Flats were almost unknown in Britain until the 1850s when they were developed, along with other industrial dwellings, for the labouring classes. These vast blocks were plainly a 【C1】______ means of 【C2】______ social conscience by housing large numbers of the ever-present poor on 【C3】______ city sites. During the 1880s, however, the idea of living in comfortable residential chambers caught on with the 【C4】______ upper and upper middle classes, and 【C5】______ as to the advantages and disadvantages of flat life was a topic of conversation 【C6】______ many a 【C7】______ dinner-table. In Paris and other major European cities, the custom whereby the better-off lived in apartments, or flats, was well【C8】______ . Up to the late nineth century in England only bachelor barristers had established the 【C9】______ of living in rooms near the Law Court: any self-respecting head of household would insist 【C10】 ______ a West End town house as his London home, the best that his 【C11】______ could provide. The 【C12】______ of flats for the better-off seems to have developed for a number of reasons. First, perhaps, through the【C13】______ of the railways, which had enabled a wide 【C14】______ of people to enjoy a holiday staying in a suite at one of the luxury hotels which had begun to spring up during the previous decade.【C15】______ , no doubt the fact that many of the early luxury flats were similar 【C16】______ hotel suites, even being provided with【C17】______ dining-rooms and central boilers for hot water and heating. Rents tended to be high to cover overheads, but savings were made 【C18】______ by these communal amenities (生活设施) and 【C19】______ tenants being able to 【C20】______ the number of family servants. 【C1】