UNIT 8: LEISURE
Ex. 1. Read the text and explain in your own words what leisure is: leisure
What is leisure? Different people in different times have defined leisure in different ways. The ancient Greek philosophers, for example, regarded leisure as labor of the mind. The goal was to become an educated individual, a goal that could not be attained until the individual was well into adulthood. This understanding of leisure is in stark contrast to the late 20th-century view that regards leisure as time to be used for recreation and for fun.
Today leisure is often regarded as time left over after caring for the needs of existence, such as eating and sleeping, and for subsistence, such as work or education. This leftover time is to be used as each individual chooses. Studies suggest that the average adult spends about 80 to 85 hours weekly for existence and about 35 to 40 hours for subsistence, leaving about 40 to 50 hours of leisure time.
Some people view leisure simply as recreation. Others view it as an attitude or a frame of mind. Many people consider leisure the main objective of life, and work merely a means to reach this objective. Recent writers have defined leisure as a state of being free, an attitude of mind and condition of soul that aids in experiencing the reality of the world.
Stark Regard Recreation |
Совершенно Считать Отдых |
Subsistence Leftover Frame |
Пропитание Остаточный Структура |
Ex. 2. Read the poem and explain what meaning the author gives to leisure. Learn the poem by heart:
Leisure
W. H. Davies
What is this life if, dull of care, We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. |
No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. |
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
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N.B. Pastime - something that serves to make time pass agreeably. Pastime is half a day, but hobby is half a life.
Ex. 3. Read the short story and explain the underlined expressions:
My favourite pastime
As a child, my mother bought me a book about dinosaurs. Thinking back, I suppose that is what sparked my interest in paleontology. I was amazed by their size and the fact that some of them were as big as a house. I spent a lot of my free time on drawing dinosaurs and copying illustrations from books. Later, in fourth class we were taken on an excursion to a museum. That is when I saw a real dinosaur for the first time. In fact, it was a life-size replica of one. It made such a big impression on me! Of course my favourite film is “Jurassic Park”, which I have seen twelve times!
During that time I also read every book on dinosaurs I could get my hands on. Today I work part-time at a museum. There, during my break I get to look at the displays and study them. I also do some volunteer work with a paleontologist who I met at the museum. I help clean dinosaur bones which are fixed together with a metal frame and put on the display in museums as complete skeletons. I find what I do fascinating. Did you know that there are more than a thousand species of dinosaurs, which have been discovered? And who knows how many are to be discovered. Though I learn more about our past and what the earth was like millions of years ago, I realise that I want to learn more. Once I will finish university, I hope to become a paleontologist myself. I may even make my own discovery one day.
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Ex. 4. Read the text about hobbies. Comment on the epigraph.
HOBBY
If you collect books, that is a hobby.
If you actually read them, it’s not.
If you watch a butterfly in a field, that is not a hobby.
If you put a pin through its little heart, that is a hobby.
-Richard Cohen, Washington Post.
In the 16th century a favourite toy for children was the hobbyhorse. In appearance a hobbyhorse could be as a simple as a stick, or it could have a decorated wooden framework with an imitation horse’s head attached. In time the popularity of the hobbyhorse declined, but the pleasure of doing something outside the routine activities of daily life had brought a new word into the language, the word hobby, which is shortened from of hobbyhorse.
Hobbies today include a vast range of activities. The definition that best covers all these activities is probably constructive leisure-time activities. The definition excludes games and sports, and it leaves out purely spectator activities, like watching television. It also excludes schooling and work done to make a living. A hobby, like playing a hobbyhorse, is an activity apart from the ordinary routines of life. It should encourage the use of creativity and imagination and bring the reward of learning. Some hobbies bring monetary rewards as well.