Прочитайте текст. Составьте расширенный план для пересказа (не менее 6 подпунктов) на английском языке. Housing in America/Дома в Америке
Before 1800, the Midwest of America was Indian country. Then, the Europeans came.
They did not like to move around or live in tepees. They were farmers and they wanted houses.
The first European Americans, the «pioneers», were tough people. They came to a hard country. The summers were hot, the winters were very cold. On the prairies, there were no trees and no stones. There was only earth. So the pioneers cut pieces of grass and earth and built houses with them.
These «sod houses» were very uncomfortable. The rain came in through the roof. Pieces of wet earth fell into food and onto the children’s beds. The pioneers worked hard on their farms to make money. With the money they built bigger, better farmhouses with wood. No Americans live in sod houses now.
It was easy in the Rocky Mountains because there were trees. The pioneers could cut them down and make small wooden houses, called «log cabins». Log cabins were warm and dry inside. The people were poor, but they tried to make their homes comfortable.
Pioneer women had no money, but they wanted nice covers for their beds. They could not buy them, so they cut up old clothes and sewed the pieces together. The beautiful bedcovers they made are called «patchwork quilts». Many American women still keep their grandmothers’ patchwork quilts, and they like to make new ones with the old patterns.Nearly all the Americans live in towns or cities now. And you can’t be a pioneer in Philadelphia or Chicago. But some people try. They like to go to vacation homes in the mountains, miles away from the cities. A real 200-year-old log cabin is best, but there are lots of new ones too. There, you can put your gun up on the wall above the fireplace. You can listen to the wind outside. You can talk about the bears and rattlesnakes. For two or three weeks you can be a pioneer again.
The great historic places of the Old World are cities, castles, and gardens. But in the New World, some of the most interesting historic places are the roads. Americans remember the great journeys of their history in movies, stories, and pictures. Their grandparents crossed America on horses and in wagons.
But they don’t go in wagons now, of course. They go in mobile homes. Some mobile homes are pulled by the family car. Some, like Winnebagos, have a driver’s cab. Behind the cab there is a room with beds, a small kitchen, a table, a washing place.
Winnebagos are great for vacations. A family can travel in the Winnebago, and stop at campgrounds to sleep and eat. They do not have to spend money on motels. In summer, the campgrounds in the national parks are full of mobile homes.
American factories make new and better mobile homes all the time. Some of them are palaces on wheels. But the idea is not a new one. In 1930s, there were a large number of «Airstreamers» on the road. These wonderful old mobile homes looked like small space ships. They were made of shiny silver metal. Sometimes you can still see them out on the highways.
Mobile homes are not good only for vacations. Many people live in them. Five percent of all American homes started as mobile homes, but many of them do not travel any more. They parked in trailer parks. People build on new rooms, and grow flowers and trees near them. Soon the mobile homes look like houses. The difference is that mobile homes are much cheaper than houses. Most Americans buy them.
