книги / Модели речевой коммуникации. Устная речевая практика английского языка для студентов-переводчиков

Vocabulary:

Task 7. Read the text «Hobbies in our life»: dialogue - discuss with your groupmate the following questions: Why doing a hobby is so important today? Why do fewer people take up a hobby?; speech - prepare a speech about the role of hobbies in our life and share it with groupmates.

Hobbies in our life

According to author Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone, civic engagement - from community clubs to sports leagues - has been on the decline among Americans in recent years. In other words, fewer Americans have hobbies. Between shuttling kids to school and soccer practice, work that often leaks into every minute of the day now that an email from your boss can reach you any time anywhere with a smartphone, and keeping a clean house, a hobby seems like an impossibility. Even when there are a few free minutes in the day, who has the energy to do anything more than collapse in front of the TV? However, leisure time provides an essential psychological benefit that deserves a spot even in the busiest of schedules.

Some of the benefits of hobbies should be self-evident. They help us meet new people, give us a creative outlet, and allow us to develop new skills. But if those reasons weren’t enough to

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convince you, psychological studies have also found that hobbies are an excellent stress reducer. Your brain only has so much capacity, and if it is focused on hitting that one note in the piano piece you are learning, it can hardly dwell on the disagreement you had with your boss earlier. “But that’s just a distraction!” you might say. “Scrolling through Facebook accomplishes just as much!” True, browsing social media or turning on the TV can also be good way to take your mind off things. But a hobby is more than just a simple distraction from life’s worries. Hobbies remind us that there is more to our life than whatever is stressing us out. Bad day at work? A fight with your husband or wife? A hobby reminds us that we are not just an employee or spouse, but also an athlete, artist, or volunteer. So while you may feel you’ve failed in one area of your life, you can nonetheless feel a sense of accomplishment and pride somewhere else - something you certainly won’t get from Facebook.

[All passages adapted from:

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-need-to-have-a-hobby- 2014-3; http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/hobbies-are-good-for- you-how-find-one-that-fits-your-personality.html; https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happy-trails/201509/six- reasons-get-hobby]

Vocabulary:

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Task 8. Read the essay «Success» by Connor S. Odekirk: dialogue - discuss with your groupmate the main idea of the author and the ways he defines the term «success»; speech - prepare your own speech about success and give examples of successful people; in your speech answer the following questions: What does success mean to you? What do most people think about successful life? Do you agree with their views? What makes people become successful? What does success require?

Essay: Success

In my opinion, it is possible to find success only through hard work and determination. No matter how one defines success for himself or herself, ultimately being successful, to me, requires goals and a willingness to commit oneself to those goals. Be it making a lot of money, learning a new language, or one day landing a dream job, finding success in any of these fields requires a willingness to work hard. Certainly, there are other traits and qualities that make individuals more prone to find success, though I think they can all be simplified into these two general characteristics (i.e. – hard work and determination). Being resourceful, for example, shows one’s determination to find a solution even when it seems like there is none. Moreover, being friendly and communicative shows a

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determined willingness to put yourself in social and professional situations in which you can best exhibit your own skills and value. Ultimately, I believe that success can only be found through hard work and determination, though what exactly that success is varies for each person. I think success is being satisfied and content with what you have, loving what you do, and being able to come home at the end of each day feeling like your time was not wasted.

Vocabulary:

Some useful essay phrases:

To prioritize – to put certain things before others in terms of importance

To be consecutive – to be in a particular order

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To have a positive outlook on life – to be optimistic

To be level-headed – to be rational and calm, not emotional

To recognize a problem and deal with it – to see and understand a problem and be able to find a solution

To make a mountain out of a mole hill – to treat something like it is more serious or more important than it is

To make a tiny problem into a huge problem – same as to make a mountain out of a mole hill

To have a breakdown – to be so worn out or stressed that your mental health collapses

To jinx oneself – to be scared to fail the exam, to do something that causes bad luck

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Section 2. Living Space

Topic 5. Homes and Apartments/Household/Housework

Task 1. Read the descriptions of different homes and in groups describe the typical home where you live. How are they made to fit their surroundings? In what ways are they unique?

Throughout history, people have created shelters that fit their surroundings. With a set of criteria in mind–including access to tools, availability of materials, and type of climate–individuals from all over the world constantly reinterpret, reimagine, and redefine the concept of home. To many of us, a home is a fourwalled fixture on a permanent foundation. But to others, it is a snowy sanctuary, a hidden cave, or even a floating boat. Here, we explore these different types of houses in order to understand how and why such a wide range of shelters exist across the globe. Let's take a tour of different types of houses around the world.

Cave Homes (Matmata, Tunisia)

In Matmata, Tunisia, cave homes–ancient abodes that have been carved out of sandstone–keep people comfortable all year long. Situated around a central pit and connected by a network of passageways, these one-of-a-kind properties provide protection from the North African sun and desert winds. Today, many cave homes in locations around the world have been turned into unique cave hotels.

Rondavels/Round Homes (Lesotho & South Africa)

In South Africa, rondavels–rounded, single-cell huts–are favored for their ability to be built from natural, locally sourced materials. Like igloos, rondavels were traditionally used as temporary hunting lodgings. Today, round houses are built and bought by people interested in saving both space and energy.

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Stilt Houses (Cambodia, Southeast Asia)

In Southeast Asia, where heavy rain is prevalent, you can find communities of stilt houses. These homes are raised up on planks in order to protect its inhabitants and their possessions from flooding. They're also designed to sit just high enough to keep safe from invading vermin–namely, snakes and insects. Additionally, their roofs are sloped, in order to allow rainwater to easily stream down without damaging the property. Though they're primarily built in Southeast Asia today, stilt houses are also present in the western hemisphere where homes are faced with hurricane damage. This type of house is thought to have first been used (in the west) by indigenous tribes of the Americas.

Yurts (Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia)

Yurts–portable tents traditionally made of animal skins–have been used by Central Asian nomads for centuries. While in the past these structures were intended to be torn down and transported, modern construction methods and access to new materials have allowed them to be used as permanent housing.

Underground Houses (Coober Pedy, Australia)

In addition to being the “opal capital of the world,” Coober Pedy, a South Australian town, is renowned for its “dugouts,” special shelters built beneath the Earth's surface. These unique underground homes act as an oasis from the outback's heat (summer temperatures can reach a sweltering 45 degrees Celsius) and occasional dust storms. For this reason, half of the town's residents–as well as a museum, a church, and even a hotel–have opted for this underground lifestyle.

Igloos (Baffin Island, Canada)

Though not as prevalent as they once were, igloos are used by outdoors enthusiasts as temporary shelters. Skillfully constructed

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out of insulating, compressed snow, the icy accommodations keep dwellers warm by blocking harsh winds and housing a small fire. Today, igloos–which are deeply connected to Inuit history and culture–can be found in Baffin Island, Canada, and other snowy, North American locations.

Tiny Houses (Portland, Oregon)

Today, many aspiring homeowners are foregoing standard-sized housing for less spacious alternatives. Communities dedicated to tiny homes have popped up across the United States, with Portland, Oregon, at its epicenter. Easy to erect and relatively inexpensive, these small houses are perfect for people interested in downsizing.

Victorian and Edwardian Houses (San Francisco, California)

In addition to its hilly geography, San Francisco is known for its Victorian and Edwardian houses. Featuring bay windows and ornate decoration, most of these colorful homes were built in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Today, they can be found all over the city.

Adobe Buildings (Acoma, New Mexico)

Situated on a mesa, Acoma Pueblo is a historic site in New Mexico. The Acoma people have lived on the site for 2,000 years and began to build ladder-accessible homes out of adobe brick back in the 17th century. Today, roughly 300 of these mudbrick homes exist in Acoma.

“Gingerbread” Cottages (Martha's Vineyard, USA)

Charmingly named after the quaint Christmas candy tradition, the gingerbread houses of Martha's Vineyard look like they're straight from a sugary-sweet storybook. These wooden homes popped up in the late 19th century. Since then, they have creatively been characterized as “Carpenter’s Gothic” due to their ornate decoration.

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Canal Boats (London, United Kingdom)

While, like the rest of the world, most Londoners live in homes built on land, some have found that life on the canal floats their boats–literally! Regent's Canal–a waterway that spans nearly nine miles of the city– is home to a community of canal boats. A less expensive alternative to London's pricey flats and homes, houseboats are becoming an increasingly popular way to live and work in the capital. But before you pick up and move into one of these “narrowboats”, make sure you're on board with the nomadic lifestyle; local law states that canal-dwellers cannot “remain in the same neighborhood for more than 14 days.”

[All passages adapted from:

https://mymodernmet.com/different-types-of-houses-around-the- world/]

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Task 2. Dialogue – You are looking for somewhere to live with a roommate/partner. Discuss the pros and cons of different types of houses.

Task 3. Summarize the article from Time about typical households in America

Typical Household

Pretty much everyone agrees that the era of the nuclear family, with a dad who went to work and the mom who stayed at home, has declined to the point of no return. The big question is: What is replacing it? Now a new study suggests that nothing is – or rather, that a whole grab bag of family arrangements are. More Americans are in families in which both parents work outside the home than in any other sort, but even so, that’s still only about a third.

University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen, the author of The Family: Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change, released his new study on Sept 4. He identifies the three biggest changes in family life in the past 50 years as the decline of marriage (in 2010, 45% of households were headed by a married couple, whereas in 1960 it was close to 66%); the rise of the number of women in the paid workforce; and the whole stew of blended, remarried and cohabiting families.

Families headed by single moms‚ whether divorced, widowed or never married, are now almost as numerous as families that have a stay-at-home mom and a breadwinner dad – about 22% and 23%, respectively. There’s been a marked rise in people living alone and in unrelated people living together.

This is a huge change from the 1960s. “In 1960 you would have had an 80% chance that two children, selected at random, would share the same situation. By 2012, that chance had fallen to just a

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