05 (Топики по Английскому языку для англ.шк. (10 класс))

Topic 5

England as every country has its own kinds of houses that can be rarely seen in any other countries. In England there are know three main types of houses that people live in. They are: detached houses, semi-detached houses and terraced houses. They all differ from each another by size, price and conveniences in living. A detached house is the most expensive one among those that I mentioned. This house usually stands on its own land and its not attached to any other buildings. Such houses have privacy from neighbors, and they are ideal for keen gardeners who can devote plenty of time to work in their garden. The next house, which is less expensive than a detached one is a semi-detached. A shared wall joins a semi-detached house to the house next door but it still offers a good standard of privacy and comfort. It usually has a small garden in the front and a larger one at the back. A terraced house is usually two – or three- storeys high. It is one of the continuous rows of similar houses, joined together by their sidewalls. Many rows of terraced houses were originally built for workers in nearby factories or coalmines. A terraced house usually costs less than a semi-detached or detached house of similar size. There are miles of terraced houses in most towns. Over a quarter of British families live in them. But apart from these houses there are some other types that are popular with English people. They are: bungalows, apartment blocks and country cottages. Bungalows are one-storey houses, which are particularly popular with older people. Apartment blocks are high-rise blocks of flats, which provide accommodation for a lot of city dwellers. But these buildings are not very popular. About 20% of the population lives in flats. There are more flats in cities than in rural areas. Most people in Britain traditionally like to live in houses. To my mind English people prefer to live in detaches, semi-detached or terraced houses because of they habits, I mean that they are keen on gardening. To buy a house is an expensive thing and to help people to do it there are building societies and mortgage system in Britain. From building societies people can get loans to buy a house, and then in a period of 25 years you ought to return them money back. And Mortgage system works the next way: When you buy a house you pay only a half of its price and then during the limited period of time you have to pay the rest of the house’s price by parts. The only disadvantage is that you have to pay percent. About one third of the population now lives in council houses. Local authority councils such as town councils, usually at a low rent, provide these houses. Since 1980 it has become possible for council house tenants to buy their houses at favorable rates after they have lived in them for at least two years.