Leisure of British People Young people in Great Britain have plenty of free time in the evenings and at the weekends for hobbies of all kinds.
The most popular leisure activity of all is watching TV. In fact the average Briton watches about 25 hours of television every week. They have a choice of four national networks (BBC1, BBC2, I TV and channel 4) plus a dozen or so satellite and cable stations. The second most popular leisure activity is visiting friends. Listening to music and reading are in the third and fourth position. Going for a meal or to the cinema is popular among the British youth as well. Next comes voluntary work. A surprising 25% of British teenagers are involved in voluntary work of some kind. There are more than 250,000 voluntary organizations in the UK. Many voluntary groups try to collect money for organizations connected with schools or churches while others concentrate on international problems such as famine in Africa.
Perhaps the most traditional leisure activity is sport. The most popular is football. Then we should mention rugby, cricket and athletics. Nobody will be surprised to find that walking and swimming are also popular. Young men are also fond of snooker, darts, cycling and squash.
At 15 years old and above young people try to find “Saturday jobs”, working as assistants in shops, cafes or restaurants to have pocket money. They save this money for bicycles, motorbikes, and spend it for discos and dances.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION VARIANT 78
1. Listen to the text and decide if the statements are true or false. Young people in Great Britain have plenty of free time in the mornings.
The word plenty in the first line means much.
The first most popular leisure activity is visiting or entertaining friends.
Voluntary groups try to raise money for local charities.
The expression “going for a meal” is the same as “to have dinner”.
At 15 years old and above young people try to find “Sunday jobs”.
Young people never saves money, they prefer to spend them.
The word “famine” means not enough food in Africa.
A surprising 25% of British adults are involved in voluntary work of some kind.