Topic 7. Diversity of Hobbies

What is a hobby? It is what you can and like to do when you have free time. We choose a hobby according to our character and taste. Many hobbies differ according to the age and sex. For example, a lot of men prefer fishing and hunting, while scores of young girls and women like knitting and embroidery. Children like collecting different objects like toys, puzzles, postcards. When we have a hobby our life becomes more interesting.

Many people are interested in listening and dancing to music. They collect records and discs with their favourite singers and go to disco with their friends. Other people like reading and collect books. But the word “hobby“ doesn’t mean only collection of something. Many young people like drawing very much. So since their childhood they are drawing everything and everywhere: in their albums, in the note-books and even on the newspapers. Other people like sewing clothes.

People living in cities and towns like to be closer to nature, and they spend all their free time in the country. It is also a hobby. Some of us go on hikes. Some like to work in their gardens. For example, gardening and growing roses is the most common hobby among Englishmen. Both grown-ups and children are fond of playing different computer games. It has become one of the numerous hobbies nowadays. Very often our hobby helps us to choose our future profession.

Find 10 words dealing with different leisure activities and hobbies. One and the same letter can be used twice (horizontally and vertically).

v	x	k	h	o	b	b	i	e	s	f
s	p	r	i	d	d	u	r	d	p	c
m	a	o	k	r	a	l	c	i	o	u
s	i	n	g	i	n	g	o	m	r	t
o	n	s	u	r	c	l	a	r	t	s
l	t	e	n	n	i	s	r	i	s	o
n	i	c	n	o	n	k	p	c	o	m
i	n	h	a	t	g	a	e	r	q	e
e	g	o	l	f	q	t	l	t	s	r
o	k	s	m	o	v	i	e	s	p	k
t	r	f	b	r	a	n	o	j	l	o
d	o	e	c	s	e	g	i	k	h	l

Grammar

1. Write the Past Simple form for the following verbs.

a) to be                                                              b) to end

to do                                                                    to finish

to give                                                                 to laugh

to have                                                                 to like

to hear                                                                 to listen

 to leave                                                                to move

to make                                                                to love

to pay                                                                  to play

 to read                                                                  to smile

 to see                                                                 to trust

to sit                                                                 to wait

 to take                                                               to want

to tell                                                               to watch   

to write                                                              to add

 

2. How do you pronounce “ -ed“ in the verbs above? Next to the Past Simple form write [ t ], [ d ], [ ı d ].

Put the words in the correct order to make questions. Then give true answers.

1. morning you time get up what this did?

2. dinner night have what you did last for?

3. do what Sunday you last did?

4. yesterday did go where you?

5. morning feel did how this you?

6. begin class did on time your yesterday?

 

4. Make the positive sentences negative. Make the negative sentences positive.

1. We didn’t like our hotel room. It was very small and it wasn’t very clean.

2. It rained until six o’clock.

3. My aunt didn’t give me a birthday present.

4. He bought some new shoes yesterday morning.

5. Last night I had dinner with my friends.

6. She wasn’t tired, so she didn’t go to bed.

5. Put did, was, or were into the gaps.

1. Where …. you born?

2. What …. your favourite subject at school?

3. Where …. you live when you …. a child?

4. …. you live in a house or a flat?

5. What …. you do?

6. Could you read when you …. four?

 

 

6. Ask questions as in the example.

e.g. I saw a film.(good?) Was it good?

1. I met some people. (friendly?)                            

2. I did an examination. (difficult?)                        

3. I bought some boots. (expensive?)                     

4. I went to a museum. (interesting?)

5. I went to work by car. (quick?)

6. We had dinner at the restaurant. (tasty?) 

 

7. Communicative situations.

1. Your mother told you to open the window, dust the things in the room and wash the

floor. Say what you did.

2. You promised to go to the kindergarten, take your little sister out, walk her in the

park and bring her home. Say what you did.

3. Our teacher asked us to learn the poem by heart, read the text and do exercise 27.

Say what we did.

4. I asked my friend to take the prescription, go to the chemist’s, get the medicine and

give it to my sick sister. Say what he (she) did.

Topic 8. At the Theatre

Theatre is one of the oldest and most popular forms of entertainment, in which actors perform alive for an audience on a stage or in another space chosen for the performance. The actors, the audience, and the space are three essentials of theatre. The fourth is the performance, or the actors’ creative work in production. The performance is very often a play – tragedy, comedy, or musical–but it need not be. Theatre performances include vaudeville, puppet shows, mime, and other forms of entertainment.

Theatre historians trace the origins of theatre to myth and ritual found in dances and mimed performances by masked dancers during rituals and other ceremonies that marked important passages in life. Early societies acted out patterns of life, death, and rebirth associated with the welfare of village tribes. At some unrecorded time, these ceremonies and rituals turned into dramatic festivals and spread west from Greece and east from India.

In addition to the actor and the audience in a space, other elements of theatre are a written or improvised text, costumes, scenery, lights, sound, and properties (props). Most theatrical performances require the collaborative efforts of many creative people working toward a common goal: the production.

Theatre can serve many purposes. It can be designed to entertain, instruct, motivate, persuade, and even shock. But whatever the intentions of the director, performers, and crew, the result depends on the interaction with an audience. The audience affects the performance by providing the performers with immediate feedback, such as laughter, tears, applause, or silence. Each night there is a continuous interaction between the auditorium and the stage.

Some audiences want only to be entertained. Others want the theatre to provide new insight and understanding of political, social, or personal issues. Throughout history theatre has reflected the society in which it takes place. In many repressive and authoritarian regimes theatre provides entertainment to distract audiences from the brutal conditions under which they live or to serve as lessons in the virtues of the ruling powers.

Theatre is a diverse and complex art. It requires collaboration among many artists, craftspeople, and managers in order to create a performance for audiences. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, theatrical events have included such production elements as costumes, scenery, properties, music, and choreography. Lighting and sound are more recent additions. Each element in today's theatre has its own designer, composer, or choreographer, who collaborates with the director to focus the audience's attention on the actor in the special environment or seeing place.

Grammar

1. Put the verbs in brackets in the future form.

a) I … (to write) my lesson in my new book.

b) They … (to tell) us about their work.

c) John … (to see) his friend at the cinema.

d) Lizzie … (to cook) breakfast for us.

e) Mr. Priestley … (to be) in the dining-room at 8 o’clock.