� What is the passage about? Read it in ONE minute and choose one of the options.

a Life in different cities around the world

b Unusual places to live or stay around the world
c The type of houses and flats most people live in

� Read the passage again to find the words from the box in exercise 3 as quickly as you can.

� Which of the two activities you have just done practised scanning? Which practised skimming?

AMAZING HOMES
Most people live in a house or a flat. When they go on holiday they stay in a hotel or a
guest house. But some places where you can live or stay are a bit different.

8 One unusual place to live is a houseboat. Amsterdam in Holland is famous for

its houseboats - there are about 2,500 of them. They have everything that a
normal house has: a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and even
sometimes a terrace on the roof. They are cheaper than houses and people
who live on houseboats enjoy being close to nature. Some houseboats can
be moved to other parts of the river, while others are permanently in
one place.

4i) In Tokyo, Japan, there is a see-through house. It is like a normal Japanese

house but a!lthe walls are made of glass. There is plenty of daylight but no
privacy. Architect Sou Fujimoto designed it for a couple to make their home.
He based his ideas on early man living in trees. It wouldn't suit everyone but
the couple who live there love the feeling of being surrounded by the natural
world.

(9 All around the world, people live in homes made from shipping containers.
Some use only one container, while others are made from several containers
joined together. One house in Chile was built from 12 containers. They are
cheap to buy and eco-friendly. They can also be placed in the garden or drive
as guest rooms, studies or utility rooms.

I In Germany, you can stay in a one-metre-square house, the smallest house in

the world, called the House NA. Van Bo Le-Mentzel, a refugee from Laos, built
it to draw attention to the world housing shortage. It is a wooden structure
on wheels and weighs 40 kg. It has a locking door and a window. You can turn
it onto its side when you want to lie down. Franz from Munich spent the night.
in one recently 'just to see what it was like'. He found it a bit uncomfortable!

9 For an unusual holiday you can stay in an igloo, a house made of ice. These
can be found in several countries including Sweden, Norway and Finland.
They are built new every winter. Jenny and Callum, visitors from Australia,
told us, 'We slept in an igloo last night. It's so cold here - minus 5 degrees
centigrade. We used reindeer skins to keep warm!'

O Another couple, Shaun and Rachel from Manchester, enjoyed a recent

holiday in a treehouse in Sussex, England. They said, 'It was right up in the
trees and had everything we needed, even wifi! It had a small kitchen and we
did our own cooking. It was the perfect place to get away from our busy lives.'

26
 SENTENCE COMPLETION ]

In this task type you will have to complete a sentence with up to three words (or two
words and/or a number) taken from the passage. The instructions will tell you how many
words you are allowed to use.
Look at this example: Houseboat occupants like living _______
This is a paraphrase of the following sentence from the passage:
People who live on houseboats enjoy being close to nature.
Because you have to use words from the passage in your answer, the answer is close to
nature.

Follow the steps in the box opposite and complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. @ How to do sentence
completion questions
1 The two people who live in the transparent house love it, but it wouldn't
• Underline key words from the
· sentence (houseboat occupants,
2 The designer of the smallest house hopes to ___ _ ___ to the lack of in the above example).
houses all over the world. • Scan the text for the key words
3 People who stay in igloos sometimes protect themselves from the cold by making or words that mean something
use of --------- similar (people who live on
houseboats has a similar
4 People who have would find a holiday in a treehouse ideal.
meaning to houseboat

I I
occupants).
GRAMMAR FOCUS: PAST SIMPLE AND PRESENT SIMPLE • Readthe sentences nearthe
key words carefully - like living
filQD Answer these questions about the Amazing homes passage. means the same as enjoy being.
• Find the words that seem to fit
1 Which tenses does the passage use? the sentence.
a present tenses • Check that the meaning of the
b past tenses sentence matches the meaning
As part of your first quick of the text.
c both present and past tenses look at the passage, identify • Check the grammar of the
2 Which tenses are used: whether it is written mainly completed sentence.
a to describe the house.s? in the past, present or • Check if the word(s) should be
future, and if the tense singular or plural.
b to describe habit or things that are always true?
changes. This may help you • Check that you have used the
c to describe people's experiences on holidays? understand the passage. correct number of words.
d to talk about designing or building the house?

[iJiD Choose the correct verb, present simple or past simple.

1 Most people in China live/ lived in flats.
2 In the UK most houses have J had gardens.
3 In 2010, my parents move/ moved to Australia.
4 Nowadays Sarah usually spends/ spent her holidays in cities.
5 In the past she prefers/ preferred beach holidays.

� Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.
1 Farid now ______ _ (share) a flat with some other students.
2 Last year he (live) at home with his parents.
3 Once I (stay) on a campsite next to a lake in Italy.
4 My f\at \have) two balconies.
5 In 2014 we (move) into our new house.