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QUESTIONS FOR THE ORAL EXAMINATION
General questions?
1) What is a text?
2) What do we mean by the words coherence and cohesion?
3) Which kind of texts can we have?
4) Which are the main features of a text?
5) Which are the main features of a scientific text?
6) What is a "topic sentence"? (main concept)
7) What are "linkers" or "connectors"? They are grammatical words
that signal the logical relationships within a sentence and between
sentences and paragraphs.
8) Make an example of linkers for "Addition", "Result", "Time
Sequence", "Purpose", "Concession", and so on.
9) How would you define the kind of education you receive at school
? (Excellent, Good, Unsatisfactory, Very bad).
10) What is the cause of your answer? (Inadequate teaching methods,
Uninteresting subjects, Too much discipline, Too many students in a
single classroom, Other reasons).
11) Do you think the subjects you are studying, or you have studied
are - or will be - of some use to understand the world in which you
live or to find a job?
12) At the end of the secondary school, are you planning to...a) go
to the university? b) look for a job?
13) Should anyone who wants to go to the university be allowed to?
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT BUSINESS, TRADE
AND MARKETING COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT LIVING,
SURVEYORS AND ARCHITECTS COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT HOSPITALITY AND
CULINARY ARTS COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT OPTICIANS AND
OPTICAL COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT LIVING MATTERS
1) What is a building, and a house, and a home?
2) How is shaped a building?
3) What are the basic requirements of a building?
4) What are the principal types of dwellings? They are: the single
family deatched house, it stands alone and is not joined to any
other dwelling; the semi-detached or duplex house (Usa): it is
joined to another house on one side; the terraced house or town
house (Usa): it is a part of a line of houses that are still joined
together; the block of flats or condominium (Usa): it is a tall
modern building that is divided into flats; the cottage, it is a
small house in a village or in the countryside. Cottages are usually
old buildings; the bungalow: it has only one floor and no upstairs.
bungalows are usually modern buildings.
5) In which type of house do you live?
6) Can you list the positive and negative aspects of living there?
(more less expensive in construction and maintenance, to buy, to
rent, more confortable and peaceful, quote the different for and
against, cost and benefits, etc.)
7) Why are terraced houses a product of the Industrial Revolution?
8) Which are the most common types of houses in large cities?
9) What is a mansion? It is a large, beautiful house, especially one
owned by a rich or noble family.
10) What is a palace? It is a large, richly-decorated house,
especially one which is the home of a king, queen, president or an
important person.
11) What are the most common building materials? (wood, stone, brick,
concrete, steel, glass, pvc, etc)
12) What can we learn from building styles?
13) What happened in 1666?
14) Do you know who was Sir Christopher Wren?
15) Do you remember who founded the city of London? (43 A.D. by
Romans)
16) What is a community?
17) Which elements must work together to create a good community?
18) What do we mean by the term "neighbourhood"?
19) Who is a planner?
20) What are "slums"?
21) What are the causes of the so called "Housing Problem"?
22) What do you think society should do to try to solve the so
called "Housing Problem"?
23) Do you know what is a "Garden City" and who planned it? (English
Planner Ebenezer Howard promoted the "garden city" in the book
Tomorrow: a peaceful path to social reform, in 1898. His plan was a
response to the need for improvement in the quality of urban life.)
24) What do we mean by the words: "facilities" and "amenities"? (Structures
such as schools, hospitals, museums, concert hall, theatres,
auditoriums, gymns, libraries, recreational and cultural centres,
sport centers, shopping centres, civic and cultural complexes, etc.)
25) What kind of people have you got as neighbours?
26) What kind of houses can we have in the district where (in which)
you live? And in general?
27) Are there any parks in the surroundings where you live?
28) What do you know about computer-aided design equipment? (A
computer can help a designer to work much faster than drawing with
conventional equipment. This is called Computer-aided design CAD.
The designer uses a graphic tablet or a light pen which can draw
straight onto the screen. The computer stores the dimensions and can
print out the drawings. The computer can be programmed to alter the
entire design to accomodate specific changes. With new softwares
designers can create high-resolution 3D models, renderings and photo
realistic animations.
29) What is a skyscraper? It is a multi-storey building constructed
on a steel skeleton, provided with high-speed elevators and
combining extraordinary height with ordinary room spaces such as
would be used in low buildings. Like Gothic cathedrals of medieval
times they are now the architectural wonders of their age, but the
reason for their existence is business, not religion. Skyscrapers
are recognized as corporate status symbols of power and prestige,
and each new one is built even higher, and more architecturally
innovative than its predecessor.
30) In which country did skyscrapers develope and why? Skyscrapers
were born in the USA towards the end of the nineteenth century and
developed afterwards in the first decades of the next century always
in America, in cities as Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.
They were new buildings constructed thanks to the new and great
development of technological devices. Usually they were erected in
places of great industrial or financial importance but with limited
room for horizontal expansion.
31) What are the most surprising technological inventions connected
with the development of skyscrapers? Certainly one of the most
important of all is the elevator, without elevators there would have
be no high-rise building. In 1850 H. Waterman invented the first
platform elevator and in 1854 G. otis completed his first hydraulic
elevator with safety device so that passangers would feel secure. By
1871 passangers elevators were used in office buildings and by 1887
the first electric elevator was in use. The development of the
elevator, along with certain innovations in the technology of
structure, particularly the steel skeleton, and later the use of
glass and new materials made the fortune of the new great buildings.
32) Can you remember the name of some famous skyscrapers? The Empire
State Bulding in New York City, Manhattan Island, (380 metres); The
Chrysler Building in New York (319 metres); The World Trade Center
also called as the Twin Towers in New York, which were attacked by
islam terrorists in 2000 and were completely destroyed because of
the great fire exploded and the consequent steel structure crash;
the Bank of China (369 metres); Millenium Tower London (385 metres);
Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur (450 metres).
33) What is the Millenium Dome? It is an immense exibition facility
planned to be built on Greenwich peninsula along the Thames to hold
the exibition being organized to celebrate the year 2000 right on
the Greenwich meridain line. This construction measuring 320 metres
in diameter and 50 metres in height, will be able to accomodate up
to 100,000 visitors daily.
34) We can classify towns following their functions, can you make me
some examples? We can have: market town: most market towns began
when much of the population were farmers who needed somewhere to
sell their products and where they could also buy things they needed,
such as tools, seeds and anvils; Administration centre: the function
of this settlement is to deal with all the work involved in running
a large area, such as a county. There are many offices here such as
the County Hall, police headquarters and law courts; holiday resorts:
this is a place people visit for holidays. The main function of a
resort is to provide a place where people can enjoy themselves and
relax; university towns: these are towns where we can find great and
prestigious universities that can attract students from all over the
world, usually we can find also great and efficient hospitals and
scientific research centres; industrial centre: the main function of
this type of settlement is the production of goods in factories.
Other industrial towns may be based around a coal mine. These
settlements are usually not as old as markets towns; port town: a
port is a place where goods can be brought into the country or sent
to other countries by ship. Nowadays is very important to have a
general plan for the development of every town, having a guide to
follow to build and project the city we can promote health, safety
and welfare of the people of the community. A general plan organizes
and coordinates the complex relationships between urban land uses:
two basic elements comprise the General Plan, the plan for land and
the plan for circulation.
35) How did the romans proved to be skilled engineers and which new
techniques and forms did they introduce? The Romans were skilled
engineers and city builders, with inventive genius they solved
technical problems; they developed water supply and distribution,
drainage system and method of heating. The great aqueducts for
carrying water over tremendous distances and the underground sewers
were example of engineering skill. Then they built highway paved
with stones that represented the foundations of modern roads and
railways. The Romans also introduced new techniques and forms, such
as the dome, the vault and the use of concrete, which allowed them
to build bigger more monumental structures. The Greek agora was
substituted by the Forum Romanum, a central open space but enclosed
and regular, with colonnades of shops, temples and a basilica, a
kind of town hall with a low court.
36) What does the Industrial Revolution mean? The industrial
revolution started in the nineteenth century with the machine age.
Until that time all goods had been made and assembled by hand, and
the previous main economy was based on farming, with the invention
of the steam engine in 1765 and the constructions of new machinery
such as the power loom that was a steam-powered,
mechanically-operated version of a regular loom, (a loom is a device
that combined threads to make cloth) women replaced most men as
weavers in the textile factories and a great industrial development
began. The new economy was based on a manufacturing system and on
the use of machinery. The size of factories grew and the numbers of
workers employed also increased. The industrial system depended upon
transportation of raw materials to the factory and finished products
to the consumers. The entire process began in Britain and then
spread to Belgium, France and Germany. The greatest revolution,
however, came with the invention of the steam train in 1804. the
railroad penetrated the town with a network of tracks. The new
industrial economy brought exploitation of the poor and with poverty
came the slums, row upon row of crowded workers houses in the shadow
of the factory.
37) What are the main steps or stages in design to get a final
product starting from an orginal idea? To get from an initial idea
to a finished product there are several design stages. This is often
called the design process. As part of this process, a designer uses
technical drawings to illustrate and explain ideas. To do this we
can make a flow chart which is a summary of the main stages in the
design process, that is we can have: 1) The Brief, a document given
by the client to the designer containing a set of instructions about
what the design will be used for, what it must look like and how
much it can cost; 2) The Idea, designers come up with ideas for the
design which follow the brief; 3) Research, the designer has to know
how the object being designed is to be made; designers often consult
with engineers and other experts to discover what they need to know;
4) Sketches, original ideas are often developed as small rough
sketches called "thumbnails", you will find that doing pencil
sketches of the object helps you work out your ideas; 5) Perspective
drawing, designers often do a realistic three-dimensional picture of
their design using a three-d cad software that can create a
perspective, and a photorealistic model of the final product even
with an animation if necessary and it can be modelled through
rendering in different materials; 6) The Model, making a model is an
easy way of testing that a design works. Designers often make models
(called mock-ups) to show clients how the finished product will
look; 7) Technical Drawing, convey precise information about an
object's size and shape to the person who will make it; 8) The
finished article and evaluation, next the article is made. The final
stage of the design process is called evaluation, in this stage the
designer checks if the product fulfills the brief and if it can be
improved.
38) What do we mean by the term "Industrial Design"? The term
industrial design was first used in the U.S.A. in 1919 referring to
drawings of industrial objects for advertisments. The role of the
advertising agency in putting a designer in touch with the client
was crucial, and in 1920s agencies extended their function by
putting designers in contact with manufacturing companies with the
view to not simply provide publicity material but to restyle their
products as well. In this period many american companies invested
vast sums of money in researching the potential of new materials to
give a new raise in sales after the bad and dramatic period of the
Great Depression in 1927 which had cause a strong fall in sales.
Industrial Design, art and science involved in the creation of
machine-made products. It is concerned with aesthetic appearance as
well as with functional efficiency. The success of a design is
measured by the profit it yields its manufacturer and the service
and pleasure it affords its owner. The term industrial design was
originated in 1919 by the American industrial designer Joseph Sinel.
Initially, industrial designers dealt exclusively with machine-made
consumer products. Eventually, however, the scope of the profession
enlarged to include the design of capital goods, such as farm
machinery, industrial tools, and transportation equipment, and the
planning of exhibitions, commercial buildings and packaging.
39) To which field was the research for new material and design
applied? Industrial design has applications not only in consumer
products but in interior building space, packaging, and
transportation. Today industrial design has been applied to
practically all consumer products, notably to home appliances, such
as air conditioners, irons, and washing machines; office equipment,
such as typewriters, dictaphones, and duplicating machines;
electronic communications equipment, such as radios, television sets,
phonographs, and tape recorders; bathroom and lighting fixtures;
furniture; hardware and tableware; automobiles; and photographic
equipment. Industrial design is applied also to products involved in
distribution, such as trucks and automatic vending machines, and to
industrial materials and equipment. Metal is not the only new
material employed, new forms of machines processed wood, laminated
wood, or aluminium, and all forms of plastic, that is any of various
organic compounds produced by polymerization, capable of being
molded, extruded, cast into various shapes and films, or drawn into
filaments used as textile fibers.
The industrial designer must be concerned not only with product
design but with the conditions under which products are sold. In
planning retail stores and display areas, for example, the
industrial designer works with the architect to increase the
revenue-producing interior space and to create arrangements and
atmosphere conducive to sales. Industrial designers also work to
facilitate the profitable operation of railroad stations, airports,
hotels, shopping centers, exhibitions, restaurants, public
auditoriums, television stations, and offices.
40) What are the main points to include in a curriculum vitae? The
Curriculum Vitae is an outline of a person's educational and
professional history, usually prepared for job applications (L, lit.:
the course of one's life). A CV is the most flexible and convenient
way to make applications. It conveys your personal details in the
way that presents you in the best possible light and can be used to
make multiple applications to employers in a specific career area.
For this reason, many large graduate recruiters will not accept CVs
and instead use their own application form. An application form is
designed to bring out the essential information and personal
qualities that the employer requires and does not allow you to gloss
over your weaker points as a CV does. In addition, the time needed
to fill out these forms is seen as a reflection of your commitment
to the career.
What information should a CV include? Personal details, Normally
these would be your name, address, date of birth (although with age
discrimination laws now in force this isn't essential), telephone
number and email. Education and qualifications, Your degree subject
and university, plus A levels and GCSEs or equivalents. Mention
grades unless poor!
Work experience, Use action words such as developed, planned and
organised.
Even work in a shop, bar or restaurant will involve working in a
team, providing a quality service to customers, and dealing
tactfully with complaints. Don't mention the routine, non-people
tasks (cleaning the tables) unless you are applying for a casual
summer job in a restaurant or similar.
Try to relate the skills to the job. A finance job will involve
numeracy, analytical and problem solving skills so focus on these
whereas for a marketing role you would place a bit more more
emphasis on persuading and negotiating skills.
Interests and achievements, Keep this section short and to the point.
As you grow older, your employment record will take precedence and
interests will typically diminish greatly in length and importance.
Don't put many passive, solitary hobbies (reading, watching TV,
stamp collecting) or you may be perceived as lacking people skills.
Show a range of interests to avoid coming across as narrow : if
everything centres around sport they may wonder if you could hold a
conversation with a client who wasn't interested in sport. Hobbies
that are a little out of the ordinary can help you to stand out from
the crowd: skydiving or mountaineering can show a sense of wanting
to stretch yourself and an ability to rely on yourself in demanding
situations.
Any interests relevant to the job are worth mentioning: current
affairs if you wish to be a journalist; a fantasy share portfolio
such as Bullbearings if you want to work in finance.
Any evidence of leadership is important to mention: captain or coach
of a sports team, course representative, chair of a student society,
scout leader.
Anything showing evidence of employability skills such as
teamworking, organising, planning, persuading, negotiating etc.
Skills. The usual ones to mention are languages (good conversational
French, basic Spanish), computing (e.g. "good working knowledge of
MS Access and Excel, plus basic web page design skills" and driving
("full current clean driving licence").
If you are a mature candidate or have lots of relevant skills to
offer, a skills-based CV may work for you
Referees. Normally two referees are sufficient: one academic (perhaps
your tutor or a project supervisor) and one from an employer (perhaps
your last part-time or summer job). See our page on Choosing and
Using Referees for more help with this.
ARCHITECTURAL
STYLES THROUGH HISTORY.
Prehistoric architecture was mostly natural and made form the bare
minimum requirements. Workability was the focus and aesthetics were
almost accidental.
Ancient Greek architecture can be distinguished by the specific
elements such as the rectangular buildings and the large columns.
The temple was the most common and best-known form of Greek public
architecture. Common materials of Greek architecture were wood, used
for supports and roof beams; plaster, used for sinks and bathtubs;
unbaked brick, used for walls, especially for private homes;
limestone and marble, used for columns, walls, and upper portions of
temples and public buildings; terracotta, used for roof tiles and
ornaments; and metals, especially bronze, used for decorative
details.
Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved
the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to Byzantium. Early
Byzantine architecture was simply a continuation of Roman
architecture. Buildings increased in geometric complexity, brick and
plaster were used in addition to stone in the decoration of
important public structures. Romanesque architecture developed
between the 10th and the 12th centuries in Western Europe.
Romanesque Architecture It represents architecture of the Middle
Ages in Europe. The Romanesque architecture is known by the rounded
arches, the very large towers, decorative arcades, walls of massive
thickness and the overall symmetry in design.
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished
during the high and late medieval period and began at the Abbey of
Saint-Denis. There are certain characteristics that are particularly
symbolic of Gothic architecture such as the pointed arches, large
individual windows, flamboyant designs and the emphasis on the
creation of vertical lines in the design. Gothic architecture is
most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals,
abbeys and parish churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of
many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities, and to
a less prominent extent, private dwellings. The term "Gothic", when
applied to architecture, has nothing to do with the historical Goths.
It was a pejorative term that came to be used as early as the 1530s
by Giorgio Vasari to describe culture that was considered rude and
barbaric. Gothic symbolized a new synthesis of Humanity, God and
nature. While Romanesque churches reflected an atmosphere of
darkness and mistery, the new ones became an image of nature,
imitating plant forms, ribs, stems or fronds, and growing out of the
earth like a tree.
During the Renaissance the architecture shifted somewhat. The
perception of infinity had entered architectural consciousness. This
was the central theme to Renaissance architecture, which in the eyes
of many analysts is still one of the more powerful and influential
styles. Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period
between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions
of Europe, in which there was a conscious revival and development of
certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material
culture. The Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry,
proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they are
demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and in
particular ancient Roman architecture, of which many examples
remained. Orderly arrangements of columns, pilasters and lintels, as
well as the use of semicircular arches, hemispherical domes, niches
and aedicules replaced the more complex proportional systems and
irregular profiles of medieval buildings. Developed first in
Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators. Also
Andrea Palladio with his books on the theory of the practice od
design, had great influence on the architecture of this period. His
design were simple and practical and extended the idea of the
building reflecting the elements of the human body: the building
should be symmetrical (the left half mirrors the right) around an
axis (the spine) from the front, but not from the side; each part
should relate to the whole and to every other part. The most
important elements are in the middle (head, brain, eyes, etc.);
elements on the outside should reflect the structure inside (the
skin over bones).
The Baroque Architecture style was dominant at the beginning of the
17th century. Baroque architectural styles always played around with
a dramatic use of light, central projections, ornamental decoration,
pear domes etc. The finest expression of the Baroque is to be found
in ecclesiastical buildings. During the Renaissaince period
architecture was essentially static composed of separate and defined
elemets according to the laws of proportion. Flat walls expressed
simple geometric plans. The Baroque developed from Mannerism into a
dynamic and unified architecture. . Important features of Baroque
architecture include: long, narrow naves are replaced by broader,
occasionally circular forms; dramatic use of light, either strong
light-and-shade contrasts, chiaroscuro effects, or uniform lighting
by means of several windows, opulent use of ornaments, plaster or
stucco, marble or faux finishing); large-scale ceiling frescoes, the
interior is often no more than a shell for painting and sculpture (especially
in the late Baroque); illusory effects like trompe l'oeil and the
blending of painting and architecture.
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the
neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a
reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic
ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late
Baroque. In its purest form it is a style principally derived from
the architecture of Classical Greece and the architecture of Italian
Andrea Palladio. Indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the
genuine Roman interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and
Herculaneum, which had started in the late 1740s.
Art Nouveau Style It was particularly popular at the turn of the
20th century. This architectural style is about encompassing
artistic and floral motifs in the structure. Art Nouveau combined
many influences, especially stylized Japanese Art and Art Nouveau
Architecture developed first in Belgium and France, exploiting the
new possibilities of casting iron, and then in Barcelona with the
works of Antonio Gaudì, whose buildings became a fusion of organic
form and structure, like a piece of sculpture. Another great
architect was Charles Mackintosh who worked in Glasgow, a town which
at the time enjoyed great industry and wealth.
Art Deco Architectural Style was visible during the years, 1925-1939
and it was a popular international art design movement. It refers to
a decorative and elegant style of architecture that encompassed many
other basic techniques of architecture affecting the decorative arts
such as interior design, and industrial design, as well as the
visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts and film. At
the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional, and
modern.
Modern architecture started in the early 1900s and rose to
prominence as it sown architectural movement in the 1940s. Modern
architecture is a set of building styles with similar
characteristics, primarily the simplification of form and the
elimination of ornament. The first variants were conceived early in
the 20th century. Modern architecture was adopted by many
influential architects and architectural educators. The Modern style
developed, in their opinion, as a result of social and political
revolutions. Others see Modern architecture as primarily driven by
technological and engineering developments, and it is true that the
availability of new building materials such as iron, steel, and
glass drove the invention of new building techniques as part of the
Industrial Revolution. This was an important turning point. With
World War II the important figures of the Bauhaus fled to the United
States, to Chicago, to the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and to
Black Mountain College. While Modern architectural design never
became a dominant style in single-dwelling residential buildings, in
institutional and commercial architecture Modernism became the
pre-eminent, and in the schools (for leaders of the profession) the
only acceptable, design solution from about 1932 to about 1984.
Modern architecture is usually characterized by: an adoption of the
principle that the materials and functional requirements determine
the result an adoption of the machine aesthetic; a rejection of
ornament; a simplification of form and elimination of "unnecessary
detail"; an adoption of expressed structure; form follows function.
(Gropius said that "less is more", while Sullivan illustrated his
belief in the sentence "form ever follows function".)
The Postmodern Architecture Style could be seen in the 1950s and it
continues to influence architects even today. There is a use of
unusual surfaces and the basics often contradict with the modernist
ideas. Postmodernity in architecture is generally thought to be
heralded by the return of "wit, ornament and reference" to
architecture in response to the formalism of the International Style
of modernism. The functional and formalized shapes and spaces of the
modernist movement are replaced by unapologetically diverse
aesthetics: styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake, and
new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound. Classic
examples of modern architecture are SOM's Lever House or Mies van
der Rohe's Seagram Building, as well as the architecture of Le
Corbusier or the Bauhaus movement. Modernist architects regard
post-modern buildings as vulgar and cluttered with "gew-gaws".
Postmodern architects often regard modern spaces as soulless and
bland. The divergence in opinions comes down to a difference in
goals: modernism is rooted in minimal and true use of material as
well as absence of ornament, while postmodernism is a rejection of
strict rules set by the early modernists and seeks exuberance in the
use of building techniques, angles, and stylistic references.
High-tech or Late Modern is the new multinational style, claiming to
have overcome the defects of steel and glass boxes by using
up-to-date technology. Drawing on aircraft technology, their exposed
structures are light and strong, using heavily insulated wall panels,
steel and alluminium frames and mirror glass in neoprene gaskets.
High-tech is characterized by light, spacious sheds where all the
services (like ventilation ducts, pipes or even stairs) are placed
outside the buildings to leave free uninterrupted floor space where
layouts for offices, exhibition halls, or factory, can be changed at
will with great flexibility.
NOTES:
The Housing Problem
Over half the people in Britain live in their 22 million different
kind of dwellings, privately owned or rented. Thanks to the
Government policy, tax incentives and social and industrial
development the number of people owing their own homes has more than
trebled in the last thirty-five years.
A system of mortgage loans from building societies or banks, housing
associations and accomodation for elderly and disabled people has
largely contributed to improve the housing standard even though
there are still block of flats badly designed and built and great
differences in the housing market prices mainly due to the economic
trend and the urban areas considered.
The housing problem is mainly due to income disparities in our
social structure, even though there are other causes as well. The
aim of housing production should be that of supplying good dwellings
for everyone. An example of poor houses and miserable urban areas is
that of slums that create bad living conditions.
Any approach to the housing problem solution requires the
establishment both of a good building standard and a careful social
urban development, in order to create comfortable and safe
communities for every citizen, with different incomes, culture and
jobs, to live in, as the English Planner E. Howard has shown us in
1898 with his ideal "garden cities" project.
Sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture applies techniques of sustainable design to
architecture. From the root words sus– (under) + tenere (to hold);
to keep in existence; to maintain or prolong. It is related to the
concept of "green building" (or "green architecture"). The two terms,
however are often used interchangeably to relate to any building
designed with environmental goals in mind, often regardless of how
they actually function in regard to such goals. Sustainable
architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability
and the pressing economic and political issues of our world. In the
broad context, sustainable architecture, seeks to minimize the
negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing efficiency
and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development
space.
The principles of proper design on the basis of the principles of
sustainable architecture may be summed up as follows: 1. Controlling
the microclimate; 2. Saving energy; 3. Using renewable energy
sources; 4. Using sustainable and recyclable materials; 5 Using
water properly; 6. Landscaping
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT BUSINESS, TRADE
AND MARKETING COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT LIVING,
SURVEYORS AND ARCHITECTS COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT HOSPITALITY AND
CULINARY ARTS COLLEGES
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS ABOUT OPTICIANS AND
OPTICAL COLLEGES
HOW PEOPLE RELAX
Going to pubs is a very popular leisure-time activity. In a recent
survey seven out of ten adults said they went to pubs, one third of
them once a week or more often.
Types of pubs vary considerably from quiet rural establishments with
traditional games, such as skittles and dominoes, to city pubs where
different sorts of entertainment such as drama and live music can
often be found. The opening hours of pubs, which were previously
strictly controlled, have been relaxed and many pubs now serve food
as well as drink. Some pubs have become more welcoming to families
with younger children than in the past, although children under
fourteen are still not allowed in the bar.
British drinking habits have changed, with lager and continental
beers now more popular than traditional forms of British beer. In
cities, wine bars have appeared in competition with pubs. Although,
in general, people in Britain now drink more than they used to, new
types of drinks such as alcohol-free beer and wine have appeared and
there has been a general move to educate people more about the
dangers of drinking too much.
USING LEISURE TIME
Percentages Men Women
Out and about
Seaside 7 8
Country 3 3
Parks 3 4
Visiting historic buildings 8 8
Going to museums and art galleries 3 3
Going to fairs and amusement arcades 1 2
In the evenings
Going to the cinema 7 8
Going to the theatre, opera and ballet 4 5
Playing amateur music and drama 3 3
Going to evening classes 1 2
Going out for a meal 41 40
Going out for a drink 64 46
Dancing 10 12
At home
Listening to records and tapes 65 62
Gardening 50 39
Sewing and knitting 2 48
House repairs and DIY 51 24
Reading books 50 61
SPARE TIME
British people now have more free time and holidays than they did
twenty years ago. The average number of working hours has fallen,
and by the mid-1980s almost all full-time manual employees were
entitled to four weeks holidays including Christmas and Easter.
The increasing number of pensioners and the number of unemployed,
particularly the young, means that large sections of the population
have found themselves with more leisure time. Typical popular
pastimes in the UK include listening to pop music, going to pubs,
playing and watching sport, going on holidays, doing outdoor
activities and watching TV.
The number of people playing sports has risen, partly due to the
availability of more sporting facilites such as local leisure
centres. As more people become aware of the necessity
for exercise, it is estimated that one third of the adult population
regularly takes part in outdoor sport and about a quarter in indoor
sport.
Among the most popular sporting activities are walking, swimming,
snooker and darts; fishing is the most popular country sport.
Football, cricket, horse racing and motor sports are all popular
spectator sports. Many magazines are published which relate to
popular and minority sports and interests.
Multi-screen cinemas have become more common and the number of
people going to the cinema increased in the mid-1980s, having fallen
by more than a half between 1971 and 1984. This was despite a large
increase in the popularity of home videos: Britain has one of the
highest rates of home video owenership in the world.
Pubs are an important part of British social life (more than
restaurants) and more money is spent on drinking than on any other
form of leisure activity. Holidays are the next major leisure cost,
followed by television, radio, musical instruments, and eating out.
If they have enough money, people travel more (the increase in
private cars is an influence) and take more holidays. The numbers
going abroad increased from 7 million in the early 1970s to 17
million in the mid-80s, with Spain still the most popular foreign
destination.
Comprehension
Use the information of the texts to answer the questions.
1 What free time and holidays do people in Britain have?
2 Why has sport become more popular?
3 How has cinema-going changed in recent years? What has helped to
cause these
changes?
4 What are the most popular leisure activities in Britain?
5 Which are the most popular destinations for British people going
abroad on holiday?
Discussion Work in pairs.
1 Do people have more spare time than they used to in your country?
When are the major public holidays?
2 What leisure activities do you prefer? How much time and money do
you spend on them?
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HOMEPAGE
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