Topic: Hobbies; Present Simple and Present Continuous

Level: A2
Date: 05.09.2022

Warm up/Speaking

Read and answer the following questions:

1. Can you think of any hobbies which are popular with children and adults?
2. Are there any hobbies you would like to try?
3. Are there any dangerous hobbies?
4. Are there any hobbies you can do in other countries, but not in your own?
5. Which hobbies do you think are the most difficult?

Reading comprehension

Read the text. For each question, choose the correct answer.

Artist Peter Fuller talks about his hobby

There’s a popular idea that artists are not supposed to be into sport, but mountain biking is a
huge part of my life. It gets me out of my studio, and into the countryside. But more
importantly, racing along as fast as you can leaves you no time to worry about anything that’s
going on in your life. You’re too busy concentrating on not crashing. The only things you pay
attention to are the pain in your legs and the rocks on the path in front of you.
I’m in my sixties now, but I started cycling when I was a kid. In the summer my friends and I
would ride our bikes into the woods and see who was brave enough to go down steep hills, or
do big jumps. The bikes we had then weren’t built for that, and often broke, so I used to draw
pictures of bikes with big thick tyres that would be strong enough for what we were doing.
They looked just like modern mountain bikes. However, it wasn’t until many years later that
someone actually invented one. By the 1980s, they were everywhere.
At that time I was into skateboarding. I did that for a decade until falling off on to hard
surfaces started to hurt too much. Mountain biking seemed a fairly safe way to keep fit, so I
took that up instead. I made a lot of friends, and got involved in racing, which gave me a
reason to train hard. I wanted to find out just how fit and fast I could get, which turned out to
be fairly quick. I even won a couple of local races.
In the end I stopped racing, mainly because I knew what it could mean to my career if I had a
bad crash. But I still like to do a three-hour mountain bike ride every week. And if I’m out
cycling in the hills and see a rider ahead, I have to beat them to the top. As I go past I imagine
how surprised they would be if they knew how old I am.
 1. Peter enjoys mountain biking because
a. it gives him the opportunity to enjoy the views.
b. he can use the time to plan his work.
c. he is able to stop thinking about his problems.
d. it helps him to concentrate better.

2. What does Peter say about cycling during his childhood?

a. He is sorry he didn’t take more care of his bike.
b. His friends always had better quality bikes than he did.
c. His bike wasn’t suitable for the activities he was doing.
d. He was more interested in designing bikes than riding them.

3. Peter says he returned to cycling after several years

a. because he had become unfit.
b. so that he could enter races.
c. in order to meet new people.
d. to replace an activity he had given up.

4. How does Peter feel about cycling now?

a. He is proud that he is still so fast.
b. He is keen to do less now that he is older.
c. He regrets the fact that he can no longer compete.
d. He wishes more people were involved in the sport.

5. What would be a good introduction to this article?

a. For Peter Fuller, nothing matters more than mountain biking, not even his career.
Here, in his own words, he tells us why.
b. Artist Peter Fuller takes mountain biking pretty seriously. Here he describes how it all
began and what he gets out of it.
c. In this article, Peter Fuller explains how he became an artist only as a result of his
interest in mountain biking.
d. After discovering mountain biking late in life, Peter Fuller gave up art for a while to
concentrate on getting as good as possible.

Glossary

Racing – pędzenie, ściganie się, wyścigi

Busy - zajęty
Pay attention to – zwracać na coś uwagę
Path - ścieżka
Brave - odważny
Modern – nowoczesny, współczesny
Invent - wynaleźć
Get involved - angażować się (w sprawę)
Crash - wypadek
Mainly – głównie

Vocabulary

Fill in the gaps with appropriate words from the box:

Pay attention to modern crash mainly path

get involved racing busy brave invented

1. It's a very __________________ city but it's beautiful in its own way.
2. Truck drivers are __________________ men.
3. John said his group might not __________________ in that race.
4. I like watching motor __________________ on television.
5. If you're __________________ enough, you can see him when he's back.
6. The steam engine was __________________ by James Watt.
7. He wasn't able to come because he was too __________________ .
8. They followed the __________________ until they got to the river.
9. It wasn't my fault, he caused this __________________ .
10. We must __________________ environmental problems.

Grammar

Present Simple and Present Continuous

1. Choose the correct option.

1. Look! Monica stands/is standing at the bus stop.

2. I want/am wanting to talk to you about something important.
3. Alice always gets/is getting up at 6 o’clock.
 4. My husband always leaves/ is always leaving his dirty socks on the floor!
5. Your friends are outside. They wait/are waiting for you.
6. Sorry, I don’t understand/’m not understanding you.
7. You never come/are coming on time.
8. We often spend/are spending our holidays at the seaside.
9. What do you do/are you doing? I’m a teacher.
10. The windows are dirty. I clean/am cleaning them now.

2. Complete the sentences below with appropriate forms of the verbs in brackets.

1. This is Jenny. She _______________ (sometimes/work) with me.

2. Where are the children? _______________ (they/play) in the park now?
3. Oh, that smells great! What _______________ (you/cook)?
4. Amanda is very talented. She _______________ (paint) beautiful portraits.
5. My friends _______________(often/invite) me at the weekends.
6. Why _______________ (you/delete) these pictures? Don’t you like them?
7. Your mum _______________(bake) delicious cakes.
8. They _______________(not/make) clothes in this factory.
9. _______________ (she/get up) at 7 o’clock every day?
10. _______________ (he/have) fun at this party?

3. Translate into English.

1. Our teacher ___________________ (zawsze zadaje) us homework.

2. (Co robisz) ___________________ today after school?
3. My dog ___________________ (nigdy nie szczeka) at strangers.
4. Children ___________________ (nie lubią) tidying their rooms.
5. ___________________ (nie pracuję) from home this week.
6. Why ___________________ (zawsze pomagasz) Jeremy? He’s never nice to you!
7. Andrea ___________________ (próbuje) to sleep but it’s too loud.
8. They ___________________ (rzadko organizują) birthday parties at home.
9. ___________________ (nie wierzę) my eyes! Is that Susan with Tom?
10. Why ___________________ (ona zawsze przychodzi) late? That’s so annoying!

4. Correct the mistakes in the sentences.

1. I am never getting up late.

___________________________________________________________________

2. Are Alice sleeping at the moment?

___________________________________________________________________

3. Jim don’t live with his parents.

___________________________________________________________________

4. My husband is wanting to change his job.

 ___________________________________________________________________

5. My dog doesn’t eats chocolate.

___________________________________________________________________

6. They get married next Saturday.

___________________________________________________________________

7. My parents don’t watching TV at the moment.

___________________________________________________________________

8. Look! Peter and John is playing football!

___________________________________________________________________

9. I’m thinking that is a great idea!

___________________________________________________________________

10. You always leave the light on in the bathroom. It is so irritating!

___________________________________________________________________

Listening comprehension

1. Listen to Philip speaking to Rose Jasper at an interview for a job at a children’s

camp. For questions 1 to 8, decide whether the statements are true or false.
Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNxkvCY0mVU&t=103s
1. Philip is applying for a job as an activity leader.
a.True b.False

2 Philip worked as a teacher in a school.

a.True b.False

3 Philip was responsible for communicating to team members.

a.True b.False

4 Philip quit the team because he did not get enough praise and encouragement.
a.True b.False

5 Philip worked long hours when he worked at a factory.

a.True b.False

6 Philip thought the work at the factory was interesting.

a.True b.False

7 Philip's co-workers at the factory helped him a lot.

a.True b.False

8 Some of Phillip's co-workers at the factory were often complaining to the boss.
a.True b.False