2020-02-22 Saturday: 7 Living space

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all classes.
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In groups, design a tiny (around 20 m2) house. It can be “1.5” floors, with some space on a higher level but not multiple floors.
Share and explain your design with the class. Would you live in any of these houses?
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Vocabulary: house features
p. 82 part 1 - Which of these things are necessary in a home? Which are nice but not necessary? Which are unimportant?
Make sure you know the difference between:
	garden / yard
	balcony / terrace / porch
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part 2 - What are possible advantages of living in a house like these?
ger = yurt
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p. 83 part 4 - Listen to the radio program and complete the sentences. Ignore the numbers in the audio!
1 bad
2 more basic
3 shelter
4 brick or stone
5 house
6 your house
7 design
8 cities
elements = wind, rain, hot, cold, snow
animals = lion, gorilla, tiger, dog
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Grammar: comparatives, equatives, superlatives

comparatives - to compare two things or groups
	cheap -> cheaper
	big -> bigger
	pretty -> prettier
	expensive -> more/less expensive (2 or more syllables, second syllable not just “y”)
	good/well -> better
	bad/badly -> worse
- repeated comparatives: Homes are getting smaller and smaller. / more and more expensive
- paired comparatives: The bigger the house is, the more expensive it will be.
	“The more, the merrier.” - If more people come, it will be more fun.

equatives - to show two things are (or aren’t) the same = as...as
	I am as tall as my dad. = We are the same height.
	I am not as tall as my dad. = I am shorter than my dad. (“not as” means “less”)

superlatives - to show that one thing is number one
	I am the oldest person in this classroom.
	-er -> -est, more -> most, less -> least
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p. 83 part 7 - Rewrite the sentences to have the same meaning, using the words in parentheses. Begin each sentence with the word in bold.
1 Houses are less appropriate for local conditions.
2 A cave house is not as small as you think.
3 An igloo is not as cold inside as you might think.
4 New houses are getting more and more expensive every year.
5 My tent is the best in camp.
6 This house is the oldest.
7 A house on stilts survives more easily in floods.
8 You can put up a ger more quickly than a brick house.
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BREAK
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- Comparatives go with “than” if the second thing being compared is stated:
	My dad is older than my mom.
	I’d prefer to fly but it is a bit more expensive. (I don’t say the other thing, so I don’t need “than”.)
- Equatives go with (the second) “as” if the second thing being compared is stated:
	My mom is not as old as my dad.
	I’d prefer to fly but it is not quite as cheap.
- Superlatives almost always go with “the”, even if we don’t say what noun or the context.
	I’m the oldest person in this room.
	I’m the oldest.
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Compare Boston and NYC:
Boston is more old-school than NYC.
The houses are prettier in Boston than in NYC.
NYC is more crowded than Boston.
Boston is much more boring than NYC.
Boston has more Dunks than NYC.
Boston is safer than NYC.
NYC is bigger than Boston.
The skyscrapers in NYC are taller than in Boston.
NYC is as expensive as Boston.
The top universities in Boston are not as expensive as in NYC.
NYC is not as clean as Boston.
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Vocabulary: city descriptions
p. 84 part 2 - Complete the sentences with words from the box. Some words aren’t used.
1 atmosphere
2 public transportation
3 financial
4 modern
5 built-up (there are buildings everywhere; “up” means “completely”, not “high”)
6 skyscrapers
7 residents
8 neighborhoods
- The neighborhood is the area. Neighbors are the people who live near you. Residents are the people who live in some place.
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Read “Before New York”
https://welikia.org/explore/mannahatta-map/
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Grammar: more ways to talk about the past (especially things that were true for a while)

used to + base form: something was true for a while in the past and now it’s not
	- If something happened once, you can’t use “used to”.
	- If it’s still the same now, you can’t use “used to”.
	My grandparents didn’t use to live near me. = Now they live near me.
would + base form: an action was repeated for a while in the past
	- If it’s not an action, you can’t use “would”.
		*I would have long hair. (having long hair isn’t an action)
	- If it’s not repeated, you can’t use “would” for the past.
		*I would live in Michigan when I was younger. (This continued, it wasn’t repeated.)
		*I would finish high school in 2001. (This happened onced, it wasn’t repeated.)
p. 85 part 9 - Rewrite the sentences with “used to” if possible.
1 New York used to be a lot greener than it is now.
2 There used to be a lot of forest and natural landscapes.
3 Residents didn’t use to live in a large city. (Early residents don’t live anywhere now.)
4 People used to hunt beavers for their skins.
	Or: “People would hunt beavers for their skins.”
5 no change - this happened once
6 What originally used to be in the area where Fifth Avenue is now?
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Did you use to smoke?
No, I didn’t use to smoke.
- after “did”, write “use” not “used”
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part 11 - Compare your pasts with your partners. Complete these sentences with a past form to make them true for you.
1 Before I worked and studied here, I used to be an accountant.
2 When I was in elementary school, I used to eat boogers.
3 Before I moved here, my family used to live in Nashville.
4 On the first vacation I remember, I was so excited.
5 Whenever I had a test at school, I used to study a lot.
6 In my family, on weekends we used to eat together.
7 The first time I left home, I was very excited.
8 As a child, I used to be shy.
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Both “used to” and “would” are common when we reminisce, and often feel a bit nostalgic.
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Homework: Write a promotional description of your town or neighborhood in the US (like p. 89).
	Also: read p. 87 and do p. 86 parts 3, 4, 5