Daily Life - Building Your Dream Home (C0193)

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?
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 !
C:  Uh, honey?
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 -
C:  Umm, sweetie, but I was thinking of a more modern style house. An open concept house, all glass, wood, metal, and concrete.
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.
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 -
B:  Do you know how much those things cost?
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!
B:  But buttercup, I thought you always said that you loved visiting your grandmother's house!
C:  And I thought you, Mr. Scientist, were all up on saving the planet with your technological advancements!
A:  Umm well I am just going to go get some coffee while you two keep discussing.

Key Vocabulary

dreamsomething you really want to do
homeplace where a person lives
suburbanlocated or residing in a suburb
bungalowa house which is built on one level
the sixtiesthe years from 1960 to1969
minimalthe smallest possible amount or size
landscpinga view across an area of land
patioan area of the garden with a hard surface
quaintunusual or old-fashioned in an attractive
carporta place where you park your car
pastela kind of dry colour in sticks
sidingmaterial attached to the outside of a building
gablethe triangular upper part of a wall
roofthe top of a building
shuttercovers unfold in front of a window
mantlethe shelf above a fireplace
panelingsheets of wood fit into a frame to form a wall
turquoisea bluish-green, precious stone
vinylfirm plastic which can be bend
sweetumsused as a term of endearment
fadfashion
homeyhaving a feeling of home;comfortable
sweentie-pieused as a term of endearment
eco-friendlynot harmful to the environment
in-floorinstalled in the floor
heatinga system for keeping rooms warm
retainto keep or keep possession
solarrelating to the sun, using its lingt
panela flat section of a wall, door
vintagerepresentative of the best and most typical
dearestused as terms of endearment
pesticidea chemical substance used to kill insects
fisha creature living in water
ponda small body of water
buttervupa plant with small yellow flowers
technologicalbased in scientific and industrial progress
advancementsimprovement or development
picket fencea fence consisting of pickets
open concepta form or style of room
all up onhave all knowledge or information of something

Supplementary Vocabulary

renovationto restore to good condition; make new or as if new again
blueprinta print of architectural or technical drawings, drawn with white lines on a blue background; the layout or floorplan of a building
general contractora person who contracts for and assumes responsibility for completing a construction project and hires, supervises, and pays all subcontractors
interior designera person who specializes in designing architectural interiors and their furnishings
landscapeto adorn or improve (a section of ground) by contouring and by planting flowers, shrubs, or trees

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