SPEAKING
Houses and flats
Phrases for making the dialogues
To bring the house down - to make an audience laugh or applaud loudly
To eat somebody out of house and home - to eat a lot of food sb else has paid for
To get on like a house on fire - quickly become very friendly; to have an agreeable and cheerful relationship
A half-way house - compromise between opposite attitudes, plans, etc
To keep house - to manage the affairs of a household
To keep open house - to offer hospitality to visitors at all times
To move house - to move one’s furniture, goods, etc to another place to live in
Master in one’s own house - person who can manage one’s own affairs without interference
Not a dry eye in the house - everybody in the audience was crying or deeply affected
On the house - paid for by the pub, firm, etc
To put/set one’s own house in order - to organize one’s own affairs efficiently
Safe as houses - very safe
To set up house (together) - to live together as man and wife
No room to swing a cat - not enough space to live, work, etc. in
Bring the
house down
- the audience claps and cheers loudly for a long time because they liked
the performance so much.
Eat someone
out of house and home - means complaining
that they eat so much food that it costs you a lot of money to feed them.
Get on like a house on fire
- means that two people quickly become close friends, for example because
they have similar interests.
A halfway house
- is a compromise between two things, or a combination of two things.
A house of cards
- a
system, organization, or a plan is likely to fall or collapse.
Not give
someone house room - means you strongly
dislike or disapprove of something/someone and you want nothing to do with them.
Put/get
your house in order - you make sure that
all your affairs are arranged properly and there is nothing wrong with them.
Round the
houses
- People keep talking about unimportant things, rather than
concentrating on what they are supposed to be discussing.
In the doghouse
-
people are annoyed with you because of something you have done.
Part of the
furniture
- means someone/something that have been present somewhere for such a
long time that everyone accepts their presence without questioning it or
noticing them
Common-or-
garden = garden-variety - something is
of a very ordinary kind and has no special features.
Lead
someone up/down the garden path - to deceive by
making you believe something that is not true.
Everything but the kitchen sink
- is used to say in a light-hearted way that there are very many things in
a place and that many of them are unnecessary.
There is no place like home.
East or West, home is the best.
Men make houses, women make homes.
What makes home a special place?
Describe your idea of an ideal home.
Where would you like to make a home? What is needed for it?
Could you describe the house you would like to live in 20 years from now?
In what way does living in Latvia determine your idea about an ideal home?
1. Problem Situation
Tony and his wife went on a tour of a television studio
last week. In one room there was a camera at one end and a television set at the
other. Tony looked at the set and saw a very familiar face. It was his own face!
1. Ask where Tony and his wife went last week.
2.
What was there in the room?
3.
What did Tony see when he looked at the set?
4.
Now do this.
The face Tony saw was his own; who did he see? All the
people in the room had the same experience; who did they see?
Illustrative Situation
My bread-knife is not very sharp. I always have to use
a lot of energy to slice a loaf. Yesterday I suddenly felt a pain in my finger.
When I looked at it I saw blood.
I CUT MYSELF YESTERDAY.
1. Suppose you are the person in this situation: where did you feel the
pain?
2.
What did you see when you looked at your finger?
3.
What happened yesterday?
Variations
1.
You see a child playing with a knife and you think what is going to
happen. What exactly do you say to the child?
2.
Ask the person next to you if he or she ever see this as a child (and
answer).
3.
There is blood on your friend’s chin. Ask him a question with HOW?
4.
Why are knives dangerous in the hands of children?
5.
Margaret is slicing some bread but she is thinking about something else.
What do you think is going to happen?
Illustrative Situation
Mrs.
Mavis went to the shops yesterday. The pavement was very icy and she slipped.
The fall was very painful. She can still feel it.
SHE HURT HERSELF
1. Ask
where she went.
2. Tell
me about the pavement.
3. Was
the fall painful?
4. What
did she do to herself?
Variations
1.
Mrs. Mavis told you she slipped and fell yesterday. What did you ask her?
2.
You slipped and fell yesterday, but it was not painful. Later your friend
asked you if you were all right. What did you say?
3.
You see a child playing with a dangerous toy. You think you know what is
going to happen. What do you say about the child?
4.
And what do you say when you speak directly to the child?
Illustrative
Situation
Richard
was late for work last week, and his boss was very sarcastic. Richard became
very angry. He wanted to say something very sarcastic, too, but he didn’t.
HE CONTROLLED HIMSELF.
1. Why
did Richard get angry?
2. What
did Richard want to say?
3. Ask
if he did!
4. What
did he do?
Variations
1.
When a person does one thing and you think another thing is better, you
often say, YOU OUGHT TO … What do you say to a friend who often gets very
angry?
2.
When you give orders in English, you use the form DO THIS or COME HERE or
SIT DOWN. What did the General say to the Captain yesterday when the captain got
angry?
3.
Jane’s boss is also very sarcastic. Yesterday it was too much and she
said what she felt. What couldn’t she do?
4.
Mr. Butler has a huge appetite. When he sees food, he goes wild and eats
and eats. What can’t he do?
5.
He goes to a psychiatrist every Friday now. What is the psychiatrist
teaching him to do?
5.
Going to Burn Yourself
Illustrative
Situation
A
small child is playing near a gas-fire. (Many English homes have them in the
sitting room.) It is interested in the fire and wants to touch it. Its mother
sees it and says:
“
No! Don’t touch it! YOU’RE GOING TO BURN YOURSELF”
1. Where
is the child playing?
2. What
does it want to do?
3. What
does its mother say?
Variations
1.
The child actually touched the fire yesterday. It cried with pain. What
did it do yesterday?
2.
What can children do to themselves if there is an open fire in the room?
3.
I picked up a lighted cigarette by the wrong end yesterday. What
happened?
4.
You see a small boy playing with a cigarette lighter. What do you say
about the child?
5.
What do you say to the boy?
6.
Three of four children are playing with matches. Why is it dangerous?
6. Look After
Themselves
Illustrative
Situation
Human
babies are helpless for a long time. Young animals can do everything for
themselves when they are a year old. However, a one-year-old baby cannot wash
itself, dress itself, or, sometimes, even feed itself.
BABIES CANNOT LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES.
1. Can
most babies feed themselves?
2. Ask
about young tigers.
3. Can
a child wash itself?
4. Ask
about young cats.
5. Can
a child dress itself?
6. Ask
about a man with boxing-gloves on.
Variations
1. What
happens sometimes to very old people?
2. Ask
the person next to you if he or she could do that when he was five.
3. What
do mothers teach their children to do?
4. Ask
(and answer) when a cat learns to do this.
7.
Progressive Substitution
Do
these at speed!
Model:
She killed herself
1. cut
2. you
3. I
4. looked
at
5. she
6. we
7. amused
8. he
9. controlled
10.
I
11.
hurt
12.
she
13.
the baby boy
14.
washed
15.
fed
Model:
He burned himself
1. she
2. hurt
3. going
to
4. you
5. did
you
6. control
7. you
ought to
8. wash
9. the
boy couldn’t
10.
look after
11.
the old man
12.
a lot of old people
13.
I can
14.
Can you
15.
We can
16.
Amuse
8.
Reading and Speaking Game
Robert
felt bad this morning. He got up, washed and shaved and dressed very slowly and
then got himself some breakfast. He usually has a large breakfast but this
morning he did not feel hungry at all, so he had only a piece of toast and a cup
of coffee.
Robert
has an important examination in a few weeks and he wanted to prepare for it. He
sat down after breakfast and looked at his books, but he couldn’t concentrate.
After a while he looked at himself in the mirror. What he saw was not very nice.
His eyes were red and he was also very pale. Just then his sister knocked on the
door.
“What
you need is fresh air,” she said. “You study too much”
They
went for a walk in the park and sat in the warm spring sun for a while.
Afterwards Robert felt much better and he could concentrate on his books.
1. How
did Robert feel this morning?
2. What
did he do immediately after he got up?
3. Ask
if he did these things quickly! (and answer)
4. Ask
(and answer) why he did not have a large breakfast today?
5. Robert
has an examination soon; what did he want to do after breakfast?
6. Ask
(and answer) if he did it!
7. Why
not? What couldn’t he do?
8. Ask
if he could after his walk in the park!
9. How
did he feel afterwards?
Use
WASH/CONCENTRATE/PREPARING/FEEL/etc. for these situations.
Practice Situations
1. Robert is trying to read the book in front of him but his brain is very
tired.
2.
Jane is in the bathroom with
soap and a sponge in her hand.
3.
She does it every morning at 7.
4.
Peter has a headache and a pain in his stomach.
5.
Three students are in the library now with their books. Their exam is
next week.
6.
What is that good students do and bad students often do not?
7.
Suppose you area teacher; tell a bad student what it is important to do.
8.
Ask the person next to you if he or she did this for the last exam!
9.
Themselves/Ourselves vs. Each Other
Illustrative Situations
Tony and his wife were both at the television studio.
They both were in the room with a camera at one end and a television set at the other. Tony saw his own face and
his wife saw her face.
THEY SAW THEMSELVES.
1.
Who did Tony see?
2.
Who did his wife see?
3.
So, who did they see?
After this, Tony saw his wife on the screen and
Tony’s wife saw him.
THEY SAW EACH OTHER.
1. Who did Tony see then?
2.
Who did his wife see?
3.
So, who did they see?
Philip went to the Art Gallery in Liverpool yesterday.
He saw his old friend Sandra there. She saw him, too. When he saw her, he waved
to her. She waved back.
THEY SAW EACH OTHER AND THEY WAVED TO EACH OTHER.
1. Who did Philip see at the Art Gallery?
2.
Ask if she saw!
3.
What did he do when he saw her/
4.
Ask if she did, too!
5.
He saw her and she saw him; What is the shorter way of saying this?
6.
Who did they wave to?
Variations
1.
If Peter knows Barbara, and Barbara knows Peter, who do they know/ Ask a
question about the 2 of them with LIKE
2.
What do we say about 2 people if one hates the other and vice versa? Ask
(and answer) if Romeo and Juliet did.
3.
If I help you and you help me, who do we both help? Do you think people
ought to do this? Ask if they always do.
4.
Philip is going to see Sandra tomorrow at 8.Who are they both going to
see at 8? What exactly does Philip ask if he wants to know where and when (use
SHALL here).
10. Transformation Exercise
Models:
She saw him and he saw her = THEY SAW EACH OTHER
He saw himself; she saw herself = THEY SAW
THEMSELVES
1. She knew him and he knew her.
2.
She like him and he liked her.
3.
He amused himself and she amused herself.
4.
I am watching you and you are watching me.
5.
You can look after yourself and I can look after myself.
6.
I’m going to see Mary and she is going to see me in London.
7.
You talked to me and I talked to you.
8.
She can help me and I can help her.
http://www.learnenglish.de/Level1/Vocab/Buildings/BuildingIdioms.htm#BOTTOM - idioms, their explanations, examples
http://www.learnenglish.de/Level1/Vocab/Rooms/RoomsIdioms.htm#BOTTOM - room idioms and sayings