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SECTION 2 Unusual Hobbies to Take Up

24 In pairs read through the “Unusual Hobbies” websites. What hobbies do they describe?

Which of the sites would you like to visit? Why? / Why not?

“Unusual Hobbies” Websites

1 Mooing Competition

If you are good at imitating animals, you will enjoy competitive mooing. Join our club on the Internet or come to the next competition. It can sound ridiculous, but competitions are held in many rural areas and are becoming more and more popular.

2 Dog Grooming

Those who like pets may take up the hobby that is becoming more and more popular!Do you want to take a lion or a tiger for a walk? Go for it! Groom your dog and take part in competitions. If you want your dog to look different, this is for you.

3 Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles are not for kids only! From a simple 6-piece game to a complicated 200-piece cut that a professional can enjoy. Fantastic puzzles for all ages are available online.

4 Tape Art

This simple and elegant portrait is made of a cassette tape. Find some old-fashioned cassettes, pull out the magnetic tape and make a picture! A lot of impressive portraits have been made.Click here to find out more…

5 Funny Names

Some names seem strange and funny, some really are… Find an old phone book and make a collection of amusing, interesting, strange and occasionally rude names.

6 Paper Airplane Making

Paper airplane making is a popular hobby nowadays. It’s not as easy and primitive as it may seem. Contact our expert who is ready to share secrets of this craft.

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25 a) Listen to people talking about

their hobbies and say which of the

websites they visited. Which speakers

don’t mention any of the websites above?

What other unusual hobbies do

they mention?

b) Listen again and say which

of the speakers. . .

1 describes more than one hobby he / she has.

2 has a positive outlook on life.

3 wants to become more popular with people. 4 says that many people don’t understand

his / her hobby. 5 believes that his / her hobby can improve

his / her thinking skills. 6 says that a hobby can help people to choose

a career. 7 doesn’t like all aspects of his / her hobby. 8 admits that his / her hobby caused some

problems in the past. 9 got an award due to his / her hobby. 10 can’t understand everything about his / her

hobby.

26 Work in pairs.

a) Make a list of positive and negative

aspects of the hobbies from Ex. 24 and 25.

b) Discuss the questions in pairs. Get ready

to report the results of your discussion

to the class.

1 Which of the hobbies do you like / dislike? Why?

2 Why do people choose strange hobbies?3 Which of the hobbies would you like to

have? Why?

LANGUAGE HELP

There are quite a few positive aspects in the hobbies we heard about.

First of all, …Another good point we spotted is that …As well as these …Turning to the negative aspects, we would

like to mention that …In addition to that, …The hobbies which we both liked are …The worst hobby from our point of view is …We believe that the reason why people have

strange hobbies is …If it were up to me, I’d …My partner agrees with my choice / doesn’t

agree …

27 In pairs look through the list

of pastimes and answer the questions.

1 Which of the pastimes are most popular in your country? Put them in order from the most to the least popular.

2 Which of the activities have you tried? Give more details.

3 Are there any activities you have no idea about?

4 Do you think that English pastimes are similar to Russian ones?

watching television having a conversation seeing friends gossiping on the phone cooking DIY (do-it-yourself) gardening reading newspapers and magazines fishing stamp collecting bird-watching doing sports keeping pets knitting using the Internet playing darts playing pool playing billiards playing cards hunting

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UNIT  4 Section 2

28 Read the text describing popular

English pastimes. Match the texts to

the titles. There is one extra title.

1 Reading or Doing2 Leisure Activities that Create the National

Character3 Our Nearest and Dearest4 The National Hobby — Virtual Sports5 The Friend We Spend Most Time With6 An Escape from Realityp y

138

A People in England watch a lot of

television  — according to some surveys

the national average is about three or

three and a half hours a day. Does it

mean we have stopped talking to each

other? More than 90 % of people who

took part in the survey said they had

invited their friends and visited relatives

in the past month as well. Some

psychologists took part in a similar

survey but they didn’t talk to their

respondents, they obtained information

in the other way. Video cameras were

installed in people’s sitting rooms to

record how long they watched television

and what they were doing at that time.

Every day people had to fill forms and

record what programmes and how much

of them they watched.

The results were really shocking: people’s

estimates and reality were totally different.

They found that when people said they

“were watching TV” they actually

switched it on and kept doing some

everyday things: chatted with children,

played with cats, gossiped on the

telephone, cooked and ate dinner, did

something else, for example, hoovering

and even fell asleep. Most of them just

occasionally glanced at the television

screen during these three or three and

a half hours.

B You are reading this text, so you will not be surprised that reading is still a popular pastime, even more popular than DIY or gardening (according to the same surveys that told us about TV). Really, you can see a lot of people reading newspapers in the tube in the morning. The survey showed they make more than 80% of us. Thousands of people play word games and do verbal puzzles — our passion for word games is widely-known. Even those who claim they choose non-verbal leisure activities such as fishing, walking, bird-watching, cooking, soap making, knitting or doing sports have several magazines to read about it. The most popular hobbies usually have several weekly or monthly publications, not to mention Internet sites. As a result, we often read a lot about our hobby and have no time to practise it.

C The world is changing quickly nowadays and technological advances give us a new excuse not to go out, pull up the virtual game, talk to a virtual friend and spend a quiet evening without dangers of face-to-face social interaction. The whole world of the Internet: chatrooms, social networks, surfing and messaging is a perfect option for the socially handicapped, word-obsessed English. It is really a good way out: no need to think what to wear, no eye contact, no necessity to decide whether to shake hands or kiss cheeks ( a smile may be more than enough?..). Our awkward pauses are not visible, so there is no need to fill silence. Actually, there are no physical contacts and no real human beings to communicate. Just words — we do love them.

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139

29 In pairs write 5—6 questions

about the pastimes you have read about.

Close your books and in groups of 4 ask

and answer your questions.

30 Read the extracts again and choose

the correct options.

According to the text:

1 Watching television ... a) is a good entertainment.b) does not prevent people from talking to

each other.c) is better in the company of friends.

2 The survey showed that ... a) people watch less television than they

think they do.b) people watch more television than they

think they do.c) people practically don’t watch television

at all.3 The English ...

a) like reading as much as DIY and gardening.

b) buy lots of different magazines.c) prefer reading about their favourite

pastimes to doing them.4 The word “it” in the part about pets refers

to ... a) a leisure activity.b) a way of life.c) an expression.

5 The verb “sprawl” in the text about pets describes a way of ... a) sleeping.b) lying.c) eating.

6 Pets in Britain ... a) are allowed to do whatever they like in

their homes.b) are less important than people.c) are very lazy.

7 The English ... a) invented most of the games played in the

world today.b) made up rules for most of the games

played in the world today.c) are very sporty.

8 The author of the texts ... a) is irritated by the habits of the English.b) cannot understand English habits.c) is humorous when writing about the

habits of the English.

D Pets in England are not just pets and keeping them has never been a leisure activity — it’s a way of life. The expression “keeping pets” often has nothing to do with reality  — it doesn’t describe the real situation in many English homes and has nothing to do with the status of our animals in the family. Many Englishmen never buy luxurious kennels for their dogs or silk-lined baskets for cats — what for? They let their beloved animals take over the whole house. The unwritten rules let them sprawl over carpets and sofas, sleep in the most comfortable armchair protesting when the owner wants to occupy a corner of it. Our pets often have more attention than our children, are better dressed than us, they always take the best place in the house and the biggest in our heart.

E Do you remember that almost all popular sports and games played in the world come from England? First of all football and tennis, then rugby and even baseball (that foreigners sometimes think is an American game) appeared here. When we didn’t actually invent the game, we did invent a set of proper rules for it and made the world follow them. Take, for example, polo, hockey, boxing, swimming and even skiing. Such activities as hunting, fishing and shooting are also widely recognised as an essential part of English culture and heritage. Many foreigners see sports and games as an integral part of Englishness.

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UNIT  4 Section 2

31 Match the halves of the phrases without

looking at the text. Then use the text

to check your answers.

1 gossip a) at the TV screen

2 do b) contact

3 glance c) publication

4 have passion d) rules

5 weekly e) hands

6 social f) on the phone

7 eye g) cheeks

8 fill h) recognised

9 shake i) the hoovering

10 kiss j) part

11 awkward k) interaction

12 unwritten l) silence

13 widely m) pause

14 essential n) for word games

32 In pairs make lists of similarities and

differences between English and Russian

pastimes. Use your Workbook.

Similarities Differences

33 You have received a letter from

your English-speaking pen friend Mary

who writes:

… I am doing a project on popular pastimes in other countries. What are the most popular pastimes in Russia? What pastimes are not popular in Russia in your opinion? What are your favourite pastimes?I am thinking of joining in an unusual hobby club. I have already chosen it.

Write a letter to Mary.

In your letter: answer her questions; ask 3 questions about the hobby club.

Write 100—140 words. Remember the rules

of letter writing. You have 20 minutes

to do this task.

34 Read the quotation and comment on it.

“He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing.”

Cicero

WORD FOCUS:

EXPRESSIONS WITH THE WORD TIME

35 Fill in the gaps in the sentences

with the phrases.

at this time of day the first timeat the time local timea short time ago the right timea really good time tell the timefor a long time the timeby the time it’s time you startedhard time it’s high time

1 It was ... we’d ever tried driving. 2 I usually go to the swimming pool ... . 3 Autumn is ... to take up a new hobby. 4 We arrived in Novosibirsk at 14.00, ... . 5 He is too young to ... . 6 It was a ... for all of us because of

the coming exams. 7 What were you doing ...? 8 She did boxing ... . 9 The new public speaking club opened

... .10 Do you remember ... when we first won

the football match?11 We had ... walking with the dog.

I enjoyed it!12 ... revising for your exam.13 We will finish the project ... you come.14 It’s ... you took the dog for a walk.

36 Put the phrases with the word time

in three groups.

Use your Workbook.

Clock measurement

PeriodOccasion /

Moment

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141

37 Answer the questions. Use your

Workbook. In pairs discuss your answers.

What have you learned about

your partner?

1 What do you never do at this time of day?2 When was the first time you’d ever tried

a sport?3 Could you tell the time when you were

three years old?4 Have you ever had a hard time learning to

do something?5 Is there a hobby you used to do / have been

doing for a long time?6 Have you found a new hobby or stopped an

old one recently? 7 What do you always have a good time

doing?

38 Do some dictionary research to find

4—5 more phrases with time. Provide

explanations and examples. Get ready to

present your findings to the class.

39 Speak about your hobbies for two

minutes. See “Tips for Giving a Talk”

in Learning Strategies for help.

Don’t forget to mention:

The time you have for hobbies. Your favourite hobby / hobbies. Why you enjoy it. How you started doing it. Whether you want to take up something new.

40 Listen to two people talking about

having fun and complete the sentences.

The first speaker believes that ...

The second speaker is sure that ...

41 Listen to the recording again

and complete the table with arguments

for and against having a hobby.

Use your Workbook.

For having a hobby

Against having a hobby

42 In pairs compare and complete

your lists. Which of the opinions is closer

to yours? Why?

43 a) Read the text quickly ignoring

the gaps. Say why the information can’t

be taken for granted.

Playing Video Games May Help You Improve

Spending hours playing video games (1) ... be as mindless as many parents are convinced. Believe it or not but the fast-moving action of the games (2) ... to improve a range of visual skills and, actually, it doesn’t matter what game you play The War of Warships or Spiderman.

Teachers and parents are often against video games but scientists proved that playing is (3) … improving visual attention. A series of experiments (4) …  that people who played video games several times a week for half a year could deal with complex visual information (5) ... than those who didn’t play at all.

A group of people spent 10 hours training on a video game and, as a result, they (6) ... their visual processing skills.

In scientists’ opinion the necessity to cope with a number of varied tasks simultaneously helps the players to improve these skills when they detect new enemies, track other enemies and avoid (7) ... hurt.

b) Read the text again and choose

the appropriate options.

1 A can C may not B must D will not

2 A seem C seemed B seems D had seemed

3 A capable of C capable to B able of D able to

4 A explored C told B understood D proved

5 A more easily C easily B easier D much easier

6 A enlarged C improved B reduced D understood

7 A to get C having

B getting D to have

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UNIT  4 Section 2

44 Answer the questions in pairs.

1 Do you ever play computer games? How often? What kinds of games?2 What do you think of computer games? 3 Why do some people think they are dangerous to play?4 What benefits do they have?

45 Work in pairs. Imagine that you are going to spend the evening

with your English friend. Discuss with him / her what you would like to do

and choose one thing you will both enjoy doing.

Here is a list of possible activities.

go to the cinema go to the stadium go to the theatre dance modern / classical dances play badminton go sightseeing

LANGUAGE HELP

Why don’t we choose …The best we can do is …And what if …I don’t quite agree with you.It’s quite a different thing.I can’t make up my mind.This isn’t exactly what I mean …The more so that …Evidently …Unfortunately …To sum it up …

Report your decision to the class.

46 Comment on the following statement:

Some people think that hobbies are unnecessary and having fun is just a waste of time. Others believe that hobbies help us relax and make our life better.

What is your opinion?

Write 200—250 words.

Use the following plan:

1 Make an introduction (state the problem).2 Express your personal opinion and give

2—3 reasons.3 Express an opposing opinion and give

1—2 reasons.4 Explain why you don’t agree with the

opposing opinion.5 Make a conclusion restating your position.