Version 4 Task Read and translate the text. Glass

Task 3. Reading.


THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BUILDING
A building is a construction which is raised on a foundation and is generally made of stone, concrete blocks, bricks and mortar or cement. Bricks and concrete blocks are held together by mortar. Walls made of bricks and those built of concrete blocks are suitable both for small buildings and multistory structures. Nowadays houses are often built of complete concrete structural units which are factory-made and assembled on the spot. Every detail of a house must be carefully planned. The working plan itself is called a blueprint. Without a blueprint the workmen would make all sorts of mistakes and waste a lot of time. Plans for building a house are drawn by an architect. The architect draws a separate plan for each individual floor. He shows all the parts of the house exactly as if the house were already built. It is from the blueprint of the architect that the workman sees where to place the walls, the windows, the doors, the staircases, etc. The size of the rooms, the width of the doors, and windows, the height of the ceilings are also marked on the plan by the architect. Different workmen are employed in building a house. The stonemason builds the foundation. The bricklayer builds the walls and other parts made of bricks. He lays the bricks one on the top of another and puts mortar between them with a trowel. The slater or tiler is employed for putting slates or tiles on the roof. The plumber fixes all the baths, water pipes and the sanitary fittings of drains and lavatories in the places marked for them in the plan drawn by the architect. The electrician runs electric wires and makes connections all through the house from the cellars underground to the attics under the roof. All the doors and window-frames are made by the carpenter and put into their places by the joiner. The latter also lays down the floor. Then the plasterer puts plaster or cement over all the walls and ceilings and makes them smooth. The walls are then painted, papered or whitewashed as the case may be.