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EFL and ESL Free Printable English CONVERSATION WORKSHEET

Part 2: Conversation File

HOME AND COMMUNITY

1 Describe what you see in the pictures. Where do you think they were taken? Which looks the most /
least like where you live? Where would you most like to live?

2 HOME AND COMMUNITY

2A Think about what makes a good neighborhood. Number these items from most important (1) to
least important (10). Explain how you made your decisions.

1 privacy
2 freedom from crime
3 knowing your neighbors
4 availability of public transportation, shopping and services
5 good schools
6 beautiful views
7 community activities, e.g. celebrations and projects
8 availability of museums, theaters and concert halls / cultural activities
9 peace and quiet
10 friendly people
2B Make a list of the three most popular choices in your class.
___________ _____________ _________________

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2C If you agree with the list above, what would have to change in your community to make it a better
place to live? Is there anything you would add to the list?
___________________________________________________________________________________
3A Look at the following expressions. Which are positive (+) and which are negative (-)?

feel at home run away from home

be homeless

a broken home

leave home make a home

a home away from home

open your home

be a homebody

3B Use two of the expressions to talk about your home life. Example:
I would never run away from home because it would upset my family, but I'll probably leave home when
I'm 18 and go to university.

3C Interview your partner.

1 What is your house like? Which is your favorite room? Why?
2 How do you think visitors see your home? Do you like to invite friends there?
3 What do you like / dislike about your neighborhood? How would you change it if you could?
4 If you could live anywhere, where would it be? What sort of house would you live in?
5 What do you think makes a house welcoming and comfortable?
6 What home gadgets would you add to make your home life more comfortable and more fun?

4A Read these quotes about home and community. What do you think about them? Why?

Home is where the heart is.

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind
as well as the body.
- Benjamin Franklin

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One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder

where you are when you don't come home at night. - Margaret
Mead
They say that 'home is where the heart is.' I think it is where the house is, and the
adjacent buildings. - Emily Dickinson
If you don't visit the bad neighborhoods, the bad neighborhoods
are going to visit you.
- Thoman Friedman
Don't buy the house, buy the neighborhood. Russian proverb

4B Explain your choices briefly by providing examples. Use:

for example

for instance

Lets say

such as

like

as

a case of

4C Make your own home and community saying. Share it with the class / your partner.

5 Read and record

(You can use Soundcloud to make your own recording https://soundcloud.com )
WHEN IS BIG TOO BIG?
Many people dream of owning a huge mansion with more rooms than there are days in the month and
everything made of the best materials available. Stanley and Dorothea Cheslock had just such a dream,
and they had the money to make it a reality. They spent four years and about 21 million dollars building
their dream house near Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from New York City. A little more than a year
after they moved in, they realized that their dream was more than they wanted or needed.
Dorothea said, "To me, it's a castle. I never really needed the castle, and I think somebody else could
enjoy it now. It's been fun ... I'm just going to go I think to a smaller home."

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A columnist for the Wall Street Journal who writes about the very rich has a name for what happened to
the Cheslocks. He calls it "Oversized Mansion Syndrome" or OMS. People dream big, build bigger, and
then realize they don't have the need or in some cases the money to support such a large-scale
lifestyle.
They have hired a marketing company to help sell the house, and now they are trying to sell it by auction.
And once it does sell, they will move on to a smaller home though at this point they can't agree on the
size of the new place. Stanley would like a 7,000 square foot house, while Dorothea would prefer just
3,500. Whatever the result, they agree that all the things money can buy are less important than friends,
family and their own long-lasting relationship.
adapted from abc news, 'Living Large: 'Oversized Mansion Syndrome' by Andrea Canning, Claire Pedersen and Maggie Burbank, July, 2008
http://i.abcnews.com/Business/RealtyCheck/story?id=5472160&page=1

5A Listen once and answer the questions.

1 What did Stanley and Dorothea Cheslock build?
2 What are they trying to do now?
3 What do they NOT agree on at the moment?

5B Listen again while reading. Answer the questions.

1 Where is the Cheslocks mansion?
2 When did the wealthy couple realize the house was too big for them?
3 Have they enjoyed their mansion at any point?
4 How are they trying to sell the house?
5 What have they learned from the OMS experience?
6 What do you personally think about Cheslocks dream?
5C Explain the title: WHEN IS BIG TOO BIG? Then say if you have experienced or known someone who
has suffered from OMS.
6 Discuss. Are dreams always oversized? Are people ready to love a dream when it happens to come
true? Do you know someone whose dream came true?

Scroll down for the answer key

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Answer Key

Part 2: Conversation File

3A

feel at home (+)

run away from home(-)

open your home (+)

homebody(-)

leave home(+) make a home (+)

be homeless (-) a broken home(-)

a home away from home (+) be a

5A
1 They built a 21-million-dollar / very big house.
2 They are trying to sell it.
3 They dont agree on the size of their new house.
5B
1 Its near Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from New York city.
2 After more than a year.
3 Yes, they have. Dorothea says: its been fun.
4 By auction.
5 They learned that family and friends are far more important than anything money can buy.
6 per student

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