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How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs
Level: Intermediate
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Dutch couple become Europe’s first inhabitants of a 3D-printed house
Level: Intermediate
Warmer
a. What are these types of 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.
c. Can you think of any other types of houses? What would your dream house be?
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Level: Intermediate
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Key words
a. Find the following words in the text. The paragraph numbers are given to help you.
1. A noun meaning someone who rents a flat or house from the person who owns it. (1)
2. A noun meaning a piece of land used for a particular purpose. (1)
3. An adjective meaning possible to be lived in. (2)
4. A noun meaning a narrow part at the end of a tube through which a liquid flows. (3)
5. A verb meaning to make a liquid move with a lot of force. (3)
6. A noun meaning someone whose job is to build walls using bricks. (4)
7. A noun meaning the part of a building that is below the ground and supports the rest of it. (5)
8. A noun phrase meaning something that you add to make something complete (two words). (5)
9. An adjective meaning extremely beautiful. (8)
10. An adjective meaning cheap enough for ordinary people to buy. (11)
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How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs
Level: Intermediate
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Level: Intermediate
Daniel Boffey
A Dutch couple have become Europe’s
first tenants of a fully 3D-printed house in a
development that could lead to more choice in
the shape and style of the homes of the future.
Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers from Amsterdam,
recently received their digital key allowing them
to open the front door of their two-bedroom
bungalow. “It is beautiful,” said Lutz. “It feels
safe,” added Dekkers. The house is the first
of five homes planned for a plot of land in the
Dutch city of Eindhoven.
In the last two years properties partly
constructed by 3D printing have been built in
France and the US, and there are many other
projects around the world. But the designers
of the Dutch house have built the first legally
habitable and commercially rented property
where the main walls have been made using a
3D-printer nozzle. The home was due to be put
on the rental market in 2019, but the challenges
of the architect’s design, which involved
overhanging external walls, caused delays.
The 3D-printing method involves a huge robotic
arm with a nozzle that squirts out a specially
formulated cement. The cement is “printed”
according to an architect’s design, adding
layer upon layer to create a wall to increase
its strength.
While it is still early days, the 3D-printing
method is seen by many within the
construction industry as a way to cut costs and
environmental damage by reducing the amount
of cement that is used. In the Netherlands,
it also provides an alternative at a time when
there is a shortage of skilled bricklayers.
The new house consists of 24 concrete
elements that were printed at a plant in
Eindhoven before being transported by lorry to
the building site and placed on a foundation.
A roof and window frames were then fitted and
finishing touches applied.
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2
3
4
5
By the time the fifth of the homes is built – with
three floors and three bedrooms – it is hoped
that all the construction will be done on-site,
and that various other installations will also be
made using the printer, further reducing costs.
“If you look at what time we actually needed
to print this house, it was only 120 hours,”
said construction company manager Bas
Huysmans. “So if we had printed all the
elements in one go, it would have taken us less
than five days because the big benefit is that
the printer does not need to eat, does not need
to sleep, it doesn’t need to rest. So if we started
tomorrow, and learned how to do it, we could
print the next house five days from now.”
Lutz and Dekkers are paying €800 (£695) a
month to live in the property for six months
from 1 August, after answering a call for
applicants on the internet. “I saw the drawing
of this house, and it was exactly like a fairytale
garden,” said Lutz.
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.
“With 3D printing, you generate a huge creativity
and a huge flexibility in design,” he added. “Why
did we make so much of an effort to print this
‘rock’? Because this shows perfectly that 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’re now setting the tone for the future: the
rapid realisation of affordable homes with
control over the shape of your own house.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 30/04/2021
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Level: Intermediate
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Comprehension check
a. Are these statements true (T) or false (F) according to the article? Correct any that are false.
1. The Dutch couple have moved into a 3D house with three bedrooms.
2. The Dutch 3D house is the first 3D property in the world.
3. The house was made with a specially formulated cement.
4. There aren’t enough skilled bricklayers in the Netherlands.
5. The 24 concrete elements were printed at the building site.
6. A total of five 3D homes will be built.
7. It took ten days to build the first 3D house.
8. The Dutch couple are paying twice the market rent for the house.
9. Huysmans expects to lose money on the other four 3D houses.
10. Future buyers of 3D homes will be able to decide what shape they want their house to be.
Key language
a. Complete the phrases from the text using these prepositions.
by for over on of (x2) upon in
1. put the market
2. layer layer
3. a shortage skilled workers
4. consists
5. transported lorry
6. one go
7. responsible housing
8. control the shape

Level: Intermediate
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Discussion
a. Discuss these questions and statements.
• “Who would want to live in a house made by a 3D printer?”
• “3D printers are the future of technology”.
• “Old houses are better than new houses”.
In your own words
a. Use an Internet search engine to find out more about 3D printing. Find a product that can be
made by 3D printing (not a building) and find at least five facts about it. Write a short report
(150 – 200 words) summarising your findings. Include some or all of the following:
• what the product is
• when it was first made by 3D printing
• where it was first made
• how much it costs to produce
• how long it takes to make the product
• how much it costs to buy the product

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Level: Intermediate – Teacher’s notes
of a petrol pump that drivers insert into their petrol
tank when filling their car with fuel. Highlight the
fact that a tenant is someone who lives in a rented
property. People who live in properties they own
themselves are owner-occupiers. Point out that
‘finishing touch’ is usually used in the plural, as in
‘The artist was just applying the finishing touches to
the painting’.
Key:
1. tenant
2. plot
3. habitable
4. nozzle
5. squirt
6. bricklayer
7. foundation
8. finishing touch
9. fairytale
10. affordable
3. Comprehension check
a. The answers given are only suggested answers
and students may correctly answer the questions in
different ways, e.g. in #1 they may say ‘It is a two-
bedroom bungalow’ or similar.
Key:
1. False. It has two bedrooms.
2.
False. There are 3D properties in France and
the USA.
3. True.
4. True.
5.
False. They were printed at a plant
in Eindhoven.
6. True.
7. False. It took 120 hours.
8. False. They are paying half the market rent.
9.
False. He expects to make money on the
other four.
10. True.
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. Put students in pairs and ask
them to come up with the words to describe these
houses. Make sure you check as a class that they
got the right vocabulary (detached house, chalet,
bout house, high rise / block of flats, old stone
house, terraced house)
b. Ask students to 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.
c. Ask students to think of other types of houses.
Encourage them to think of the homes that are
typical for their country. Then, have them work in
groups and discuss which house type they’d prefer
for themselves and their family.
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 nozzle can also be found on their
home printers and is also the term used for the part

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Home Adults General English NEWS LESSONS
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.
6. In your own words
a. Students should find some basic information about
another product that can be made using 3D-printing.
Encourage them to use the guidelines given but they
may, of course, introduce other information if they
wish to. Both the preparation and the writing could be
done as homework activities.
4. Key language
a. Students could be asked to do this exercise
individually and then compare their answers in
pairs. Ask students to refer back to the text to check
their answers.
Key:
1. on
2. upon
3. of
4. of
5. by
6. in
7. for
8. over
Level: Intermediate – Teacher’s notes

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