Recording 124, page 163
EXTRA READING.
Exercise 1 Read the text and find out what future homes may look like.
Researchers estimate that it is very likely that sea waters will continue to rise. Millions of homes are at risk of flooding over the next few decades.
Today’s shores are going to be tomorrow’s ocean floors. It’s a fact. Architects and designers are responding to the warnings.
Many look to the water. Can floating houses be a response to rising seas?
Humans have a long history of living on water. Our water homes span from the fishing villages in Southeast Asia, Peru and Bolivia to modern floating homes in Vancouver and Amsterdam.
Many companies are working on floating homes, and such homes are already available, but they are extremely expensive.
A company from Florida, for example, is offering the houseboat of the future – a luxury livable yacht.
The houseboat doesn’t look boat-like, but it has a fully modern house design. In fact, it is a modern house, only designed to float on the water.
The yacht can move from place to place and it runs completely on solar power. You can navigate it on lakes, rivers and sea.
If you are bored with the scenery or looking to explore another shoreline, off you go!
You can sail along the coasts of the world without ever leaving your house. This villa of the future is like a dream.
There’s even a deck that can fold out for sunbathing. In the future, there will also be a greenhouse and a garden on the side.
You can already live both above and below the sea in amazing floating villas, which are part of the Heart of Europe resort in Dubai.
In these villas, upstairs is at sea level, and downstairs lies below sea level.
On the lower-ground floor, which is submerged beneath sea level, there are the bedrooms and master bathroom.
Here, enormous floor-to-ceiling windows offer spectacular views of the marine life all around you.
You can trade evening television for underwater observation. If you’ve always dreamed of living in an octopus’s garden, this house is for you.
Architects are designing fantastic futuristic floating homes. Some are shaped like domes, jellyfish, spaceships and icebergs.
Very few of these versions of futuristic homes will ever go beyond the design stage. However, this doesn’t mean homes that float, submerge or drift on rivers are the stuff of sci-fi.
