Topic of InterestsLeisure SportsArtistic ActivitiesFood and DrinkHousingHolidays

LeisureBritons enjoy various indoor and outdoor

activities in their spare timeBritons spend about 45% of their free time

watching TV, 24% of it socializing, 22-23% on sport and hobbies, and 10% on other activities. Other popular leisure activities are listening to the radio, listening to pre-recorded music, reading, DIY, gardening, eating out and going to the cinema.

Leisure-televisionThe most common leisure activityAverage viewing time is 25 hours per person

per weekPopular television programs

DIY programsDrama and sitcomsSoapsReality programs

Television (2)TV shows of international fame

Pop IdolBritain’s Got TalentThe X Factorhttp://www.tudou.com/programs/view/iD55hNGhYxc/

Leisure-PubsPub: short name for public housePubs are an important part of British life. They

are popular social meeting places. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there.

Licensing LawsLegal age to purchase alcohol is 18.Asking for ID if the person looks under 21

LeisureActivities at weekends

Saturday are busy time for shopsSundays used to be time for going to church and doing

odd jobs around the home such as gardening and DIY. Today, Sundays are becoming like any other day other week with shops open. Some families will spend Sundays shopping rather than going to the church or they will combine the two activities.

SportsSports play an important part in the life in

UK and is a popular leisure activity.Many of the world’s famous sports began in

Britain, including soccer, tennis, golf, rugby, badminton, hockey, boxing, snooker, and billiards.

Sports-SoccerSoccer is the one of the most popular

sporting activities in UK.

Sport-Soccer• The modern global game of soccer evolved

out of traditional football game played in England in the 19th century.

• Each of the four nations of UK has its own professional soccer clubs and its own soccer league competition.

• England has 92 fully professional clubs in total, which is considerable more than any other country in the Europe.

Sport-SoccerThe English Premier League is the most-watched football

league in the world.The most successful English soccer teams include

Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.

Sport-RugbyRugby originated from Rugby school in

Warwickshire.It is similar to soccer, but played with an oval

ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other.

Sport-CricketCricket is the national sport of England.It is a bat-and-ball game played between 2

teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field

Sport-TennisTennis originated in the city of Birmingham

between 1859 to 1865. Wimbledon Championships (1877 )is the

oldest and the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.

Sport-Horse RacingHorse Racing, the sport of Kings is a very

popular sport with meetings being held everyday throughout the year.

People can place bets on the races at legal off-track betting shops.

Sport-GolfModern competitive golf originated in

Scotland. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone.

Golf is the sixth popular sport, by participation, in the UK.

Sport-SnookerSnooker, invented in India by British Army

officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries.

Sport-MotorsportBritain is the center of Formula One, with

the majority of Formula One teams based in England.

The UK hosted the very first Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone.

Artistic Activities• The UK has an extraordinarily rich and

diverse cultural heritage.• London is one of the leading world centers for

drama, music, opera and dance, where some 650 professional arts festivals take place each year.

• There are about 2, 500 museums and art galleries in the UK, providing a variety of tastes.

Artistic Activities (2)With the emergence of the Beatles and the

Rolling Stones, British popular music has led the world from the early 1960’s, and is both an economic and cultural phenomenon.

The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band,

formed in Liverpool in 1960. They are the most successful and critically

acclaimed act in the history of popular music.

The Beatles• Legacy:

– The Beatles’ influence on popular culture was and remains immense.

– “In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive.”-commented by former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield

– They broke the dominance of popular entertainment culture by US, and triggered the British Invasion of the US. At the same time, they became a globally influential phenomenon.

The BeatlesLegacy Their musical innovations, as well as their

commercial success , inspired musicians worldwide. A large number of artists have acknowledged them as an influence.

They were primary innovators of the music video (MTV).

Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.

As icons of the 1960s counterculture, they became a catalyst for activism in various social and political arenas, fueling such movements as women’s liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism.

The BeatlesYesterday has the most cover 翻唱 versions

of any song ever written. There has been more than 1, 600 recorded cover versions.

It was performed over seven million times in the 20th century alone.

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/0NfGrDD9698/

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/cfpxe7YMYXw/

ColdplayFormed in 1996, Coldplay is considered to be

the most commercially successful British rock act of the decade.

Coldplay have won international wide success:they have sold over 50 million records worldwidethey have six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music

Awards, and seven Grammy Awards

ColdplayMusical Style:

Chris Martin once proclaimed the band’s music as “limestone rock” in comparison to “hard rock”

“meditative” and “blue romantic”“sound British but on the other they sound like

a huge global artist”

http://www.tudou.com/playlist/p/l11773332i77418844.html

Cuisine

Chicken tikka masala (masala: mixture of spicesTikka: chunk)

Historically, British cuisine means “unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavor, rather than disguise it”.

However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influenced of those that settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes.

CuisineTraditional British

DishesRoast beefRoast meetsFish and chipsYorkshire pudding

Picture: Sunday roast Fish and chips, a

popular take-away food of the UK

http://www.projectbritain.com/food/dishes.htm#2

Eating EtiquetteThe British generally pay a lot of attention to

good table manners.Do’sDon’ts

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/behaviourfood.html

HousingMost people in England live in urban areas. More people are buying their own houses

than in the past. About 2/3 of people in UK either own, or are in the process of buying, their own home.

People buying their property almost always pay for it with a special loan called a mortgage, which they must repay, with interest , over a long period of time, usually 25 years.

Housing

Types of HousesDetached houses ( not joined to another house)Semi-detached houses (two houses joined togetherTerrace houses (several houses joined together)Flats (apartments)

Holidays and Festivals in UKHolidays reflect the religious, historical,

social and cultural diversity of the country.These holidays provide an opportunity for

families and friends to get together to visit, eat, exchange good wishes and enjoy each other’s company and hospitality.

Holidays and Festivals in UKReligious Holidays

ChristmasEasterHalloween

National Holidays

Holidays and Festivals in UKChristmas

Christmas is the biggest and best loved British holiday. Nowadays, Christmas is celebrated by most Britons by exchanging gifts and Christmas cards, preparing holiday foods, and decorating homes and workplaces with colored lights, Christmas trees and ornaments.

Holidays and Festivals in UKChristmas traditions

Christmas Pantomime童话剧

Queen’s Christmas message over the television and radio

Boxing Day Next day after Christmas Giving money to workers Householders give small

gifts or tips to milkman, paper boy, dustman

Holidays and Festivals in UKEaster (first Sunday

after the full moon, Mar. 22-Apr. 25)It commemorates the

Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Worship services, special music, feasting and parades

Easter Egg hunting (east egg originally

was a Christian symbol of new life)

Holidays and Festivals in UKHalloween (Oct. 31st)

A major Catholic festival

Customs Pumpkin lanterns Fire Apple Bobbing Dressing up Trick or Treat Visiting haunted

attractions Watching horror films

Holidays and Festivals in UKNational Holidays

Queen’s Birthday (second Saturday in June) Trooping the Color

Holidays and Festivals in UKHolidays in the 4 nationsBonfire Night (Nov. 15 )The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (a secret plan to

overthrow the king Night) failedPeople lit bonfires to celebrate the King’s survival

HolidaysHolidays in 4 nations

St. David’s Day (Mar. 17th) for Northern Ireland To celebrate the birthday of the patron saint of

Ireland, St Patrick, who drove snakes (the Christian symbol of evil) out of Ireland

Characterized by the attendance of church services, wearing green attire, and the lifting of restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol

HolidaysHolidays in 4 nations

Hogmanay [ˌhɔɡməˈneː] for Scotland The New Year’s Eve Customs:

first-footing: to cross the threshold of a friend/neighbor and give symbolic gifts (a bottle of spirits, alcohol, a lump of coal) to them to bring good luck

Singing Auld Lang Syne ( 友谊地久天长） Note: its traditional use being to celebrate the start

of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions.

HolidaysHoliday in 4 nations

Eisteddfod [ə(i)ˈstɛðvɔd] for Wales (first week of August) Originally a Welsh festival of literature, music and

performance Later as a way to preserve the Welsh language Now the largest popular festival of music making

and poetry writing in Europe