Practice Listening English Exercises for A2 – Hobbies and Pastimes

your own answers

A 5   B 2   C 3   D 4   E 1   F 6

Transcript

1

I love to eat out. I eat at restaurants most of the time. I really love to eat at pizzerias.

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 times?

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 b   2 c   3 b   4 a   5 a   6 b

1 d   2 a   3 f   4 b   5 c   6 e

Transcript

1

I used to play sports a lot when I was younger, but I don’t play much anymore. Now I enjoy painting. I have my own studio in my garage, and pretty soon I’ll have a show at a gallery. Maybe I’ll become famous! I really enjoy using bright colors in my paintings - 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 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   Steve: gardening, birdwatching

2   Christine: music, cooking

3   Joe: sports, hiking

4   Amy: reading, surfing the Internet

1 a   2 c   3 b   4 a

Transcript

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 cafes 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 my 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! I 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 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 baseball game. And there’s a lot of great historical information on the Internet, too! I’m not one of those people who sit at home and collect stamps. For me, learning something new is a real adventure!

A:   What do you do in your free time, Lara?

B:   I used to enjoy painting, but now I like cooking and gardening.

A:   Oh, not me! I enjoy collecting things. I collect baseball cards.

B:   Do you do anything else?

A:   Yes, I really enjoy surfing the Internet and listening to music.

B:   Do you play any sports?

A:   I go skiing and snowboarding in the winter. How about you?

B:   I like summer sports. I enjoy swimming and hiking.