Hobbies differ like tastes. If you have chosen a hobby according to you character and taste you are lucky because your life becomes more interesting.

Hobbies are divided into four large classes: doing things, making things, collecting things, and learning things.

The most popular of all hobby groups is doing things. It includes a wide variety of activities, everything from gardening to travelling and from chess to volleyball.

Gardening is one of the oldest of man’s hobbies. It is a well-known fact that the English are very fond of gardening and growing flowers, especially roses.

Both grown-ups and children are fond of playing different computer games. This is a relatively new hobby but it is becoming more and more popular.

Making things includes drawing, painting, making sculpture, designing costumes, handicrafts. Two of the most famous hobby painters were President Eisenhower and Sir Winston Churchill. Some hobbyists write music or play musical instruments. President Bill Clinton, for example, plays the saxophone.

Almost everyone collects something at some period in his life: stamps, coins, match-boxes, books, records, postcards, toys, watches. Some collections have no real value. Others become so large and so valuable that they are housed in museums and galleries. Many world-famous collections started a in small way with one or two items. People with a good deal of money often collect paintings, rare books and other art objects. Often such private collections are given to museums, libraries and public galleries so that others might take pleasure in seeing them.

No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has the opportunity of learning from it. By reading about the things he is interested in, he is adding to what he knows. Learning things can be the most exciting aspect of a hobby.

I would like to tell you about my friend’s hobby. Nick is my best friend and three months ago he bought a compact disc player and decided to collect compact discs. He is fond of listening to music. He has a good ear and likes jazz very much. Besides jazz, Nick also likes rock music, pop music, 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 singers he likes. That’s why he reads a lot of specialized magazines and never misses MTV shoes (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.

Post-reading questions

 

1. Do you have a lot of free time?

2. What else do you do besides going to school?

3. Do you play any musical instruments?

4. Are you fond of listening to music?

5. What kind of music do you prefer?

6. Have you ever collected anything?

7. What is your hobby?

8. What is your best friend’s hobby?

9. Which of your friends collects stamps (records, compact discs, etc)?

10. How do you usually spend your leisure time?

11. What do you do for fun?

12. How do you spend your weekends?

 

Sometimes people's hobbies turn into a life passion, become an all-absorbing interest of the whole life. Do they always bring satisfaction and pleasure? Read the story that follows and note down in your notebook the main ideas of it.

 

RECREATION: AMERICAN STYLE

 

A "hobby" is usually something that a person does alone. But American (and British) families sometimes like to do things together, too. Some American families have quite a lot of money to spend on their recreation. They can all enjoy their holiday home or their boat somewhere in the country away from home.

Americans love to get out of town into the wild, and many go for holidays or long weekends into the thirty-five fabulous national parks. These magnificent areas of countryside include tropical forests, high mountains, dry deserts, long sandy coasts, grassy prairies and wooded mountains full of wild animals.

The idea of these parks, which cover 1% of the whole area of the USA, is to make "a great breathing place for the national lungs" and to keep different parts of the land as they were before man arrived. There are camping places in the national parks as well as museums, boat trips and evening campfire meetings.

Americans really enjoy new "gadgets", especially new ways of travelling. In the winter, the woods are full of "snowmobiles" (cars with skis in the front). In the summer they ride their "dune buggies" across the sands or take to the sky in hang-gliders.

But Americans do not only spend their free time having fun. They are interested in culture, too. Millions take part-time courses in writing, painting and music and at the weekends the museums, art galleries and concert halls are full.

 

Speaking

 

1. Discuss with your partner what Americans have in common with the people of your country and how they differ.

 

1) Have a conversation between a bored teenager and his elder brother (sister) who is trying to interest him (her) in some worthwhile hobby.

2) Exchange instructions with your friend on how to do your favourite hobby.

3) Discuss in a group what hobbies now you regret not taking up when you were younger. Speak about the hobbies that you gave up too soon.

4) It appears that boys and girls from early childhood take up different hobbies.

5) Is there any reason why both girls and boys shouldn't be actively interested in the same pastimes?

6) "It is the busiest man who has time to spare". Say how the proverb deals with the problem of private time. Discuss the proverb with your partner. Give examples of something you have read or experienced that shows the truth of this proverb.

7) Discuss in a group what activities you will encourage your children to enjoy. Are there any you will discourage them from? If yes, why?

 

2. Everyone has something to enjoy in his life. Many people are experts at some spare time interests. Read a conversation about life’s simple pleasures. Which ones do you find strange? Why?

LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

 

A: B:   A: C: A: C:     A:

Do you have any simple pleasures that you enjoy? Oh, for me, one of the simplest and most pleasurable activities is making bread. Because I love the slowness of it, and I love the feeling of the dough. And I love the fact that you have to wait. The bread takes its own time. And I love the smell. What about you? Well, there is nothing quite like building a brick wall. Oh, you’re a builder! No, I’m not. But it is very simple. It’s very straight- forward. When you build a wall and it’s straight, it’s one of the greatest pleasures on earth, I think. Well, my simple pleasure is waking up at 8 o’clock and knowing that I don’t actually have to get up until 9.30 and going back to sleep. That’s a joy!

 

3. Work in groups. Try to interview as many people as possible about what they see as their pleasures in life.

 

Project Work

 

Prepare a profile of yourself. First make notes about the subject you are taking at University, your language skills, other skills, work experience, interests, hobbies and what you plan to do in the future.

UNIT 2. Youth Problems

 

Pre-reading task

Read the title of the text and say what the text is about.

 

 

Reading

 

Read the texts and say how many of the predictions in the text were the same as yours.