
- •Spare Time Activities
- •Find the meaning of the words:
- •Ways of Spending Free Time
- •III. Comprehension questions:
- •How people relax
- •Read the texts and see if the statements are correct:
- •Scan the texts for:
- •1. Gambling
- •2. Pubs and clubs
- •3. Reading
- •Scan the texts and find words matching the definitions:
- •The Weekend
- •I. Read the text and see, what parts and pastimes the week-end consists of.
- •Continue the sentences according to the story:
- •Having read the two texts above, think of:
Scan the texts and find words matching the definitions:
light beer;
risk, put money on;
place for gambling;
beer without alcohol;
place with slot-machines;
newspaper with the weekly TV programs;
diversity, range, assortment;
to differ, be different;
review, study, analysis;
game of chance;
Review the information of the texts once again and think of differences/ similarities with the two cultures: British and Belarusian. Use link words and expressions of opinion. E.g. On the one hand,…but on the other hand…Also…Moreover… While…But at the same time… Use the following information:
The Weekend
I. Read the text and see, what parts and pastimes the week-end consists of.
Most people in Britain work a five-day week, from Monday to Friday; schools, colleges and universities are also closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Therefore from Friday evening till Monday morning people are usually free.
Everyone looks forward to the weekend and when Friday comes along, as people leave work they say to each other, "Have a nice weekend". Then on Monday morning they ask, "Did you have a nice weekend?" or "What did you do at the weekend?"
Students, young people and single people in general like to go away for the weekend. They may go home, go to stay with relatives or friends in different parts of the country, or stay in a hotel or boarding house in the country or at the sea. It is of course more difficult for married couples with children to go away for the weekend. They do so sometimes, but as they usually have a house, they more often have people to stay.
Those who stay at home at the weekend try both to relax and to catch up with all the jobs they are too busy to do during the week. For women who go out to work these include housework, sewing, washing, shopping and sometimes gardening; for men - repairs and other odd jobs in the house, cleaning the car, mowing the lawn, and gardening.
Saturday morning is a very busy time for shopping, as this is the only day when people who are at work can shop for any length of time.
On Saturday afternoon the most important sporting events of the week take place - football, rugby (in the summer, cricket) and tennis, horse-racing, oar and motor-cycle racing and other sports. Some men go and watch; others wait and watch the sports programmes or television.
Saturday evening is the favourite time for parties, dances, going to the pictures or the theatre, in fact for "going out" generally. For many people it is the climax of the weekend. There is plenty of time to get ready and no one has to worry about getting up early for work the next day.
Having gone to bed late the night before, many people hare a lie-in on Sunday morning. When they finally get up they have a leisurely breakfast. Some have breakfast in bed, although this depends on your having someone willing to get it and bring it up. However, some breakfast-in-bed enthusiasts will even get up, get breakfast themselves and taka it back to bed. While having breakfast people start reading The Sunday papers. It is quite usual for a family to have two or three Sunday papers and some enthusiasts have more.
If the weather is fine, people may decide to go out for the day. Often, however, having got up late in any case, they wait till after dinner. Sunday dinner is traditionally the most important family meal of the week. After dinner most people sit talking, reading the paper, watching television or just dozing until tea time. In the summer they sit in the garden and more energetic people go out for a walk or to see friends. Tea time is at 5--5.30. Quite often friends are invited to Sunday tea. Some people spend Sunday evening quietly at home, others go to see friends, go to a concert or film. The realization that the weekend is nearly over casts a slight melancholy on the evening.