Additional reading History of the term “Hobby”

A hobby horse is a wooden toy made to be ridden just like a real horse (which was sometimes called a "Hobby"). From this came the expression "to ride one's hobby-horse", meaning "to follow a favourite pastime", and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation.

Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfilment is the aim.

What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a chef may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional game tester may enjoy playing computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional.

In the UK, the noun “anorak” is often applied to people who are keen on a particular hobby that is considered boring, such as train spotting or stamp collecting.

While some hobbies are trivial and boring for many people, hobbyists find something compelling and entertaining about them. Much early scientific research was a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, some fields of science began as a student's hobby. Furthermore, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose, but many people still adore this activity.

Task 16. Match each word with its definition:

a toy a pastime a reward to acquire substantial an experience to test particular to originate social

important or valuable relating to or considered as one thing or person as distinct from others; individual to gain for oneself; to come into possession of of society or its organisation, esp. of the relations of people or classes of people a thing which provides amusement to examine to begin, to initiate a recreation or a hobby an observation of or practical acquaintance with facts or events a compensation

Task 17. Fill in the gaps with an appropriate word:

1. In the past the word “hobby” denoted a wooden … which children could ride as a real one.

2. The primary aim of any hobby is personal …

3. Hobbies can bring both … and enjoyment.

4. A person does something but not professionally is an …

5. People who like train spotting are often called …

6. … research was a hobby for rich people in the past.

7. Aircraft spotting has no … nowadays but many people still enjoy it.

Task 18. Translate the text from Russian into English.

Хобби – это деятельность, которой вам нравится заниматься в свободное время, вкладывая не только свое время, но и усилия. Но если вы каждый день смотрите телевизор, это нельзя считать хобби, так как это – пассивное развлечение. Человек сидит в кресле и наблюдает, как работают другие. Но телевидение можно назвать вашим хобби, если вы участвуете в создании телевизионных программ, или снимаетесь в телевизионных шоу в свободное от работы время. Вот несколько примеров того, чем любили заниматься в свободное время некоторые знаменитости: Виктор Гюго любил туризм и верховую езду, Иван Тургенев обожал охоту, Эрнест Хемингуэй отлично умел управлять яхтой и ловить рыбу. Некоторые люди преуспели в своем хобби больше, чем в основной профессии, так случилось с врачом Антоном Чеховым, учителем Константином Циолковским, инженером Михаилом Ботвинником.

В наше время многим людям стало трудно сохранить хобби, потому что в нашу жизнь вошло телевидение и принесло с собой способ легко проводить свободное время, не прикладывая больших усилий. Кто знает сколько людей так и не нашли свой талант или свое призвание из-за того, что проводили время, бездумно уставившись в экран.