Micro-homes (1)

For housing, bigger may not always be better

When young people begin to live independently, home-hunting can involve some stress. But they would do well to remember that a new alternative is available – micro-homes.

Introducing the tiny
Fondly called “tiny houses,” these dwellings have all living necessities in a small package, including kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Generally under 50 square meters, most tiny houses accommodate just one or two people though some claim the space for more. What’s lost in size is not lost in design as these homes are often quite unique and modern in design.

Innovating the tiny
Besides an attractive appearance, tiny houses can also boast unique practical features. Making the best of urban space, the 72- to 122-centimeter-wide Keret House in Warsaw, the world’s narrowest home, filled in an alley. The prototype home Ecocapsule uses solar power, wind power and rain water collection to enable its owner to live practically anywhere. A system of rails allows the DALE micro-home to adjust room size and number as well as adding the option of an open or enclosed courtyard.

Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Urban, Suburban and Rural 教學主題: 都市、郊區與鄉間
If you live in a big city, you live in an urban area. Urban is an adjective, meaning having the characteristics of a big city.

Okay, add the prefix sub in front of urban and we get suburban, the prefix sub means below but you can also refer to what’s outside. Suburban area is just outside the urban area.

Suburban area is also called the suburbs and suburbia, both of which refer to residential communities outside a large city. Usually people who live in the suburbs are middle class that is people who are neither very rich nor poor but fall somewhere in the middle.

Okay, most of the time people in the suburbs work in the city and have to commute from home to work, now why do people go to the hustle of commuting? Well, suburbs are known fit for their quiet neighborhoods and for being family-friendly. So many families choose to raise their children in the suburbs.

Now if you go farther out from the city, pass the suburbs, you’ll come to rural areas or the country, where there are fewer people and their homes and businesses are located far away from one another.

In the past, more people lived in rural areas than in urban areas, but in many places this is no longer the case due to urbanization. And that is the process in which people move into urban areas to live and work.

Language Lab
micro- (combining form)
very small
- These micro-homes were built with recycled materials.
- microwave
- microphone
- microchip

dwelling n.
/ˈdwɛlɪŋ/
a place where a person lives
- The church became a temporary dwelling for hurricane victims.
- Over 2000 dwellings will be built in this development.

innovate v.
/ˈɪnəˌveɪt/
to do something in a new way : to have new ideas about how something can be done
- The research team is trying to innovate a new cancer treatment.
innovation n.
a new idea, device, or method
- You can see the latest innovations in computer technologies at the fair.

prototype n.
/ˈproʊtəˌtaɪp/
an original or first model of something from which other forms are copied or developed
- A prototype of the car is still undergoing manufacturing.
- A prototype of this new cellphone will be released to the public soon.

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