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HOBBIES AND INTERESTS

 

 

 

PRE-INTERMEDIATE - INTERMEDIATE

 

UNIT 1

I ENJOY IT!

READING

 

1 Read the text below and put sentences A-D into the correct place in the text. Remember one sentence is extra.

 

A Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Redford is his generosity.

B Redford always has something to keep him busy.

C At 60, Redford is still very handsome.

D He never smiles.

 

Robert Redford is a very successful Hollywood actor and director. He has starred in many films, such as A River Runs Trough It, and he also directed the film Quiz Show.

(1 ____) His blond hair, blue eyes and beautiful smile have certainly helped him to get where he is today. (2 ____) He has put a lot of effort into trying to help young directors who haven’t got enough money to get into the film business. He also has very strong values and dislikes greedy people who will do anything to make money.

(3 _____) When he is not acting or directing he likes to spend his time on his ranch in Utah. He also loves traveling in Europe. Probably because he spent his student years there.

Redford is an excellent actor and director. In addition to this, he is also a kind and sincere person who will continue to be admired by those who work with him.

 

2 Read the article. Underline the hobbies mentioned in the article.

 

When an interest becomes an obsession…

 

Whether it’s collecting coins, supporting your favourite football team, or just shopping, most people have some kind of hobby. But what happens when that interest becomes the most important thing in your life? When a hobby becomes an obsession?

Take Colin Duffy, for example. When he was six, his father took him to see his local football team, Liverpool. Since then, Colin, now 36, has seen a total of 1,729 matches, and has traveled over 75,000 miles to watch his team. Colin and his wife spent their honeymoon in Leeds (where Liverpool were playing that weekend!) and named their first son Kenny Dalgish Owen Duffy – after his two favourite players.

Colin may be Britain’s number one football fan, but 22-year old Beverley Bloom is Britain’s biggest shopper. Every week she writes a newspaper column about her addiction. Fortunately, Beverley’s credit card bills go to her father … a millionaire property tycoon. ‘I don’t think I’d like to tell you what Beverley spends.’ He says, admitting that it is well over ₤50,000 a year.

But even Beverley cannot beat champion shopper Imelda Marcos, wife of the ex-president of the Philippines. She was so obsessed with buying shoes that when her husband fell from power, more than 3,000 pairs were found in their palace, together with over 1,000 unopened packets of tights.

Most children are interested in collecting stamps or dolls at some time, but few go as far as 28-year old Tony Mattia, who fills his house with thousands of Barbie dolls. He spends hours every day combing their hair and changes all their costumes once a month. And, it seems that, the more unusual the collection, the bigger the obsession. For example, US collector Hugh Hicks has about 60,000 light bulbs and Nick Vermeulen from the Netherlands has over 2,000 aeroplane sick bags.



But such obsession can have unfortunate results. John Weintraub became obsessed with collecting plastic figures of US presidents given as free gifts in packets of breakfast cereal. After two years he had the whole set except for Thomas Jefferson. Weintraub was so desperate to get the last one that he broke into a factory and opened every box of cereal he could find. He was seen by a guard, arrested and sent to prison. ‘It’s OK tough,’ he said, ‘because at my first prison breakfast out came the statue of Jefferson.’

 


Date: 2015-01-29; view: 4427


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