Objectives:

•    to check students' reading skills

LEISURE AND HOBBIES IN BRITAIN

As working hours get shorter, the British have more and more time for leisure. Most people work a five-day week and have plenty of time in the eve­nings and at weekends to fill with hobbies and leisure pursuits of all kinds.

There is no doubt that the most popular leisure activity of all is watching TV. In fact the average Briton watches about 25 hours of TV a week. That's about 3 or 4 hours a day. Almost 100 % of households contain a television and more than 50 % have two or more.

The British have a choice of four national networks (BBC 1, BBC2, TV and Channel 4) plus a dozen or so satellite and cable stations. British television is famous for its high quality and variety, and because of the English language the British cab watch programmes from many other countries (especially the United Stated and Australia) without dubbing and sub-titles. Over half the households in Britain own a video recorder and more than a million video tapes are rented in Britain every day The second most popular leisure activity is visiting or entertaining friends or relatives. Listening to music and reading follow in the third and fourth position.

Many people prefer more active leisure pursuits. Do-it-yourself and gardening are the most popular of these, followed by going out for a meal. Next comes vol­untary work. A surprising 25 % of British adults are involved in voluntary work of some kind. There are more than 250,000 voluntary organizations in the United Kingdom, ranging from local neighbourhood groups to international organizations such as Save the Children or the Red Cross. Many voluntary groups try to raise money for local charities connected with schools and churches while others con­centrate on international problems such as famine in Africa.

Perhaps the most traditional leisure activity is sport. This is divided into participation and spectator sport. The most popular spectator sport is football, although this is less popular than it was in the past. Rugby, cricket and athletics are the next most popular sorts to watch. When it comes to participation sport no one will be surprised to find that walking is the most popular. Swimming, despite the British climate, is the second. After this the degree of popularity depends on gender. For men, snooker and darts are the most popular, followed by squash and cycling. For women, keep-fit is the most popular. Some of the sports for which Britain is famous are, in fact, only popular with a small minor­ity of people. These include such activities as sailing, horse-racing and tennis.

A) Find these words and expressions in the text and then match them with the definitions underneath.

1. leisure

a) changing the language of a film by a sound track

2. pursuits with actors speaking another language (7)

3. Briton

b) television channels received by signals travelling

4. household through wires underground (6)

5. a dozen

c) twelve (5)

6. cable stations       

d) work for which you are not paid any money (9)

7. dubbing e) sport played by two people in a special room with

8. do-it yourself high walls using a small rubber ball (12)

9. voluntary work     

f)   British person (3)

10. famine g)  a situation in which a large number of people have

11. spectator sport nothing to eat (10)

12. squash

h) a house or a flat containing a single family unit (4)

i)   a sport which people watch (11)

j)   activities (2) k) free time (1)

1) making and doing practical things for your house e.g. putting up shelves and wallpaper, sewing cur­tains (8)

B) Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?

1. The majority of British households have two or more televisions.

2. Visiting friends is more popular than listening to music.

3. The British don't like watching programmes from the USA and Australia.

4. bluntary work is the most popular active leisure pursuit.

5. Three quarters of British adults are not involved in voluntary organiza­tions.

6. Football is becoming more popular these days.

C) Complete the chart about leisure in Britain.

General leisure

Active leisure

Spectator sports

Participation sports