4_5942784413107489225.pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
Dutch couple become Europe’s first inhabitants of a 3D-printed house
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Warmer
a. What are these houses called?
b. Put these types of accommodation in order from 1 (the one that you would most like to live in)
to 6 (the one that you would least like to live in). Give reasons for your choice.
1
Level: Elementary / Pre-Intermediate

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Key words
a. Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.
alternative bricklayer bungalow nozzle squirt
1. A / An is a house that is all on one level.
2. A / An is the narrow part at the end of a tube through which
a liquid flows.
3. To means to make a liquid move with a lot of force.
4. A / An is something you can choose or use instead of
something else.
5. A /An is someone whose job is to build walls using bricks.
benefit foundation property rent site
6. A / An is the part of a building that is below the ground and
supports the rest of the building.
7. A building is a place where people are building a house
or houses.
8. A / An is something positive you get from a situation.
9. A / An is land and the building or buildings on it.
10. is the money you pay each month to live in a flat or a house
that belongs to someone else.
2

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Daniel Boffey
Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers from Amsterdam
have become the first people in Europe to live
in a 3D-printed house. They recently received
their digital key and opened the front door of
their two-bedroom bungalow. “It is beautiful,”
said Lutz. The house is the first of five homes
planned on a piece of land in the Dutch city
of Eindhoven.
The 3D-printing method uses a huge robotic
arm with a nozzle that squirts out a special
cement. The printer adds layer after layer to
build a wall and increase its strength.
Many people in the building industry believe
that the 3D-printing method is a way to cut
costs and environmental damage by using
less cement. In the Netherlands, it is also an
alternative at a time when there are not enough
skilled bricklayers.
The new house consists of 24 concrete
elements. A plant in Eindhoven printed the
elements and then transported them by lorry
to the building site and placed them on a
foundation. Builders then fitted the roof and
window frames.
The construction company is planning to build
five homes and hope that they can complete
all the construction at the building site.
They will also produce other parts of the
building using 3D printing, and this will reduce
costs even more.
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“It only took 120 hours to print this house,”
construction company manager Bas Huysmans
said. “To print all the elements in one go would
take us less than five days because the big
benefit is that the printer does not need to eat,
sleep or rest. So, if we started tomorrow, we
could print the next house five days from now.”
Lutz and Dekkers are paying €800 a month to
live in the property for six months after seeing
an advertisement on the Internet. The market
rent would normally be twice the rent the
couple are paying. “Did we earn money with
this first house? No,” said Huysmans. “Do we
expect to lose money on house number two,
three, four and five? No,” he said. “3D printing
is very creative,” he added. “You can make any
shape you want to make.”
Yasin Torunoglu, who is responsible for housing
in Eindhoven, said: “With the 3D-printed home,
we can see the future of house building:
cheaper homes and you can control the shape
of your house.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 30/04/2021
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Comprehension check
a. Answer the questions using information from the article.
1. How many bedrooms does the 3D printed house have?
2. Where is it?
3. What does the 3D printer’s nozzle squeeze out?
4. How will 3D printing cut costs and environmental damage?
5. How many concrete elements are there in the new house?
6. How many 3D-printed homes is the construction company planning to build?
7. How long did it take to print the house?
8. How much are Lutz and Dekkers paying to rent the house?
9. How long will they live there for?
10. Why is 3D printing creative?
Key language
a. Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make phrases
from the text.
1. digital a. frame
2. environmental b. printing
3. building c. key
4. window d. rent
5. market e. damage
6. 3D f. site
Discussion
a. Answer these questions.
1. Do you think 3D-printed houses are a good idea? Why? Why not?
2. What other things could 3D printers produce?
In your own words
a. Write a short report on the pluses and minuses of a 3D-printed house. Use the ideas from
the class.

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Level: Elementary / Pre-Intermediate – Teacher’s notes
Key:
1. bungalow
2. nozzle
3. squirt
4. alternative
5. bricklayer
6. foundation
7. site
8. benefit
9. property
10. rent
3. Comprehension check
a. The corrections given are only suggested answers
and students may correctly answer the questions in
different ways, e.g. #10 could be ‘Because you can
make different shapes’.
Key:
1. Two.
2. In Eindhoven, the Netherlands..
3. Cement.
4. By using less cement.
5. 24.
6. Five.
7. 120 hours.
8. €800 a month.
9. Six months.
10.
Because you can make any shape you want
to make.
4. Key language
a. Students could be asked to do this exercise
individually and then compare their answers in pairs.
If necessary, they can also check their answers by
looking in the text. Point out that the market rent
is the rent people usually pay for a house of the
same size.
Key:
1. c
2. e
3. f
4. a
5. d
6. b
Article summary: The article describes how
the first 3D-printed house in Europe was built.
Time: 45 – 60 minutes
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student
1. Warmer
a. The purpose of this activity is to introduce the topic
of accommodation and get students thinking about
the advantages and disadvantages of different
types of accommodation. As a class, brainstorm
the vocabulary for each house type (stone house,
terraced house, semi-detached house, chalet, boat
house, high rise / block of flats).
b. Ask students to work in pairs and put the
accommodation types into order from their favourite
to the one they like least and to think about their
reasons for choosing that order. Point out that
a terraced house is one that is part of a row of
buildings, so it has a building on either side of it
without any space between it and them.
2. Key words
a. Ask students to do the exercise individually and
then compare their answers in pairs or small
groups. Point out that a bungalow does not have an
upper floor and therefore does not have any stairs.
A nozzle can also be found on a printer attached to
a home computer – it’s where the ink comes out.
A bricklayer’s job is specifically to build walls using
bricks whereas a builder does many jobs involved
in the construction of a building. In the construction
of a building the foundations (usually plural) are
the first stage. Make sure to choose the right article
a / an with the class when applicable.

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Home Adults General English NEWS LESSONS
Level: Elementary / Pre-Intermediate – Teacher’s notes
Model answer:
Pros:
3D printers can make a house really quickly.
It is cheaper.
You can control and choose the shape of the house.
You don’t need many workers to make a 3D printed
house.
Cons:
It is gray.
The house is made of concrete. Bricks are better.
It means fewer jobs for construction workers.
We don’t know how long they can last.
5. Discussion
a. Allow students time to note down their ideas about
each statement and encourage them to say why they
agree or disagree with each one. You can tell them
to go on the internet and search what 3D-printed
houses look like, or look for one yourself and
show them.
6. In your own words
a. Note that there is no single correct answer to this
task but students should produce a piece of writing
that is broadly accurate.

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