Данный лексический материал предназначен для того, чтобы студенты могли читать специальные тексты и подготовить монологическое высказывание по теме.

A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse (which was sometimes called a “Hobby”). From this came the expression “to ride one’s hobby-horse”, meaning “to follow a favorite pastime”, and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation.

Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim.

Hobbies differ like tastes. If you have chosen a hobby according to your character and taste you are lucky because your life becomes more interesting. Hobbies are divided into four large classes: doing things, making things, collecting things and learning things. The most popular of all hobby groups is doing things. It includes a wide variety of activities, everything from gardening to traveling and from chess to volleyball.

Gardening is one of the oldest of man's hobbies. It is a well-known fact that the English are very fond of gardening and growing flowers, especially roses.

Both grown-ups and children are fond of playing different computer games. This is a relatively new hobby but it is becoming more and more popular.

Making things includes drawing, painting, making sculpture, designing costumes, handicrafts. Two of the most famous hobby painters were President Eisenhower and Sir Winston Churchill. Some hobbyists write music or play musical instruments. President Bill Clinton, for example, plays the saxophone.

Almost everyone collects something at some period in his life: stamps, coins, match-boxes, records, postcards, toys, watches. Some collections have no real value. Others become so large and so valuable that they are housed in museums and galleries. Many world-famous collections started in a small way with one or two items. People with a good deal of money often collect paintings, rare books and other art objects. Often such private collections are given to museums, libraries and public galleries so that others might take pleasure in seeing them.

A “hobby” is usually something that a person does alone. But many American and British families like to do things together. They often spend a lot of money on their recreation. Many people enjoy their holidays somewhere in the country. National parks are very popular with most travelers. These magnificent areas of countryside include tropical forests, high mountains, dry deserts, long sandy coasts, grassy prairies and wooded mountains full of wild animals. There are camping places in the national parks as well as museums, boat trips and evening campfire meetings.

Americans really enjoy new “gadgets”, especially new ways of travelling. In winter the woods are full of "snowmobiles" (cars with skis in the front). In summer they ride their “dune buggies” across the sands or take to the sky in hang gliders.

No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has the opportunity of learning from it. By reading about the things he is interested in, he is adding to what he knows. Learning things can be the most exciting aspect of a hobby.

Задание 2. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. Tastes differ. Can you say the same about hobbies?

2. Have you chosen a hobby according to your character and taste?

3. The most popular hobby group is doing things, isn’t it?

4. What do you know about gardening?

5. Do you like computer games?

6. Are you fond of making things?

7. Do you know any hobbies of the famous people?

8. Have you ever collected anything?

9. What can be collected?

10. Do American families like doing things together?

11. Where do they enjoy their holiday?

12. What do your parents think about your hobby?

13. Do you and your family like doing things together?

14. Do you travel together?

15. Are you a collector? What do you collect?

16. What is your friend’s hobby?

17. Do hobbies help us in our life?

Задание 3. Переведите на английский язык:

1. Хобби – это времяпровождение, которое человек выбирает по своему вкусу.

2. Четыре класса, на которые подразделяются хобби – это делать что-то, создавать что-то, собирать что-то и узнавать что-либо новое.

3. Люди, имеющие хобби создавать что-то, рисуют, создают скульптуру, костюмы и т. д.

4. Коллекции могут не иметь реальной ценности.

5. Коллекции картин, редких книг и других предметов искусства могут быть настольно ценными, что их размещают в музеях и художественных галереях.

6. Люди получают радость, осматривая коллекции, переданные в музеи.