30   I can describe parts of a building

A substantial and impressive semi-detached house full of original features, and just a short walk from the town centre.

Inside, the hall leads to two spacious reception rooms and an enormous kitchen. Upstairs there are four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first and second floors, with a narrow staircase to a further bedroom in the attic. There is also a basement which could be converted into a separate one-bedroom flat, and a cellar currently used to store things.

Outside, the house has pretty shutters either side of the front windows. There is a lawn at the front, and a drive provides plenty of parking. There is also a small walled garden at the back.

Glossary

substantial  large and/or strong.

impressive  (of a building) large and very good to look at.

semi-detached  joined to one other house, forming a pair of houses.

original  existing from the time when sth was first made or done.

feature  an important part of sth, and often a part that you notice.

lead  If sth leads to a place, you can go along it to that place.

spacious  large, and having a lot of space.

enormous  very large. SYN huge. OPP tiny.

staircase  a set of stairs.

attic  the space or room under the roof of a house.

basement  a room or part of a building that is partly or completely below ground level.

convert sth into sth change sth from one form or use to another.

separate  not connected or together.

cellar  an underground room without windows, where things are often kept.

currently  at the moment (NOT actually).

store sth  keep sth in a place for future use. storage N.

lawn  an area of grass in a park or garden.

drive  a wide path for cars that leads to the front door of a house.

walled  If a garden or other area is walled, it has a wall around it (a wall is usually made of brick¹ or stone²).

 

 

spotlight  passage, corridor, hall

A passage is a long, narrow way with walls on both sides that leads somewhere, e.g. an underground passage.

A corridor is a passage in a large building or on a train. A hall is a room or small passage just inside the entrance to a house. 

6     ABOUT YOU Write your answers or ask another student.

1     Have you got shutters at your windows? If so, are they on the outside or inside? ________

2     Have you got a garden with a lawn? If so, what do you use it for? ________

3     Is there an attic in your building? If so, what’s in it? ________

4     Have you got a basement or cellar? If so, what are they used for? ________

5     Is there a drive outside your building? ________

6     Would you describe any rooms in your home as spacious or tiny? ________

 

Answers from a British person

1     We don’t have shutters on our windows.

2     We do have a lawn. We sit out on it when the weather is warm.

3     Yes, there’s a small room we use for storage and a children’s bedroom.

4     We haven’t got a basement or a cellar, but we have got a garage where we store our bikes and the dustbins.

5     There’s a drive in front of the house.

6     Most of the rooms are quite spacious but the spare room is tiny. 

7     Test yourself. Look at the glossary words and cover the meanings. Can you remember the meanings?