest,thequietinWrocław________(bother)memore!

________(Billfire)fromhisjobor________(heresign)?5.

AFTERBEFORE

Copyright © Robert Burgess Beyond the Phrases, 2010 7

BEFORE AFTER


A. Look at this picture of a house for 60 seconds and try to remember as much as you can. Cover the page. Can you describe where everything is in the house?

1. The bedroom is upstairs above the living room. It is next to the bathroom. 2. ________________________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________________________ 4. ________________________________________________________________________ 5. ________________________________________________________________________

B. Thisisthesamehouseasinthefirstpicture,butsomethingshavechanged.Lastyear,the owners hired people to do some work on the house the house. What changes were made?

1. The wall in the living room was painted white. 2. ________________________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________________________ 4. ________________________________________________________________________ 5. ________________________________________________________________________



ANSWERSPage 2A It’s a detached house.

B 1. She thinks the kitchen is enormous. The bathroom is cosy. Thelivingroomisquaintbecausethereisafireplace. The upstairs is messy/untidy.2. She didn’t know there was a pet iguana in the house.

C Fully furnished.Rent = 300 per month.Rent due = last Friday of each month.Lisa - very friendly and organised.Matthew & Elaine - everyone likes them.Claude - he’s new. French.Gas - = £20 pcm. Box is behind the door.Electricity = £30 pcmCouncil tax = ?

Page 3Rent = Money that we must pay each month to stay in a houseMortgage = A loan we take out to buy a houseLandlord = The person who owns a houseTenant = Someone who lives in a house belonging to someone else Due date = When we must pay something (a bill or rent) Instalments = Paying for something slowly in small piecesBills = Money that we must pay each month for certain services Electricity = Something that’s used to light homes and operate appliances Gas = Something that’s used to heat houses and cookHousemates = The people that you share a house

In,On,Under, Over, Opposite, In front, Behind, Between, Next to

Page 41. Ola’s room is next to the bathroom.Ola’s room is above the living room.The stairs are in the hallway.Lisa’s room is opposite Claude’s room.The study is below Lisa’s room.The garden is in front of the house.3. A Corridor, B Outhouse, C Utility room, D Garage, E Fireplace, F Cellar, G Patio, H mezzanine

Page 51. It’s two houses joined together. It’s the largest in the village.2. The two houses are joined together only at the attic3. He has had a veranda and lots of pointless staircases built. He has also had the ceiling lowered and the garden uprooted.4. He loves the scaffolding because it reminds him that things are always getting better.5.Hewantsittorepresentinfinity-alwaysnearingbutneverreaching perfection.

Page 61. A veranda was half completed.Theceilingswereraisedonthelowerflowers.Porcelain toilets were installed in the outhouse. The garden was uprooted and replaced with a gravel walk. Workers were drawn into the plans.

Page 71. Mathew’s hair was cut yesterday by a hairdresser. 2.Thisclockwasfixedlastweekbyawatchmaker.3.Thispicturewasmodifiedlastweekbyaphotographer.

1. Richard’s parents died when he was very young. He and his sister were brought up by their grandparents.2. I saw an accident last night. Somebody called an ambulance but nobody was injured so the ambulance wasn’t needed.3. Where were these photographs taken? In London? Did you take them, or somebody else?4. Sometimes it was very noisy living in London, but it wasn’t a problem. I wasn’t bothered by it. To be honest, the quiet in Wrocławbothersmemore!5.WasBillfiredfromhisjobordidheresign?

Page 8A. The bedroom is upstairs above the living room.2. The kitchen is next to the dining room, above the basement and below the bedroom. 3. The bathroom is between the two bedrooms.4. The dining room is in the middle of the house. It is below the bathroom and between the living room and the kitchen.

B. The wall in the living room was painted white.2. The chimney was removed3. The wall in the kitchen was knocked down.4. A patio was built. 5. The basement was converted.

Claude’s en room suite Dining Utility room room Landing

Master Ola’s bedroom Study room Toilet Hallway

Front garden

stairs

stairs

Copyright © Robert Burgess Beyond the Phrases, 2010 9

GlossaryInspired by:

Grammar Games and Activities for Teachers •(Peter Watcyn-Jones, Penguin, 1995)English Grammar in Use• (Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press, 2004)Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer •(HoughtonMifflin,2002)

All images taken from google image search.All copyrights respective to their owners.

roof

bathroomshed

living roomgarage

garden

bedroom

front door

kitchenutility room

beyond the phrases - · pdf fileb. ola, a girl from poland, is moving into this house. listen...

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