Buildings and Their Functions

THEME: Buildings and Their Functions

Read, write and learn the following words and word combinations:

residential construction житлове будівництво

technological development технологічний розвиток

search пошук

to achieve досягати

to fit встановлювати, збирати

to replace замінити

to promote сприяти, просувати

to condition обумовлювати

factory-made заводського виготовлення

reinforced concrete block залізобетонний блок

Read and translate the following text.

Types of buildings depend upon social formations and may be classified according to the role in the community. The types of buildings may be domestic, educational, office, industrial, recreational, etc.

The type and the function of a building govern its design, building materials and techniques. But the common and necessary conditions are: its suitability to use by human beings in general and its adaptability to particular human activities; the stability and permanence of its construction.

Speaking of residential construction we must say that the apartment houses are mostly built to suit urban conditions. Group housing provides home for many families and is at once public and private. The techniques of construction or the methods by which structures are formed from particular materials are influenced not only by the availability and character of materials but also by the total technological development of society.

The evolution of techniques is conditioned by two factors: one is economic – the search for a maximum of stability and durability in building with a minimum of materials, labour and time; the other is expressive – the desire to produce meaningful form.

It should be mentioned that long ago large housing programs promoted technological changes in the building industry. Craft operations at the building site were replaced by mechanized operations at the factory. Now houses are assemblages of factory-made elements. Windows and doors, once made and fitted by carpenters at the site, now arrive from a factory fitted and finished with hardware and glass, ready to be set in place. The windows and doors must look well from the interior as well as from the exterior. Windows must be sized and located for the best possible lighting and ventilation.

The high degree of mechanization and standardization is successfully achieved by reinforced concrete blocks and units. Reinforced concrete homes are produced by a variety of construction methods. Various methods of constructing reinforced concrete houses involve extensive use of large sections manufactured at mechanized factories and erected at the site.

Answer the following questions.

1. What do types of buildings depend upon?

2. What are the apartment houses built for?

3. What influences the techniques of construction?

4. What factors is the evolution of techniques conditioned by?

5. What promoted technological changes in the building industry?

6. What is the high degree of mechanization achieved by?

7. What do various methods of constructing reinforced concrete houses involve?

8. What governs the design of a building, the choice of materials and the techniques of construction?

Complete the following sentences.

1. Building industry includes …

a) residential and industrial construction

b) industrial and public construction

c) residential, public and industrial construction

2. Industrial type of construction involves …

a) theatres, cinemas, museums, libraries

b) factories, mines, laboratories, food processing plants

c) flats and houses

3. Modern industrial buildings have demonstrated the advantages of …

a) hot-water supply and sanitary fittings

b) reinforced concrete arches, metal frames, glass walls and prefabricated parts

c) all modern conveniences for a dwelling

4. The level of living is … by housing.

a) very much affected

b) not affected

c) not very much affected

5. Present-day designs for residential construction envisage …

a) all modern conveniences for a dwelling

b) technological advance

c) storage facilities

Match the parts of the sentences.

1. Types of buildings depend upon social formations and may be classified according to ...

2. The type and the function of a building govern ...

3. The high degree of mechanization and standardization is successfully achieved by ...

4. Craft operations at the building site were replaced by ...

5. Now houses are assemblages of …

6. Large housing programs promoted technological changes in ...

a) mechanized operations at the factory.

b) reinforced concrete blocks and units.

c) factory-made elements.

d) the building industry.

e) the role in the community.

f) its design, building materials and techniques.

Arrange the following in pairs of antonyms.

to fell a tree; proper; expensive; past; unhealthy; to plant a tree; to forget; healthy; out-of-date; improper; future; to remember; the least important; cheap; the worst; up-to-date; the most important; the best

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