Housing

Exercise 1 - People are talking about housing.

What kind of house or apartment does each person need?
Listen and choose the correct answer.
Listening to Housing 1.mp3

Answer the questions.

1. a. a studio apartment 4. a. a house in the country

b. a three-bedroom apartment b. a house in the city

2. a. an apartment in the city 5. a. a large apartment

b. a house with a yard b. a one-bedroom apartment

3. a. an apartment in the city 6. a. a small apartment in the city

b. a house in the suburbs b. a small apartment near the airport

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Exercise 2A - People are talking about where they live.
What do people dislike about each place?
Listen and choose the correct answer.
Listening to Housing 2.mp3

Answer the questions.

1. a. location 4. a. size
b. condition b. location
c. rent c. rent

2. a. neighbors 5. a. size
b. noise b. condition
c. size c. noise

3. a. location 6. a. neighbors
b. noise b. condition
c. size c. rent
Exercise 2B - Listen again.
What do the people like about each place?
Match the number with the correct letter.

1. …. a. It’s huge.
2. …. b. The rent is much cheaper.
3. …. c. It’s convenient for shopping.
4. …. d. It’s nice and quiet on the weekends.

5. …. e. The neighbors are fantastic.

6. …. f. The location is perfect.

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Exercise 3A - People are talking about why they moved to a different place.
Does the information is about the new or the old place?
Choose the correct answer.
Listening: Housing 3.mp3

Old place New place

A - loud neighbors ◻ ◻
1.
B - quiet neighbors ◻ ◻

A - no noise at all ◻ ◻
2.
B - traffic noise ◻ ◻

A- wonderful landlady ◻ ◻
3.
B - close to a good school ◻ ◻

A - no pets allowed ◻ ◻
4.
B - near a park ◻ ◻

A - great stove ◻ ◻
5.
B - small dining room ◻ ◻

A - expensive to take care of ◻ ◻

6.
B - a lot cheaper ◻ ◻

Exercise 3B - Listen again.

What kind of place do they live in now?
 Choose the correct answer.

1. a. an apartment downtown 4. a. a building near the park

b. a house in the suburbs b. an apartment downtown
c. a studio apartment c. a house in the suburbs

2. a. a house in the country 5. a. a house in the city

b. an apartment on a high floor b. an apartment with no kitchen
c. an apartment on the first floor c. an apartment with a huge kitchen

3. a. an apartment in the city 6. a. an apartment with no yard

b. an apartment in the suburbs b. a house with a yard
c. a house in the country c. a house with no yard

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Exercise 4 - People are talking about housing.
What kind of place does each person need?
Listen and match the number with the correct letter.
Listening: Housing 4.mp3

1. ……. a. an apartment on the first floor

2. ……. b. a house in the country

3. ……. c. an apartment with a yard

4. ……. d. a small studio apartment

5. ……. e. an apartment downtown

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Exercise 5 - People are talking about why they moved to a different place.
Does the information indicate that is the old place or the new place?
Listen and choose the correct answer.
Listening: Housing 5.mp3
 Old place New place

A - a better view ◻ ◻
1.
B - very quiet ◻ ◻

A - bigger ◻ ◻
2.
B - too expensive ◻ ◻

A - quieter ◻ ◻
3.
B - great neighborhood ◻ ◻

Answer and transcript

Exercise 1
1. Well, I’m single and I spend a lot of time traveling, so I’m not home very much. So, there’s really no point in
my spending money on a large place with lots of rooms.

2. We’ve got three small children, and they like to play outside, so I don’t think it makes sense for us to live in a
high-rise building.

3. I work right in the city, and I don’t have a car. I’d like a place close to my work, so that I don’t have to spend a
lot of time commuting.

4. I run my own business and I work from my home. I’m lucky because I don’t have to go into town very often,
so I’d like a place that’s quiet and away from the city.

5. I need a new place. I need a good-sized apartment because I have two teenage sons, and they each need to
have their own bedroom. We want to live downtown, too.
6. Both my wife and I work for an airline, and we’d like something fairly close to work. We don’t mind if it’s
small because there’s only the two of us. We don’t even mind the noise of the planes. In fact, we kind of like it.

Exercise 2A and 2B
1. The apartment I rent is okay. It’s near the stores, so it’s convenient for shopping. The problem, though, is
that the owner hasn’t spent any money on the place in years. The furniture is falling apart, and the carpet in
the living room is stained in places.
2. My neighbors are fantastic. They’re really friendly, and some of them have great parties, too. I’d like more
space, though. There’s hardly enough space for all my stuff. I guess I should throw some of it out, but I just
can’t.
3. There are advantages and disadvantages of living out here in the suburbs. It’s not really the most convenient
place to live. It takes forever to get into town, especially during rush hours. And there aren’t any good stores
out here. On the other hand, it’s nice and quiet on the weekends.
4. I love my apartment. I wish I could afford to stay here. The location is perfect. It has a great view of the park,
and I love being able to step outside and walk to cafes and shops. The only problem is the rent. It’s just too
high now, so I can’t stay.
5. My place is huge. It has room for all my stuff, and there’s a big kitchen, too. Of course, it’s really old, so it
needs a coat of paint and some new furniture. The furniture is really ancient. I think the stove is about a
hundred years old!
6. I recently moved into an apartment building for the first time. It takes a while to get used to have neighbors
right next door. I feel like they’re always listening to me, like they want to know everything I do. It’s annoying.
But the rent is much cheaper, and I like that.

Exercise 3A and 3B
1. We used to have a nice apartment downtown. It had great views of the city! But then these new people
moved in upstairs. They played loud music all the time, and the sound came straight through the ceiling and
into our apartment. It was terrible, so we moved. Now we’re living in a small house in the suburbs. It’s
wonderful. Our neighbors don’t make any noise.
2. My new apartment is on a high floor, and it’s great. There’s no noise at all. I only hear the birds in the park.
Before that, I lived in a first-floor apartment. It had a little yard, which was nice. But I heard people coming and
going all the time. And it was close to the street, so I heard all the traffic, too.
3. We didn’t really want to move because we loved the apartment. We had a wonderful landlady, too. She
didn’t raise the rent for years, and if anything was broken, she would get it fixed really fast. But with the
children getting older, we needed to be closer to a good school. So that’s why we moved. Now we live in an
apartment in the suburbs.
4. I used to live in a nice apartment downtown, in a pretty interesting neighborhood. But the thing was, they
wouldn’t let you keep a pet. I really wanted to get a dog, so I moved to a place where you could keep pets.
Now I live in a building near the park. And there’s two of us – me and my dog, Spot. We play in the park all the
time.
5. My new apartment has a huge kitchen and a great stove. I’m really happy about it. I love to cook and have
parties, but the kitchen in my old place was so tiny. And the dining room was small, too. The location was
good, but I could never have people over for dinner, so I needed to find something different.
6. I used to live in a house. I had a nice yard in the front, and another yard in the back. The trouble was the
maintenance. It was really expensive to take care of. So, I moved. Now I live in an apartment with no yard. Even
though I have much less space now, it’s wonderful, because it’s a lot cheaper.

Exercise 4
1. A: My life is so stressful now. I think maybe I should move.
B: You mean you want to move out of the city?
A: Yeah. You know what I’d like? A little house far away from the city, where it’s quiet.

2. A: I’m sick of living at home. My parents are always telling me not to come home late or not to sleep in late.
B: Well, you’re 31 years old. Don’t you think it’s about time you got a place of your own?
A: Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. But I don’t have much money.
B: I’m sure you have enough for a small place somewhere in the city. You only need one room!

3. A: My sister is having a terrible time finding an apartment.

B: Really? Why is that?
A: She’s in a wheelchair, so she needs something on the first floor.
B: Oh, I see.
4. A: Mark, I heard you’ll be moving soon.
B: Yeah, the suburbs just weren’t right for me. Everything is so quiet. I love seeing foreign films, visiting art
galleries, and eating French food. That’s why I’m moving downtown.

5. A: Hey, Trevor, what’s this I hear about you moving out of your apartment downtown?
B: It’s true. I really like the apartment, but I just got a dog, so I have to move. I’m looking for an apartment
with a yard.

Exercise 5
1. A: Rick! I heard you moved!
 B: Yeah, last week. It’s great. You should see the view from my window. It’s much better than my old place.
Now I get lots of sunlight, and it’s very quiet, too.
A: That sounds like a real improvement.
2. A: Hey, Jenny, how do you like your new place?
B: It’s fantastic. It’s so much bigger than my old place. And there are two bathrooms!
A: Wow!
B: Yeah. And the rent is better, too. My old place was way too expensive.
3. A: Jackie, what’s your new place like?
B: Well, I’m not in the city anymore, so it’s a lot quieter.
A: That sounds nice.
B: Yeah, it is. But it’s pretty far from the city. My old place was in a great neighborhood. I really miss it.