Give a summary of the text “Hobbies”.

Study the following text

MY FRIEND’S HOBBY

My friend Nick is very busy and he doesn't have much lime to spare. He is free only at the weekends. A few years ago Nick was fond of collecting stamps. I know that his mother had started collecting stamps long before he was born. When he was five years old his mother had six albums of stamps. She didn't let him touch (he stamps until he was twelve. She gave him the albums as a birthday present and he continued collecting stamps himself, he learned a lot about other countries and other peoples' traditions, the world's flora and fauna. Maybe that's why he was good at geography and biology at school. He used to bring the albums to school and we examined his stamps with great interest and envy. Sometimes he exchanged stamps with his schoolmates.

But three months ago Nick's parents bought him a compact disc player and Nick decided to collect compact discs. He is fond of listening to music (as you remember, Nick has a good car for music and likes jazz very much). Besides jazz, Nick also likes rock music, pop music, and classical music. He doesn't like techno, metal and rap. He himself says that he likes any good music. Now Nick collects compact discs of his favourite groups and singers, he carefully studies the information printed on disc booklets. He also tries to find out everything about the singers he likes. That's why he reads a lot of specialized magazines and never misses MTV shows (he thinks he must keep up with the news in the world of music). He even writes letters to some fan-clubs in other countries, so he has to brush up his English. He never misses a concert of his favourite group (if they come to our city). He brings his compact discs to the concert and asks the singers for their autographs.

But in spite of his new hobby, Nick sometimes sits in his room and looks through his albums of stamps (with his earphones on, of course).

8. Complete the following sentences:

1. My friend Nick is very busy and he doesn't have…

2. He is free only....

3. A few years ago Nick was fond of…

4. Maybe that's why he was good at…

5. She gave him the albums as…

6. He learned a lot about…

7. Sometimes he exchanged stamps with…

8. Now Nick collects compact discs of…

9. Learn the following words by heart:

valuable – ценный, дорогой

to house – помещать, размещать

in a small way – понемногу

item – предмет

a good deal of – много

rare – редкий

to take pleasure in – получать удовольствие от

no matter what kind of hobby a person has – чем бы человек не увлекался

opportunity – возможность

to add – добавлять

exciting – увлекательный, захватывающий

time to spare – свободное время

flora – растительный мир

fauna – животный мир

 

10. Find the equivalents:

1. activity 2. variety 3. grown-up 4. schoolmate 5. booklet 6. item 7. opportunity 8. needlework 9. knitting 10. fishing

a. вязание b. взрослый c. разнообразие d. рыбалка e. вышивание f. возможность g. одноклассник h. занятие i. предмет j. вкладыш

11. Translate into Russian:

Booklet, to be good at, specialized, envy, to keep up with, to exchange, fan-club, schoolmates, to brush up, techno, autograph.

Make up a monologue about your hobbies.

ТЕМА №5: MASS MEDIA

Практические вопросы

1.Средства массовой информации

2. Библиотеки

3. Любимая книга

4. Любимый фильм

Задания для отработки практических навыков

 

Learn the following text by heart

MASS MEDIA

Mass media (that is the press, the radio and television) play an important role in the life of society. They inform, educate and entertain people. They also influence the way people look at the events and sometimes make them change their views.

Millions of people watch TV and read newspapers in their spare time. People listen to the radio while driving a car. On the radio one can hear music, plays, news and various discussions of current events. Lots of radio or TV games and films attract large audience.

Newspapers give more detailed reviews of political life, culture and sports. Basically they are read by the people who are subscribers and those who are interested in politics.

There is a lot of advertising in mass media. Many TV channels, radio stations and newspapers are owned by different corporations. The owners can advertise 9whatever they choose.

But we cannot say that mass media do not try to raise the cultural level of people or to develop their tastes. Mass media bring to millions of homes not only entertainment and news but also cultural and educational programs.

There is a great number of TV channels, cable TV, satellite TV and lots of radio stations and newspapers now.

 

2. Answer the following questions:

1. What is mass media?

2. How does mass media influence people?

3. What is the difference between radio and TV programmes?

4. Does the audience of TV and radio differ?

5. Do you think that advertising is useful?

3. Learn the following words by heart:

mass media – средства массовой информации

society – общество

to entertain – развлекать

to influence – влиять

events – события

view – точка зрения

spare time – свободное время

current events – новости

detailed review – подробный обзор

subscribers – подписчики

advertising – реклама

to own – владеть

satellite – спутник

 

Read the text.

A NATIONAL DISEASE?

At any time between four in the afternoon and midnight, at least ten million viewers in Great Britain are sure to be watching television. This figure can even rise to 35 million at peak viewing hours. With such large numbers involved, there are those who would maintain that television is in danger of becoming a national disease.

The average man or woman spends about a third of his or her life asleep, and a further third at work. The remaining third is leisure time – mostly evenings and weekends, and it is during this time that people are free to occupy themselves in any way they see fit. In our great-grandfathers’ days the choice of entertainment was strictly limited, but nowadays there is an enormous variety of things to do.

That the great boom in television’s popularity is destroying “the art of conversation” – a widely-held middle-class opinion – seems to be at best irrelevant, and at worst demonstrably false. How many conversations does one hear prefaced with the remarks, “Did you see so-and-so last night? Good, wasn’t it!” which suggests that television has had a beneficial rather than a detrimental effect on conversational habits: at least people have something to talk about! More disturbing is the possible effect on people’s mind and attitudes. There seems to be a particular risk of television bringing a sense of unreality into all our lives.

Most people, it is probably true to say, would be horrified to see someone gunned down in the street before their very eyes. The same sight repeated nightly in the comfort of one’s living-room tends to lose its impact. What worries many people is that if cold-blooded murder – both acted and real – means so little, are scenes of earthquakes and other natural disasters likely to have much effect either?

Such questions are, to a large extent, unanswerable, and it is true to say that predictions about people’s probable reactions are dangerous and often misleading. But if television is dulling our reactions to violence and tragedy, it can also be said to be broadening people’s horizons by introducing them to new ideas and activities – ideas which may eventually lead them into new hobbies and pastimes. In the last few years there has been a vast increase in educative programmes, from the more serious Open University, to Yoga and the joys of amateur gardening. Already then people have a lot to thank the small screen for, and in all probability the future will see many more grateful viewers who have discovered new pursuits through the telly’s inventive genius.

Television, arguably the most important invention of the twentieth century, is bound to be exerting a major influence on the life of the modern man for as long as one dare predict: that it will also virtually certain. Yet in arousing hitherto unknown interests – challenging to its own hold over the lethargic minds of its devotees – it is not inconceivable that television may be sowing the seeds of its own downfall.