Match the sentence beginnings (a-g) with their endings (1-7).

a) The students all... b) The book is really worth reading if... c) Learning a new language... d) What really appealed to me was... e) It’s difficult for us to judge the situation... f) We have only six months left... g) Being able to play the piano brilliantly is...

1 the idea of learning a new language. 2 to accomplish our task. 3 takes a lot of effort. 4 recreate alike. 5 you’re going to take the English exam. 6 just one of her many accomplishments. 7 because we don’t really know enough about it.

Complete the paragraph with the prepositions from the box.

of, in, for, from, to, by

Hobbies

A thing we do ___ our free time ___ recreation and pleasure is called a hobby. Hobbies are practiced ___ interest and enjoyment, rather than ___ money. What are hobbies ___ some people are professions ___ others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something ___ fun, not remuneration (оплата, вознаграждение), is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct ___ a professional. Engaging ___ a hobby can lead ___ acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. A lot ___ celestial bodies (небесные тела) and events have been discovered ___ amateur astronomers. However, the aim ___ a hobby is pleasure and personal fulfillment.

While some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists find something entertaining about them. In fact, anything can be a hobby, ___ collecting stamps and board games ___ doing extreme sports and making model airplanes.

READING

 

27. Work with a partner. Discuss the following question:

 

• What makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled?

Read the article and check your ideas.

Fill Your Free Time with fulfilling activities

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

Charles M. Schulz

The belief that the most enjoyable moments of life are spent relaxing in the fruits of our labour doesn’t match the real world. Research has shown that the most enjoyable moments of our life are the ones where we are most engaged.

 

A psychologist and author, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi¹, who has devoted his life’s work to the study of what makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled, recorded this phenomenon. Armed with a scientific approach to measure experiences (ESM – Experience Sampling Method) Csíkszentmihályi found that people were happiest when most absorbed in their activities.

Csíkszentmihályi originally studied artists and noticed it wasn’t the end-product most good painters were after², it was the process of painting. He was surprised to see painters finish a painting and immediately set up another canvas to continue painting – without even looking at the masterpiece they had just created. This intrigued him and so he has spent his lifetime exploring this interesting and enjoyable state he calls “flow”³.

According to Csíkszentmihályi, flow is completely focused motivation. The researcher describes flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake⁴. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost⁵.” People whose activities are in a state of flow are using high levels of skill and challenge together to create an experience that is rich and personally beneficial.

Csíkszentmihályi has found that people feel at their best when they indulge in high-challenge and high-skill activities (like demanding work, playing a game, pursuing a hobby) and feel at their worst when they indulge in low-challenge, low-skill activities (like watching TV). Most often people enter a flow state when they engage in their favourite activities, whether playing or working. Csíkszentmihályi suggests that by paying close attention to what we do every day, and how we feel doing it, we can learn to maximize these positive moments and thus improve our spiritual or psychic wellbeing.

The researcher shows the correlation between the choices people make and the quality of their lives. He argues that a life filled with “flow activities” is more worth living than one spent consuming passive entertainment. Happiness is derived from personal development and growth – and flow situations permit the experience of personal development. The point is to be happy while doing things that stretch your goals and skills, that help you grow and fulfil your potential.

______________________

¹ Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (Михай Чиксентмихайи) – один из авторитетных психологов мира, известный по своим исследованиям тем счастья, креативности, субъективного благополучия, автор нескольких бестселлеров по позитивной психологии

² be after – стараться получить что-л.

³ flow – поток, потоковое состояние

⁴ for its own sake – ради нее самой

⁵ to the utmost – в высшей степени, предельно