Listening Exercises A2 – Hobbies and Pastimes

1.

I love to eat out. I eat at restaurants most of the time. It’s expensive, but I don’t care.

2.

I read almost everything I can: books, magazines, newspapers. I go to the public library about twice a week.

3.

I never used to like stamp collecting, but now I think it’s great. I’ve got two huge stamp albums. Hey, why don’t you come and see my collection some time?

4.

My wife says I should take up gardening. We have a big garden, and she loves working in it, but the truth is, it bores me.

5.

Well, everyone in my family loves sports – everyone, that is, except me. My family’s out playing baseball and stuff all the time. But I think most sports are pretty boring. I don’t like chasing balls around a field. And I couldn’t hit a ball if I had to.

6.

my friends think I’m really boring because I’m always listening to music. I go to concerts all the time. I love Mozart and all that classical stuff.

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.

1.

A few months ago, I moved to this cute little house out in the country. Before I moved, all I did was sit in coffee shops and read or surf the Internet. Boring! Now I want to spend all my free time outside, enjoying nature. The only problem is, I’m not in very good shape, so I don’t like doing any sports, or anything that involves a lot of exercise. I tried hiking once, but I fell down a hill and hurt my leg. Don’t get me wrong, I love the outdoors – but what I really want is something I can do quietly in nature.

2.

I live in a big city, so I love being around lots of people. My brother is completely the opposite – last weekend, he took me to the country to go bird-watching. I was so bored the whole time. I like talking to people and doing creative things. I’d just love to get all my friends together at my apartment in the city and do something. We could have a dinner party, maybe. Or we could bring over some guitars and drums, and stuff like that, and sing and dance!

3.

Exercise is really important to me. I like doing things where I keep active, things that are good for your health. My roommate isn’t like that at all, though – he wakes up and surfs the Internet for hours. Then he plays his guitar in his room all afternoon. Yuck! I just hate sitting around indoors! In especially hate surfing the Internet. I want to meet other people. I also want to get out and visit new places, like out in the country, where you can see some real nature.

4.

I’m not so young anymore, so I don’t really like going to parties or working out at the gym all the time. I don’t like hiking around in nature, either. I like to do things that develop my mind or things that teach me about other countries and places. What I really love is history. To me, a good history book is a lot more exciting than a fancy dinner party, or some concert, or a big baseball game. And now there’s a lot of great historical information on the Internet, too! I’m not one of those old ladies who sits at home and collects stamps. For me, learning something new is a real adventure!

Doesn’t do: 1, 2

Does: 3, 4, 5

Transcript

I played a lot of video games when I was a student in high school, but I lost interest in them a while ago. I got bored playing them over and over. In college, I played in a band every Friday and Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, but then two of the band members moved away, so we stopped playing. Now I prefer hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter. It’s a great way to keep fit and to enjoy nature. When I’m not outdoors, I love surfing the Internet. I can find out about all kinds of things. It’s one of my favorite things to do.

1 a   2 b   3 c   4 a   5 c

Transcript

1.

When I was a kid, I was outside all the time, playing and hiking and helping my mother in the garden. I developed allergies when I got older, though. So, I can’t be outside much anymore. Music is one of my main interests now. I’m taking piano lessons and singing in the church choir.

2.

I had a back injury a few years ago, so I’m not as active as I used to be. Most of my interests are things I can do at home, like reading books or the newspaper. I also like birdwatching ­ but only from my front porch.

3.

I don’t really enjoy being outdoors ­ it’s usually too hot or too cold for me. What I love to do is spend time with my family and friends. We do fun things like watch videos or play board games.

4.

I find shopping malls and movie theaters too crowded and noisy. I like quiet activities. I don’t mind spending my free time alone reading or surfing the Internet.

5.

I hate using computers. I’m pretty good with my hands, though. My friends tell me I’m artistic and creative. What I really like is painting pictures and giving them to friends. I also enjoy taking photos. I have a really cool camera.