House seen floating in San Francisco Bay

Nick's ESL News Lessons

A printable worksheet for news-based English conversation classes.

Date: 2024/04/15

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: House seen floating in San Francisco Bay

Vocabulary Match

floating •• problems
barge •• at first
complaints •• moving on water
initially •• boat
tide •• wave
drag •• pull

Vocabulary Answers

floatingmoving on water
bargeboat
complaintsproblems
initiallyat first
tidewave
dragpull

Article

A house was seen floating in the San Francisco Bay for several days. People noticed it first on Sunday. The house was seen in different places around the bay in the following days. The U.S. Coast Guard watched the house's movement. The house was built on a floating barge.

When people first saw the house, they started guessing why it was there. Some people said it looked like the house from the film "Up", but on water. Now, we know that it was a houseboat from Redwood City marina. The marina used to have over 100 people living in houseboats. But, the city started making the houseboats leave in 2015 because of complaints from other people living nearby.

The houseboat arrived at its new place, the Commodore Marina in Sausalito, on Tuesday. Phil Hott, a Sausalito resident, said the journey took longer than planned. "These things are very heavy. It has to travel through the Bay. And the winds and the tide changes. You don't want it to drag you out to the Golden Gate Bridge," he said.

Quiz

  1. When was the house first seen?
  2. What did people initially think the house was?
  3. Where did the houseboat originally come from?
  4. Where did the houseboat finally arrive?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. The house was first seen on Sunday.
  2. People initially thought it was the house from the film "Up", but on water.
  3. The houseboat originally came from Redwood City marina.
  4. The houseboat finally arrived at the Commodore Marina in Sausalito.

Conversation

A:Did you see that house floating in the bay?
B:Yeah, I thought it was some kind of movie promotion.
A:Turns out it's a houseboat from Redwood City.
B:Really? Do you think there's a family in it?
A:What, while it's out on the water?
B:Ha, yeah, must be difficult to buy groceries.

Discussion

  1. Have you ever seen a houseboat? What was it like?
  2. Would you like to live in a houseboat? Why or why not?
  3. What films do you know of that feature houses?

Source Material

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/04/11/house-boat-floats-San-Francisco-Bay/2541712853103/


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