Unit II hobbies and free time activities

Vocabulary

free time, in my free time spare time, leisure time at weekends, in the evening, in summer/winter once/twice/three times a day/a week/a month/ a year to like/enjoy/prefer doing smth to hate/can’t stand/detest doing smth to be interested in/keen on/crazy about/fond of doing smth to go out/ to stay in to play chess/board games/computer games/a musical instrument/sport games to go swimming/dancing/ /skating/snowboarding/ jogging/rollerblading / windsurfing/sailing/hiking/camping/fishing/hunting/shopping to go for a run/for a walk/ to the cinema/to the theatre/to the gym/to a café to do crosswords/puzzles/sports/aerobics/yoga/morning exercises/gardening/ homework/housework/a driving course/foreign language course/photography to collect stamps/coins/postcards/CDs/calendars/books to make films/sculptures/toys meet with friends, read stories/novels/detective stories/science fiction cook, paint in oil/pencil, draw, listen to classical/rock/pop/jazz music watch TV, films, comedies, thrillers, horror/adventure/documentary films visit museums, exhibitions, art galleries ride a bike/motorbike, drive a car

Ex.1 Let’s speak about different seasons. What are the seasons? What season is it now? What months does each season include?

Ex.2 Look at different leisure activities. Discuss what activities you can do in different seasons.

Play sport games, computer games, chess, cards, board games, the piano. Go dancing, swimming, skiing, skating, snowboarding, jogging, sailing, hiking. Go to the cinema, to the theatre, to the gym. Do morning exercise yoga, gardening, a driving course, a language course.

Ex.3 Read about three people from different countries. What are their favourite months? Why?

Maria from Australia: I like summer best. We cook and eat in the garden, and we often go to the beach. I don’t like sunbathing but I love water sports. I go surfing and waterskiing, and sometimes I go sailing. Summer here is from December to February, so we always spend Christmas on the beach.

Tumalee from Thailand: I live in the north of Thailand. We have three seasons – hot, rainy, and cool. I like the cool season from November to February. It’s our “winter”. In February, we have lots of tropical flowers and a beautiful Flower Festival.

Max from Norway: Here is a joke about my country – winter lasts nine months, and the other three are good for skiing. Our summer is short but it can be warm. My favourite season is spring. It’s the best time for skiing. I enjoy going fast down a white mountain under a blue sky.

Ex.4 What is your favourite season? Why? What do you do in each season?

Ex. 5 Read the following text about hobbies. Give the summary and speak about four types of hobbies.

HOBBIES

Hobbies differ like tastes. If you have chosen a hobby to your liking, you have made your life more interesting. Hobbies can be subdivided into four large groups: doing things, making things, collecting things, and learning things.

The most popular of all hobbies is doing things. It includes activities from gardening to travelling and from playing chess or computer games to swimming. Making things includes drawing, painting, sculpturing, designing clothes, writing music or novels, and handicrafts. Almost everyone collects something at some period of his life: stamps, coins, books, CDs, postcards, toys, watches, etc. Some collections are so big and valuable that they are housed in museums and art galleries. People with a good deal of money often collect paintings, rare books, and art objects. Sometimes private collections are given to museums, libraries and public galleries so that other people might take pleasure in seeing them.

With any kind of hobby people always have an opportunity to learn from it. By reading about the things they are interested in, they are getting new knowledge. Learning things also includes doing different kinds of courses, such as driving, cooking, or foreign languages.

Ex. 6 Have you ever had any hobby mentioned in the text? Do you know people who have an interesting or unusual hobby?

Ex. 7 Match the phrases in A with their opposites in B. A B 1. I spend a lot of time I’m not interested in 2. I really love I don’t have enough time 3. I spend too much time I’m not very good at 4. I’m quite good at I absolutely hate 5. I really enjoy I can’t stand 6. I just adore I don’t spend much time

Mind that “V-ing” is used after all of these expressions.

Ex. 8 Use the phrases in Ex.7 to make eight true sentences about the activities below.

Chatting on the phone listening to music doing exercises hanging out with friends doing your homework doing housework shopping playing computer games reading relaxing and doing nothing texting your friends walking watching TV on/using the Internet cooking playing football or volleyball clubbing cycling

Examples: I’m not very good at cooking. I spend a lot of time watching TV.

Ex. 9 A researcher is interviewing Tom about his free time activities. Read the interview and say how often he does different activities. Write out frequency adverbs and try to remember them.

Interviewer: We are doing a survey on the free time habits of British people. Can I ask you a few questions?

Tom: Yes, sure.

I Thanks very much. How often do you go to a bar or pub?

T Oh, not very often. About once a month. I don’t drink, but I sometimes go

with friends.

I Do you do any sport?

T Yes, I go swimming three times a week, at lunchtimes.

I Right. And how often do you go to the theatre?

T Oh, hardly ever. About once a year, perhaps. I go to the cinema quite a lot.

I And what about holidays? How often do you go on holiday?

T I normally have two holidays a year. One in the summer and one around

Christmas.

I And where do you usually go?

T I usually go somewhere hot: Thailand, India, places like that.

I Right. Last one. How much TV do you watch a week?

T Generally about an hour a day. Occasionally, when there’s an interesting

film on, two hours.

I That’s all the questions. Thanks very much.

Ex. 9 Work in pairs. Make your own free time survey. Write at least six questions.

Ex.10 Read the text about Lenny Henry, one of Britain’s most popular comedians. He has his own television programme and is frequently on the radio. Now he lives in London with his wife.

LENNY HENRY’S FAVOURITE THINGS

Good food is a very high priority with me, especially as I’m always on a diet. There are times when I go crazy and eat the contents of the fridge in one go. I really enjoy eating Indian and Mexican food, and my Mum’s food is fantastic, too.

I’ve got a superb collection of CDs – over 3,000 – so you can guess that I just adore listening to music. I really like Prince and Hip Hop is terrific. I’m very fond of cats. I’ve got two of them, Aretna and Flossie. I like actors who are good comedians like Peter Sellers, who was great in the Pink Panther films and Richard Prior for his stand-up comedy. I’m interested in police programmes on the television. Also on my list of likes must be comics and Jamaica. I love going to Jamaica as often as I can.

I tend to wear good clothes. I like suits and shiny shoes., but I can’t stand shirts with long arms! One of my pet hates is when expensive shoe shops don’t have shoes in my size. That’s really awful. There are lots of other things I don’t like. I detest violence. I get annoyed when I’m misquoted in newspapers. I absolutely hate racist jokes. I’m also not too keen on rude people and soap operas are really dreadful!

Ex.11 What six things does Lenny Henry like? What six things does he dislike?

Ex. 12 Write three paragraphs about the things you like and dislike. Try to use all the underlined verbs in the text above.