Unit 4  Homes in the UK

What do you think?

1 Answer the questions.
1 What kind of house do you live in?

2 What do you like and dislike about your home?


3 What kind of houses are there in your area? Do you like them? Why / why not?

Comprehension check
2  Watch the video. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
1 There are sixteen million people in the UK.
2 There are about twenty-five million homes.
3 The Royal Crescent is in Cambridge.
4 The houses in the Royal Crescent don’t have large gardens.
5 Broughton Castle is a medieval hotel.

3  Watch the video again. Complete the sentences with one word in each gap.
1 Lauren lives in a house.
2 Lauren and Brian are watching TV in the room.
3 The terraced houses in the Royal Crescent are very .
4 Broughton Castle is over 700 years .
5 Lord and Lady Saye and Sele in Broughton Castle.
6 The narrator thinks that castle is an place to live.

4  Watch the video again. Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.
1 There are many different … in the UK.
a  gardens and cottages b  types of houses c  modern homes
2 Some houses are old and some are … .
a  more modern b  quite cheap c  more expensive
3 Terraced houses in the UK are usually … .
a  very large b  reasonably expensive c  quite small
4 Living on a boat might not be comfortable, but the view is always … .
a changing b  unusual c excellent
5 Broughton Castle has a lot of … .
a  hotel guests b  TV shows c  antique furniture
6 People aren’t … Broughton at the moment, so it’s really peaceful.
a  filming at b visiting c  moving to

React
5 Work in pairs. Answer the questions.
1 Would you like to live in Broughton Castle? Why / why not?
2 What kind of place would you like to live in when you are older? Why?

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 4 video worksheet photocopiable © Oxford University Press

 Vocabulary
6 Match the types of house to the definitions.
1 detached house a a place to live on water
2 semi-detached house b a small house in the countryside
3 cottage c a house that is joined on one side to another house
4 house boat d a house that isn’t joined to another house
5 castle e a house that is joined on both sides to another house
6 terraced house f a very big, old house with an important history

7 Complete the sentences with the correct words below.

beautiful  convenient  interesting  peaceful  uncomfortable  unusual
1 Terraced houses are usually quite because they are near shops and offices.
2 Some people live on house boats, but it’s quite .
3 It might be to live on a boat because it’s so small.
4 Our garden is pretty – it has lots of flowers.
5 Living in the countryside is more than living in the city.
6 I think cities are more than the countryside because there are more things to do!

Task
8 Work in groups. Present your perfect home to the class.
1 Where would you most like to live in the world? Research the location and find a home that you would like to
live in.
2 When you have finished, take it in turns to ask questions about each home in your group.
3 Choose one of the homes. Imagine that you will be showing the class around the home. Find some photos of
the home that you can show to the class.
4 Make notes about the advantages of the home and each room. Use the expressions in the box to help you.
5 Present your perfect home to the class. Then vote for your favourite home.

Useful expressions: Showing someone around your home

Hello. Come in.
Come this way.
This is the …
There’s a … in the …
I love this room because …
The best thing about the kitchen / dining room / garden is …
Look at …
Let’s move on to the next room.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 4 video worksheet photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Unit 4 Teacher’s notes  Homes in the UK

Video summary
The video is about homes in the UK. It talks about different types of homes and focuses on specific examples:
a terraced house in Cambridge, the Royal Crescent in Bath, and Broughton Castle, which is a stately home.

Background culture notes

Terraced houses are common in the centre of towns and cities in the UK. Most of them are quite small and they
are reasonably cheap to buy. However, bigger and more expensive terraced houses exist in cities like London
and Bath.
The Royal Crescent in Bath is a long terrace of 30 houses built in the shape of a crescent. It was designed by the
architect John Wood the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774. Today, the Royal Crescent includes a hotel
and a museum, and some of the houses have been converted into flats and offices.
Broughton Castle is a medieval manor house located in the village of Broughton in Oxfordshire, England. It was
built by Sir John de Broughton in 1300. The castle is the home of the Saye and Sele family, although part of the
castle is open to the public.

Answer key
1 Students’ own answers.
2 1 F   2 T   3 F   4 T   5 F
3 1 terraced   2 living   3 expensive   4 old   5 live   6 amazing
4 1 b   2 a   3 c   4 a   5 c   6 a
5 Students’ own answers.
6 1 d   2 c   3 b   4 a   5 f   6 e
7 1 convenient   2 unusual   3 uncomfortable   4 beautiful   5 peaceful   6 interesting

Task
Stage 1: Preparation
• If you have an interactive whiteboard or projector, show students a picture of an amazing property such as an
English stately home or island paradise.
• Ask: Where would you like to live in the world? Write the answers on the board. Ask: What type of home would you
like to live in? Ask students to explain their answers.
• Tell students they are going to find their perfect home and show the class around it.
• Before students begin, go through the useful expressions with them and check understanding.
Stage 2: Procedure
• Divide students into small groups of three or four. Ask them to move their desks together, if possible. Ask them
to choose a location and research homes on the internet. They could use their smartphones. Tell them to
imagine that they live in this house. They are going to show the class around it.
• Tell each group to make notes about the attractions of their chosen home and each room. Ask the students to
decide what each student in the group is going to say. Tell them to use the useful expressions in the box to help
them. Allow students time to plan. Circulate round the class and make sure students are on target.
• Ask each group in turn to present their home and pretend to show the class around it. Finally, have a class vote
on the best home.
Extra ideas
• You could make this into a digital activity in which students make a slideshow presentation and present it on an
interactive whiteboard or on a projector.
• For greater challenge, ask students to individually write a description of their chosen home for homework. They
should include an introduction, main body and a conclusion. They should include pictures if possible. Display
the completed descriptions on your classroom walls to aid student motivation.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 4 teacher’s notes photocopiable © Oxford University Press

Unit 4 Video script  Homes in the UK
Over 60 million people live in the United Kingdom and there are over 25 million homes. There are a lot of different
kinds of homes. There are cottages, terraced houses, semi-detached houses, and detached houses. Some are older and
some are more modern. And they are all different inside.
Lauren and her friend Brian are walking home from school.
Lauren lives with her mum in a terraced house in Cambridge, in the south-east of England.
Lauren thinks the kitchen is too small, but Brian thinks this is more convenient. It’s much easier to make a cup of tea
because everything is closer!
The most comfortable room in the house is the living room, where Lauren and Brian are watching TV.
Terraced houses are usually quite small, but these terraced houses, in the Royal Crescent in the city of Bath, are much
larger and much more beautiful than most normal terraced houses. They’re a lot older, too.
Today, these buildings are too expensive for most people, so a lot of them are flats, offices or expensive hotels.
The gardens here aren’t as big as the gardens of other old houses, but there’s a great park in front of the Royal Crescent.
A lot of people from Bath like coming here and playing games.
There are other unusual homes in the UK. Living on a boat might not be comfortable enough for some people, but at
least the view is always changing.
A few families live in very old stately homes, like Broughton Castle.
This building is extremely old. In fact, it’s 700 years old, and it’s very big. It’s the home of Lord and Lady Saye and Sele.
Some people think houses like this are too big and too old. But Lord and Lady Saye and Sele really enjoy living here.
They’ve got lots of beautiful furniture and antiques and they always enjoy looking at the garden from the window
upstairs.
The staff at Broughton Castle always try to make the garden look as pretty as possible by planting a lot of beautiful
flowers.
Broughton Castle is quite famous. Because it’s very pretty, people sometimes make films and TV shows here. People
aren’t filming at Broughton at the moment, so it’s really peaceful. It’s an interesting place to visit and it’s an amazing
place to live.

INSIGHT 2e Pre-Intermediate    Unit 4 video script photocopiable © Oxford University Press