Listening Exercises A2 – Hobbies and Pastimes

a.  the flowers

b.  looking at his collection

c.  creating pictures

d.  the people

e.  looking at the blue sky

f.  making great friends

ANSWER & TRANSCRIPT

1.

I used to play the piano a lot when I was younger, but I don’t play much anymore. Now I enjoy playing in a band. We call ourselves The Bandits. We’ve been practicing for a few months in my garage, and pretty soon we’re going to start playing at parties. Maybe we’ll become famous! We all have a great time. I like doing things with other people – that’s what I like best about it.

2.

I’ve always collected things, even when I was young. I used to collect everything – comic books, baseball cards, you name it. But they’re all packed away in boxes now. Now my favorite pastime is gardening. I spend all weekend outside with my flowers. I love seeing them change. That’s what I like best about it, I guess. They’re these little seeds at first, and then one day, they’re big, beautiful flowers.

3.

When I was a teenager, all I did was sit around playing video games. But I can’t stand them anymore. I work in an office now, so I sit in front of a boring computer screen all day. Now I like being outdoors. I belong to a hiking group and we go someplace different every weekend. I keep fit and healthy this way. The best thing is that I can make some really great friends.

4.

I like collecting things. I collected baseball cards when I was a kid, but I don’t anymore. These days, baseball card collectors are only interested in the money. I wanted to collect things that are really beautiful, so that’s why I started collecting stamps. Some of the stamps I have are really, really beautiful. I think they’re like paintings. What I like best is looking at my collection. It’s like walking through a tiny museum full of wonderful paintings.

5.

I always loved reading as a kid, so for a long time I wanted to write children’s books. I tried to do it for a few years, after college, but it was really hard to come up with good stories. I guess I’m not very good with words. Now, I’m happy just painting. I’ve won a few prizes, too – in art competitions, for my watercolors and oils. The pictures are important to me, though, not the prizes. What I enjoy most is creating pictures. It makes me so happy.

6.

Well, I’m retired now, and I have a lot of free time. I worked for the same company for over thirty years, mostly in the same little office. I worked long hours, and when I came home from work, I was too tired to do anything but read the newspaper. Now it’s different. I spend almost all my free time outdoors playing golf. I guess what I love best is looking at the beautiful blue sky.

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Exercise 3

Task 1

People are talking about their interests. Listen and check two suitable hobbies for each person.

1.  Scott

◻ surfing the Internet

◻ gardening

◻ birdwatching

◻ hiking

2.  Christine

◻ music

◻ birdwatching

◻ gardening

◻ cooking

3.  Joe

◻ sports

◻ hiking

◻ music

◻ surfing the Internet

4.  Amy

◻ hiking

◻ reading

◻ sports

◻ surfing the Internet

Task 2