Stones

**What are stones?** Stones are a material used for construction. It has been favoured for the construction of monumental architecture. **How many kinds of stone do you know?** I know three kinds of stone: Tie stone, Rubble and Cap-stone. **What characteristics do stones have?** I could say that characteristics of stones are durability, adaptability to sculptural treatment and the fact that in can be used in its natural state, as advantages. But stones are difficult to quarry, transport, cut, and have weakness in tension limits. **Why are stones used in construction?** Stones are used in construction because it resists better deformations than others material; it is strong enough to provide monolithic support and beans. Stones can also be sculpt or shaped.



 **Find 2**   **Definitions in the text: **


 * __Rubble; i.e.:__ roughly broken stones of any shape bounded in mortar.
 * __Ashlar masonry:__ The strongest and most suitable stonework for monumental architecture. Consists of regularly cut blocks (usually rectangular).

**Statements of comparison and contrast**


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stone masonry (in contrast with brick) does not depend on strong bonding for stability where it supports only direct downward loads.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stone vaults and arches require more support and buttressing than equivalent forms in other materials.

**<span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';">Statements expressing cause and effect **


 * <span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The weight creates problems of stability when loads push at an angle; stone vaults and arches require more support and buttressing
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But this roofing requires so many columns that unvaulted masonry buildings are almost always combined with floors and covering in wood.

<span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">**Adjectives in the superlative form, and 2 in the comparative form.**


 * <span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 25px; text-align: justify;">**C<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">omparative: **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(...)the stone resists deformation __better__ than any bonding material.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stone has been consistently used for building since the Stone Age, (...). Although it has generally been replaced as a structural material by __cheaper__ and more efficient manufactured products

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 * <span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">**Superlative:**
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The __simplest__ and __cheapest__ stonework is rubble
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: verdana,geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The __strongest__ and most suitable stonework for monumental architecture is ashlar masonry