Mr. White lives in a suburb of London. His house is not very large, but it is well-planned and comfortable. It is a modern two-storeyed cottage with an attic. The cottage is made of bricks and perfectly painted. The area around the cottage is fenced by the low stone wall with the gate made of black cast iron. There are some powerful lanterns near the fence.
There is a green lawn in front of the house. The grass of the lawn is always neatly cut. Mr. White is fond of growing evergreen plants such as pines and fir trees, junipers, cedars. That is why there are only juniper bushes, an old oak and a couple of young fir-trees in front of the house. Beds of flowers, a little orchard with a few apple-trees in it and a small swimming-pool are at the back of the house.
On the ground floor there is a spacious and well-lit hall, a kitchen with built-up furniture, a pantry, a dining-room, a living-room and Mr. Whites’s study. A wide beautiful staircase in the hall made of pale yellow wood leads upstairs. The living-room is one of the most picturesque places of the house. There are large French windows there, they make the whole place extremely splendid. The view from the window is quite unbelievable! The windows are framed with long fairy silk curtains. Two low and comfortable settees with a few cushions are near the windows. Beside a small table in the centre of the room there is a sofa also piled with cushions. The floor is covered with a large unseemly expensive Persian carpet. Opposite the windows there is a fireplace with a wide marble mantelpiece, where the cat Susan, the pet of the family, usually sits steadily staring at the window. On the wall over the mantelpiece there are several marvellous Venetian lanterns. The living-room was furnished by Mrs. White, according to her taste. Her husband often says that it is slightly full up and he would never enter it if there is no such a fantastic scenery from the windows.
On the first floor there are several rooms: four bedrooms with bathrooms and lavatories, a nursery, the room of Mr. White’s elder daughter and a cosy sitting-room. A narrow wooden staircase leads to the attic, one of the favourite places of the whole family. It is as comfortable and neat as the house itself. Mr. White has his own billiards there. And sometimes the Whites together with their friends like to spend their leisure time upstairs in the attic sitting in the huge deep armchairs, having an easy chat or playing billiards.
Vocabulary Notes:
Примечания к тексту:
suburb [‘sʌbɜ:b] пригород, предместье, окрестности
fence ограда, забор; to fence окружать забором
gate ворота
cast iron чугунное литье
house дом; detached house отдельный дом; semi-detached house дом на две или более семьи; terrace houses дома, расположенные длинными рядами (очень распространенное в английских городах явление); cottage загородный дом; bungalow [‘bʌngǝlǝu] одноэтажный летний домик с верандой; mansion особняк; block of flats многоквартирный дом
comfortable удобный, уютный; благоустроенный
well-planned хорошо спланированный
two-storeyed двухэтажный
orchard фруктовый сад; garden сад; огород; bed of flowers цветочная клумба; tree дерево; bush куст, кустарник; evergreen вечнозеленый; fir ель; pine сосна; cedar [‘si:dǝ] кедр
lawn [‘lɔ:n] газон; лужайка с подстриженной травой
in front of перед чем-то, на переднем плане
at the back of позади чего-л.
floor пол; этаж; обратите внимание, что нумерация этажей в английском языке существенно отличается от нашей, например: the ground floor первый этаж; the first floor второй этаж; the second floor третий этаж и т.д.
spacious [‘speıʃǝs] просторный
hall холл, зал, помещение для приема гостей; entrance hall прихожая, передняя
well lit хорошо освещенный
kitchen кухня
pantry кладовая
dining-room столовая
sitting-room гостиная (маленькая); living-room гостиная, общая комната; bedroom спальня; study кабинет; nursery [‘nɜ:s(ǝ)rı] детская; bathroom ванная; lavatory [‘lævǝt(ǝ)rı] туалет; attic мансарда
furniture [‘fɜ:nıʧǝ] мебель; built-in furniture встроенная мебель; furnished [‘fɜ:nıʃt] меблированный, обставленный
fairy (зд.) тонкий, прозрачный
curtain штора, занавеска, гардина
downstairs внизу
upstairs наверху
staircase лестница
cosy [‘kǝuzı] уютный
sofa диван
settee [se’ti:] канапе, кушетка, козетка, небольшой диванчик
chair стул; armchair кресло
fireplace [‘faıǝpleıs] камин; mantelpiece [‘mæntlpi:s] каминная доска
cushion [‘kuʃn] диванная подушечка
standard-lamp торшер
lantern фонарь
window окно; French window французское окно, большое окно от пола до потолка, может использоваться как дверь
full up переполненный
scenery пейзаж, вид, ландшафт