Brick

A **brick** is a block of ceramic material They are used in masonry construction. Bricks are used for building and pavement and also used in the metallurgy and glass industries for lining furnaces. Bricks may be made from clay, shale, soft slate, calcium silicate, concrete, or shaped from quarried stone. Clay is the most common material, with modern clay bricks formed in one of three processes - soft mud, dry press, or extruded. There are: - Mud bricks - Dry pressed bricks - Extruded bricks - Calcium silicate bricks Brick laying techniques are the different ways to make brickwork, it means: the laying of rectangular pieces of baked clay called bricks one after another, layer upon layer until a desired height is reached. A composition of lime and sand called mortar is spread between each layer which hardens and bonds the bricks together to form a solid mass. Advantages: Cheap and strong in compression. Disadvantages: Heavy and weak in tension. Not strong enough for withstanding heavy traffic.
 * What are they made of?
 * What are they used for?
 * How many types of brick are there?
 * What is the meaning of //brick laying techniques//?
 * Describe 2 brick laying techniques
 * What are their advantages and disadvantages?




 * What construction material would you use to build your own house? Why? **
 * I would choose concrete as the material to build my own house for its plastic characteristics and the great look it has in raw work. Besides, I would use large glass too, because it makes a great match with the concrete and it allows me to achieve good illumination into the house’s spaces. **

• //Brick upon brick.// It means placing a brick right above another.
 * Expressions:**

• //Brick & mortar// //It means the object, brick, with the bonding material between the bricks, the mortar.. //

• //Be /come up against a brick wall// //It means to be confronting a hard to pass obstacle. //

• //Come down on somebody like a ton of bricks.// //It means to judge someone so hard it can be compared with a ton of bricks over him. //

• //Drop a brick// //To let a brick fall down //