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

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

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

3. Which hobby groups do you know?

4. The most popular hobby group is doing things, isn't it? What kind of activities does this group include?

5. What do you know about gardening?

6. Do you like computer games?

7. Are you fond of making things?

8. Do you know any famous hobbyists?

9. Have you ever collected anything?

10. What can be collected?

11. Do you know of any private collections that were given to museums or art galleries?

12. Do you agree that learning can be the most exciting aspect of a hobby?

MY FRIEND'S HOBBY

My friend Nick is very busy and he doesn't have much time to spare. But he's got a lot of hobbies and interests.

Five years ago Nick was fond of collecting stamps. His hobby helped him to learn a lot about other countries and other peoples' traditions, the world's flora and fauna. Maybe that's why he was good at geography and biology at school.

He used to bring the albums to school and we examined his stamps with great interest and envy. Sometimes he exchanged stamps with his schoolmates.

When Nick was in the tenth form his parents bought him a compact disc player and Nick decided to collect compact discs. Today, he has got more than one hundred CDs of his favourite groups and singers! I think that he is very proud of his collection.

Every time Nick buys a new CD he carefully studies the information printed on disc booklets. He also tries to find out everything about the singers he likes. That's why he reads a lot of specialised magazines and books on the history of rock.

Nick never misses MTV shows — he thinks he must keep up with the news in the world of music. He says he likes all types of music except "rave".

He even writes letters to some fan-clubs in other countries, so he has to brush up his English.

Nick never misses a concert of his favourite group. He brings his compact discs to the concert and asks the singers for their autographs.

But in spite of his new hobby, Nick sometimes sits in his room and looks through his albums of stamps (with his earphones on, of course).

Names

MTV [,em ti: 'vi:] = music television (24-часовой музыкальный канал американского телевидения)