VII. Read the text. Memorize the words in bold.

 

Get Fit at Home.

There are lots of opportunities to get active outside the house, but staying at home doesn’t mean that you have to be a couch potato. Here are some tips on how to get fit while you work around the house.

Housework

Dust, vacuum and tidy your way to fitness. Doing four or more household chores a day can help you lose weight, tone up, and keep fit and healthy.

Put on your favourite music and start with some light housework, such as picking things up, or dusting for three to five minutes.

While washing the windows, do 10 circles to the right, then 10 to the left. This is a great all-purpose cleaning motion. Do it while polishing furniture or cleaning the bath.

Tense your muscles as far as you can while pushing the vacuum forward, then back again.

Slowly squat when picking up dirty laundry. Include one squat for every piece of laundry you put into the basket.

Step up and down a short stepladder (three or four steps) 10 times. While you're up there, dust a shelf or two. Not everybody has a ladder, but even stepping up and down on a chair to clean the doors can help.

Scrub your sink, bathroom or kitchen floor by hand, not a mop. The harder you work, the better.

Finish off with a five to ten-minute cool-down, stretching as you reach to put away the dishes or make the beds.

In the open air

Gardening will take you 30 minutes. Cutting the grass, digging and carrying objects are all exercise.

Washing your car by hand can take up to an hour. The carrying, bending over, squatting and scrubbing will improve your balance and co-ordination.

(abridged from: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/Houseexercise.aspx)

 

VOCABULARY

VIII. Read and memorize the definitions.

cool-down - period after strenuous physical activity (stretching or milder exercise to allow the body gradually to return to normal)

couch potato - a person who spends much time sitting or lying down, usually watching television

dig – grub, clear away roots and stumps

dust - remove dust (fine, dry particles in the air or on furniture) from by wiping, brushing, or beating

household chores - daily or routine domestic tasks

keep fit - to keep in good physical condition

laundry - 1)the clothes or linen washed and ironed; 2) a place where clothes and linen are washed and ironed

lose weight = slim down - take off weight

mop – 1)a household implement made of a handle and a head with absorbent material; 2) clean floors with a mop

pick up – 1) take up (something) by hand; 2) collect or gather; 3) tidy up

polish -  make or become smooth and shiny by rubbing

scrub -  rub hard in order to clean

sink - fixed basin in a kitchen used for washing dishes

squat - sit in a crouching position with knees bent and the buttocks on or near the heels

tidy - put in order

tip - helpful hint

tone up - to make or become more vigorous, healthy, etc

vacuum - clean with a vacuum cleaner (with an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction)

READING COMPREHENSION

IX. Answer the questions.

1. What are the opportunities to get active outside the house? Where can you exercise?

2. Can you get fit staying at home?

3. Are you a ‘couh potato’?

4. Do you think one can lose weight doing household chores?

5. What should you start with?

6. What should you do to train your arms and hands?

7. How can you train your legs?

8. What can you do to cool down?

9. What jobs do people do in the open air?

 

 

PRACTICE

X. a) Make up sentences and phrases using the table below.

It is at

a quarter half 10 minutes

past to

eight tweve seven

sharp

b) Say the time. Discuss what you might do at the time.

1. 7:00 a.m. 2. 8:30 a.m. 3. 9:15 a.m. 4. 10:20 a.m. 5. 11:40 a.m.

6. 2:10 p.m. 7. 4:45 p.m. 8. 6:30 p.m. 9. 9:25 p.m. 10. 10:45 p.m.

 

A.m. (ante meridiem) – before 12 noon

P.m. (post meridiem) – after 12 noon

XI. Look at Mike’s daily routine. Say when you do these things.

7:00wake up

7:15 have a shower

7:30 get dressed

7:45 have breakfast

8:10 catch the bus

9:00 have classes

1:30 have lunch

3: 50 go home

5:20 surf the Net / play computer games

7: 15 have dinner

7:50 watch TV

10:45 go to bed