Читайте также:
|
As I thought about the various types of buildings or places where American people live, I came up with the following:
1. Multimillion dollar mansions where the very rich live. Often located on many acres of property and fenced and gated with possibly an employed armed guard to assure privacy. A good view of surrounding mountains, valleys, lakes or ocean. Swimming pool or pools, both indoor and outdoor, tennis courts, boat docks, undercover storage areas for boats, hunting fields and forests, horse paddocks, riding trails, guest houses, quarters for employed staff, multi-car garages, small theaters, libraries and private chapels are often included. A recent newspaper item describes a home recently purchased by a movie star as located in a very exclusive suburb of Los Angeles. "Gated, on 5000 square feet, it has five bedrooms and five and one-half baths, a master suite with a spa tub and steam shower. Huge rooms with five big burning fireplaces, and part of the garage has been turned into guest quarters. Plus there's an ocean view from every room in the house, copious gardens and other amenities."
2. Vacation homes which could be most any of the types listed herein but are used only for shorter periods of time during the year and may be located at some distance from the major place of residence.
3. Row houses. These are block long rows of two, three, or four levels built physically adjoining each other with little or no open areas either in front or in back of the building proper. They usually are found only in the larger metropolitan areas and often are poorly maintained. They may have multiple families living in the building (one on each floor level) or extended families (cousins, aunts, uncles, adult brothers or sisters, or grandparents) in the same building.
4. Apartments. Multiple living units, usually small in size, contained in one building. In the more modern apartment buildings each unit is self-contained, meaning each has its own bathroom and laundry areas, but in the older apartment buildings there may be one bathroom on each floor. The laundry facilities are located in the basement.
5. Private homes on large lots. Tend to be larger three and four bedroom homes of 1800 square feet or more in size with double garages, lots of lawn area, play area for kids, garden or small orchard. Some have outbuildings for storage, workshops, gardening or maintenance equipment, or guest housing.
6. Private homes on small lots. Homes may be one or two bedrooms smaller in size than those in #5, and may be less than 1800 square feet in total size. Single car garages, limited lawn, play, garden areas and only one or two trees and no outbuildings are routine.
7. Shacks. Often single room abandoned buildings with a history of minimal maintenance, limited or nonexistent plumbing or heating and free of insulation.
Windows may be cracked or missing, siding with gaps and leaking roofs. Floors may be rotting or nonexistent. May be occupied by transients or homeless or could be structures made of remnant materials.
8. In the larger cities, there are people who are so destitute that they live in cardboard boxes that were shipping crates for larger pieces of furniture such as refrigerators, sofas, washing machines, etc. if they are fortunate enough to find such shelter. If not, they pull discarded newspapers from trash cans during the cold weather, stuff them inside their clothing, and try to sleep on park benches or in doorways of commercial buildings or over ventilation grates from large buildings or subways. There are “shelters” but often these people refuse to go there.
9. There are people here who live in tents, some by choice and some by necessity. Some during the summer vacation time and some year around. The vacationers locate a favorite spot in the forest by a river or lake or with a great view, pitch their tent, lay out their camping gear and stay there for weeks on end. Many kids pitch a tent in their own back yard and sleep there all summer long. A cousin of ours bought an Indian tippee that was about five or six meters tall and four or five meters in diameter at the bottom and erected it in the yard beside his house. He moved a small wood stove and a bed in and lived in it for months, including the winter when the temperature was below freezing. The tippee was made of long poles, a canvass covering and a canvass skirting that came up the inside wall about two meters and out into the floor area about the same. A very small fire in the stove at the center of the floor area provided more heat than he wanted and the smoke went out the small opening at the top.
On a lower economic level yet, some may buy, find, or steal some plastic sheeting, build a small lean-to for shelter from the weather and live there. The more desperate may just wrap themselves in the plastic and live under a tree or under a bridge or in the brush along the river, until the police find them and force them to move on.
10. Another type of housing is the class of motor homes that are built on a car, truck, or bus chassis and an increasing number of people live in them year around. They often travel from campground to campground, staying as long as they wish, then move on to another area and thus see much of the entire country. They may or may not have a permanent home someplace and return to it once or twice a year or when their nomadic interests wane.
Some such homes can be purchased for as little as $2-3000 used and with minimal amenities and are about three meters long and little wider than the pickup truck on which they are mounted. They usually are tall enough to permit adults to stand upright in them and may sleep from four to six adults and kids in very cramped quarters. Cooking, heating, refrigerators, storage, and sanitation facilities are also built in the larger and more expensive ones. Floor space is about one meter wide (or less) and two meters long.
There is a growing industry which produces large motor homes on diesel bus chasses up to six or seven meters long, with excellent and luxurious furnishings inside, including full sized cooking, refrigerator, heating, air conditioning, bathroom, TV, audio systems, sofas, recliner chairs, and a small car in tow behind for local travel when they reach their destination. These units can cost up to $250,000 or more. Many have slide-out room additions which give more comfort. I find it ironic that this group of people may well spend a million dollars building a beautiful home "just the way they wanted it", and then spend another quarter of a million dollars on a fancy motor home so they can get away from their beautiful home.
On the other end of the motor home scale are the near destitute people who may own a very dilapidated old car in which they pack what few clothes they own in the trunk, put the kids in the back seat, and live there until forced to drive on to the next town or another parking lot.
Discuss the answers to the questions given before the text.
Which types of houses do the following pictures illustrate?
(Photo by Valeriy Yevseyev)
(Photo by Alina Levina)
(http//www.amfactorybuilthomes)
3.4. Getting to know another culture helps you understand better the way people around you live. What types of houses could you describe to a foreigner?
Organize a field study on the types of houses in Russia. In your project highlight the idea of diversity and the way it is represented in your area. Make pictures of dwellings to illustrate your presentation.
3.5. In all time there were people who wanted to express themselves through their house arrangements. But some people literally go into extremes.
Have you ever seen any strange or weird houses?
If given a choice, what house would you like to live in… a typical modern one with all conveniences provided or an unusual one, even with no special comfort around?
The USA has its share of strange or unusual buildings.
Дата добавления: 2015-09-11; просмотров: 102 | Поможем написать вашу работу | Нарушение авторских прав |