„Talking of hobbies”
Peter:
I’ve been going to traditional Greek dancing lessons for about three years now. (0)…G… I love it! I’ve made lots of friends there and we meet three times a week. At first, it was hard to remember all the steps,� but I’ve got used to it now. You have to have a good sense of rhythm and you have to be aware of what everybody else is doing at the same time. (1) We’ve taken part in lots of competitions. I’ve won a gold cup, but generally other teams are better than us. I think I’d like to teach dancing when I’m older.
Ben:
I collect video games. I don’t mean the ones most people have at home. I’ve played those and they’re lots of fun. What I collect, though, is the big ones, you know, the ones they have in video arcades. I’ve collected three so far. It’s quite an expensive hobby, which means I can’t afford many of them. New, they cost about €7.000 and about €400 second-hand. (2)� My uncle gave me my first one – he runs an arcade and it was an old one that he was throwing away. It was a game called Attacker. It was worthless to him but I’ve spent hours playing it, even though it’s an old game. My parents gave me the other two as Christmas presents. I’ve put them all in my bedroom, but now I’ve run out of space.
Maria:
Snowboarding is a great hobby. It’s not so expensive once you’ve bought all the equipment. You need a board, which is the most expensive item, and some safety gear like a helmet. (3)� We’ve been living here for the last two years and there’s a mountain an hour’s drive away. I practice every weekend and I’ve got quite good. I’ve been skiing for five years though, so I find snowboarding fairly easy. The important thing is to keep your balance and it’s a bit like riding a skateboard. I haven’t learned how to do any tricks yet, but I’d like to.
Pauline:
I’ve bought pens and pencils from lots of different places! My collection is quite big. I suppose I’ve got about 200 pens and 150 pencils. Some people think it’s a weird hobby, but it’s just like collecting anything else, really. (4)� Everybody who collects things has the same satisfaction when they add to their collection. My grandma has given me lots of my pens, so some of them are quite old. The oldest is a 1959 Waterman ink pen. However, I don’t think many of them are very valuable, none of them are priceless or anything like that, but they look great. I just use an ordinary pen for school – I’ve never taken any of my good pens to school because I know I’d lose them!
Sam:
My dad’s been fishing since he was a boy and he’s taught me a lot. For instance, he showed me how to make my own floats. My granddad left me lots of equipment so it hasn’t really cost me anything. My dad and I go out to the river when we can. Dad’s just got a new job so we don’t have much time but we go about once a month. I think it’s a hobby that suits some people and not others. (5)�� I’ve never caught a really big fish, but I’ve caught lots of smaller ones. I’ve been making some new floats, so maybe I’ll have better luck from now on!
Six sentences have been removed from the interviews. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1-5). There is one extra sentence you do not need to use. The first one has been done as an example.
A You have to ignore things like that and just enjoy������ your hobby.
B You also have to be quite fit and it helps if you live in the right place.
C You need to have lots of friends if you’re going to try a hobby like this.
D You have to go to special shops and I often look on the Internet for bargains.
E You also need to listen carefully so you know where you should be and when.
F You have to be patient, and I know some people find it a bit boring.
G I wasn’t all that keen at first, but I soon changed my mind.
