A: | Mr. and Mrs. Robinson! Let's get straight to it. You have saved up your money for years and are now ready to build your dream home. What did you have in mind? |
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B: | A suburban bungalow straight out of the sixties! A perfect lawn with minimal landscaping. A brick patio in the backyard with an old-fashioned grill, quaint lawn furniture, and a swimming pool. A two-car carport, pastel siding and a gable roof. Completed with white shutters and a white picket fence ! |
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C: | Uh, honey? |
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B: | In the living room we would have moss-green rugs and a fireplace with a stone mantle and wood paneling on the walls. In the kitchen, the cupboards would be a pale yellow and we would have a turquoise metal oven and vinyl flooring - |
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C: | Umm, sweetie, but I was thinking of a more modern style house. An open concept house, all glass, wood, metal, and concrete. |
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B: | But sweetums, there is always a lot of wasted space in those kinds of homes. Besides, it's just a fad. It doesn't have the homey feeling the old homes do. |
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C: | Sweetie-pie it's not a lot of wasted space. It is relaxing and the house would be eco-friendly with an in-floor heating system and designed to retain the heat of the sun in the winter and keep the house cool in the summer. We would have solar panels on the roof - |
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B: | Do you know how much those things cost? |
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C: | What about your vintage furniture, dearest? And instead of a lawn, which is also a lot of wasted space and would require environmentally harmful pesticides, we would have a fish pond in the backyard and a garden that would cover the whole yard so we could grow our own food! |
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B: | But buttercup, I thought you always said that you loved visiting your grandmother's house! |
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C: | And I thought you, Mr. Scientist, were all up on saving the planet with your technological advancements! |
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A: | Umm well I am just going to go get some coffee while you two keep discussing. |
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dream | | something you really want to do |
home | | place where a person lives |
suburban | | located or residing in a suburb |
bungalow | | a house which is built on one level |
the sixties | | the years from 1960 to1969 |
minimal | | the smallest possible amount or size |
landscping | | a view across an area of land |
patio | | an area of the garden with a hard surface |
quaint | | unusual or old-fashioned in an attractive |
carport | | a place where you park your car |
pastel | | a kind of dry colour in sticks |
siding | | material attached to the outside of a building |
gable | | the triangular upper part of a wall |
roof | | the top of a building |
shutter | | covers unfold in front of a window |
mantle | | the shelf above a fireplace |
paneling | | sheets of wood fit into a frame to form a wall |
turquoise | | a bluish-green, precious stone |
vinyl | | firm plastic which can be bend |
sweetums | | used as a term of endearment |
fad | | fashion |
homey | | having a feeling of home;comfortable |
sweentie-pie | | used as a term of endearment |
eco-friendly | | not harmful to the environment |
in-floor | | installed in the floor |
heating | | a system for keeping rooms warm |
retain | | to keep or keep possession |
solar | | relating to the sun, using its lingt |
panel | | a flat section of a wall, door |
vintage | | representative of the best and most typical |
dearest | | used as terms of endearment |
pesticide | | a chemical substance used to kill insects |
fish | | a creature living in water |
pond | | a small body of water |
buttervup | | a plant with small yellow flowers |
technological | | based in scientific and industrial progress |
advancements | | improvement or development |
picket fence | | a fence consisting of pickets |
open concept | | a form or style of room |
all up on | | have all knowledge or information of something |
renovation | | to restore to good condition; make new or as if new again |
blueprint | | a print of architectural or technical drawings, drawn with white lines on a blue background; the layout or floorplan of a building |
general contractor | | a person who contracts for and assumes responsibility for completing a construction project and hires, supervises, and pays all subcontractors |
interior designer | | a person who specializes in designing architectural interiors and their furnishings |
landscape | | to adorn or improve (a section of ground) by contouring and by planting flowers, shrubs, or trees |