*

My space
Reading and vocabulary M oving house

1 SPEAKING Work in pairs. Look at the photo of a

kitchen in a 1940s house. Choose the things you
think the average family had in the 1940s. Do you
think life was difficult? Why / why not?
central heating ı a DVD player a fridge
■ a microwave ■ a radio ■ an oven ■ a computer
■ a washing machine ■ a hoover ■ a dishwasher
■ a p h o n e * a television

2 Read the article and compare your ideas in exercise 1.

3 Read the article again. Then match sentences 1-7 to

paragraphs A-F. There is one sentence that you do
not need.
1 The most important thing for a 1940s family
2 The reasons w hy Lyn enjoyed the experiment
3 W hy the family didn't have much to eat
4 W hy the family decided to leave
5 W hat a 1940s house looked like
6 The difference between men's and women's lives
7 The reason for the experiment

4 SPEAKING Discuss the questions.

1 Would you like to take part in an experiment like this?
W h y / w h y not?
2 Do you think people were happy in the 1940s? W hy /
■*
w hy not?
3 How were men's and women’s lives different in the
1940s? A 'T h ere w e re m an y tim es w h e n I thought,
a o tms. ı am a twenty-Tirst cen tury w om an, ı aon t
insight Adverbs of manner and comment w ork eighteen-hour days." B u t then I'd stop and
say, "H a n g on. In the 1940s, w o m e n didn't say
5 Study the adjectives in the table below. Find and
underline the adverbs in the article. Then complete th ey couldn’t do it. They just got on w ith it.'" T h ese

the spelling rules. are the w o rd s of fifty-year-old Lyn H ym ers, w h o

took part in an experim ent called The 1940s House.
Adjective Adverb The purpose of th e experim ent w a s to s e e if a
(un)fortunate modern-day fam ily could su rvive in th e 1940s.
lucky
io B In March, Lyn, her husband M ichael, her daughter
quick and tw o grandsons arrived at a three-bedroomed,
easy sem i-detached house in south London.
(un)surprising Unfortunately, w h e n th ey o pened th e door, all
twenty-first century labour-saving d e vices magically
helpful
is disappeared. There w a s no central heating in the
necessary
two-storey house, not m uch soap or toilet paper and
happy only a radio for entertainm ent! The fam ily didn’t have
a fridge, but luckily th ey had an oven and a larder.
Spelling rules
They also had a coal fire to keep th em w arm .
To form adverbs from adjectives, we:
a add . 20 C B u t food and w arm th w e re not as im portant as
b change -y at the end of adjectives to s afe ty - th eir first task w a s to quickly dig a hole
.................................. and a d d .......... in th e garden for a 2 m etre by 1 m etre air-raid
sh e lter*. W o rld W a r II started in 1939 and, although
th e w a r w a s n 't real for th e H ym ers, th ey sp en t a lot
25 of tim e in th e old-fashioned shelter. T h ey w an ted
th e experim ent to be as realistic as possible.

42 M y space
V ocabulary: adverbs: compound adjectives: collocations: phrasal verbs Sp eaking : talking about houses and labour-saving devices;
G ram m ar: comparative and superlative adjectives; (not) as... as, too, enough; comparing rooms; discussing house rules; asking permission
verbs + infinitive or -ing form W riting : an email: description of a room

6 Adverbs can have different functions in the

sentence. Study the adverbs you underlined in the
article. Then answer the questions.
D T h e w a r w a s n 't real, but th e difficulties of 1 Which adverbs tell us how something is done?
eve ryd ay life w e re . In th e 1940s, th ere w a s food 2 Which adverbs give an opinion about the situation?
rationing*. T here w a s n 't m uch m eat or milk, or
m an y eggs, and th e food w a s really boring. A s a 30 7 Complete the sentences with an adjective or adverb
result, th e fam ily w e r e often hungry, esp ecially the in exercise 5.
children. B efo re th e experim ent, th e children often 1 The children ate their m eal..........................................
had snacks, but n o w th ey ate dry sa n d w ich e s for They were very hungry!
lunch, filled w ith lettuce from th e garden. 2 After their meal, they were ve ry..................................
and washed the dishes.
E D o m e stic ch ores w e re a challenge, too. In the 35 3 Lyn smiled when she finished
1940s th e s e chores w e r e like a full-time job. W h ile
her chores.
M ich ael w e n t out to w ork, Lyn and her daughter 4 Everyday life in the 1940s house wasn't
sp en t m o st of their tim e preparing m eals, doing It was hard work.
th e d ish es and hoovering th e floor. Things that Lyn 5 There was no central heating, so in winter it was
did easily before, n o w b e cam e terribly difficult. S h e 40 to use a coal fire.
m issed her w ash in g m achine m o st of all. 'W e had 6 The family built a shelter, b u t...................................... ,
to boil th e clo th es and w h e n th e w e a th e r w a sn 't the war wasn't real.
good, it w a s im possible to dry anything,' said Lyn. 7 I he children didn't have a DVD player or a computer,
but............................................................., they didn't
FToday, Lyn is back in her m odern, open-plan
get bored.
hom e, but surprisingly, sh e m is s e s th e 1940s 45
8 , Lyn can never go back
house. The fam ily g re w closer, sh e feels, b ecau se
to the 1940s house.
th ey helpfully shared th e hard w ork. In the
evenings th ey played board g am es w ith the
nsight Compound adjectives
children, read books or just talked. Life in th e 1940s
w a s n 't easy, but an easier and m ore com fortable so 8 Complete the text about Mr and Mrs Average with
life do esn 't n ecessarily m ean a better life. 'I w ould the highlighted words in the article.
happily go back there,' s h e says. 'I loved that house
and th e sh elter w h e re w e all laughed and cried
to g eth e r as a family.’ 1 1 1 1 .
M r a n d M rs Average are a ty p ic a l1 British
* air-raid shelter = a sm all building used to protect
family. T h e y live in a 2...................., 3 house
people from attacks from the air
* food rationing = people are allow ed a sm all
w ith th eir tw o children and a p e t cat.
am ount of food each w eek
T hirty-eight-year-old M r Average has a 4
job, w hile forty-year-old M rs Average w orks part-
tim e in a superm arket. T h e y have tw o cars and th eir
5 house is full o f 6 devices.
M rs Average hates a n y th in g 7 , so all the
fu rn itu re is n ew in th eir 8 living room . T h ey
also have th e latest c o m p u te r and three m obile phones.

9 SPEAKING Work in groups. Imagine you are going

to take part in a similar experiment, but you are
allowed to take three labour-saving devices or
gadgets with you. Agree on three things to take with
you. You can use the list in exercise 1to help you.

Vocabulary bank Houses and homes page 137

M y space 43