Free time: relaxation and leisure CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED

CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED

UNIT 15

Free time: relaxation and leisure

A	Adjectives describing free-time activities adjective meaning possible examples rewarding gives you a lot of positive experiences doing voluntary work, helping charities fruitful produces good results collaborating/cooperating with someone in an activity lucrative makes a lot of money selling designer jewellery, writing apps for smartphones therapeutic /θerəˈpjuːtɪk/ makes you healthy in body and/or mind gardening, yoga, jogging relaxing/calming reduces stress, gives a peaceful feeling reading, listening to music, meditation time-consuming takes a long time to do being president of a club, being a member of a committee I enjoyed being secretary of the sports club but it was very time-consuming. I had to give up two evenings a week to do it. The conservation work I do is very rewarding. I feel I’m doing something good and useful. Photography has been a lucrative pursuit for her. She often sells her pictures to magazines. Painting is such a therapeutic activity. It makes me feel good, and teaches me patience.
B	Informal expressions: how people spend their leisure Rob’s a real culture vulture; he goes to the theatre regularly and to every art gallery he can find. [big fan of anything cultural] I’m a bit of a couch potato; I spend hours every day just watching TV. [physically very inactive person] Lucy loves playing tennis but only as an amateur – she’d never want to be a professional. [someone who does something as a hobby, not a job] Fatima’s a bit of a dabbler; she takes up a hobby for a couple of weeks, then she gets bored and starts something different. [person who never keeps doing one activity for long] Matt does a lot of chores at the weekend – things like shopping and mowing the lawn. [boring tasks that have to be done] [grass] Laura’s a shopaholic. She buys all sorts of things she doesn’t need. [person addicted to shopping; compare alcoholic: addicted to alcohol] Joe is heavily into downhill skiing these days. [is very involved in] I went off football and I took up golf instead. [stopped liking, lost interest in] She locks herself away for hours in her room and listens to music. [isolates herself from the world] He’s totally hooked on motor racing these days. [is addicted to] What do you get up to at weekends, Mariana? [do] Do you have a hectic social life? I have a pretty full diary. [a lot of activities] Mark is a keen participant in all the community activities in his town. [takes part enthusiastically]
	Language help Words like shopaholic, workaholic and chocaholic are used in a light-hearted way and are different from alcoholic, which is a serious and medically recognised condition.

EXERCISES

16.1	Fill the gaps with a suitable adjective from A opposite. There may be more than one possible answer. 1 I find writing poetry very___________. It helps me to get a truer understanding of myself and gives me a good feeling inside. 2 I enjoy selling the pictures I paint, but it’s not very ___________. I only made £300 last year. 3 Gardening is very ___________. It reduces stress levels and calms you down. 4 I’ve had a ___________partnership with Jane for several years: she plays the piano and I play the violin. It’s been very good for both of us. 5 Doing unpaid work at the hospital has been a ___________experience for me. 6 I would like to be on the club committee, but I’ve heard it’s very ___________, and I don’t have a lot of free time.
16.2	Solve these riddles, based on words in B opposite. 1 I am a vegetable that sits where humans sit. What am I? 2 I enjoy shopping a bit too much. What am I? 3 I am a bird that eats the flesh of art. What am I? 4 I do some of this and some of that, but never all of this or all of that. What am I?
16.3	Answer the questions. 1 Which of these is your least favourite chore – washing your clothes or tidying your room? 2 How often is it usually necessary to mow a lawn? 3 Does an amateur footballer get paid for playing a match? 4 If you say that someone ‘dabbles in photography’, are they a serious photographer? 5 When it comes to sport, do you prefer to be a spectator or a participant?
16.4	Give alternatives for the underlined words. 1 My daughter’s extremely interested in folk music. She downloads a lot of traditional folk songs. 2 He isolates himself in the attic and plays with his model railway for hours on end. 3 She’s totally addicted to football these days. She watches every match on TV. 4 I have a long list of social appointments for the rest of the month. 5 What do you engage in when you aren’t working, Nigel? 6 Martine performed with enthusiasm in the end-of-term concert.
16.5	Complete the dialogues with a word or expression from the opposite page. B agrees with A by saying the same thing in a different way. 1 A: Going for a swim helps you forget your everyday worries, doesn’t it? B: Yes, it’s very _______________. 2 A: Dan spends every evening watching rubbish TV. B: That’s true. He’s a terrible _______________. 3 A: I’m not so keen on playing in the school orchestra as I used to be. B: Yes, I’ve _______________it too. 4 A: I’d like to join a drama group but it would mean giving up lots of evenings and weekends. B: Yes, it can be a very _______________activity. 5 A: I don’t think I can fit in a tennis match with you for another couple of weeks. B: No problem. I’ve got a very _______________too. 6 A: Someone said I could make some money out of those necklaces I make in my spare time. B: I agree. I think it could prove very _______________for you.

ANSWER KEY

16.1 1 therapeutic 2 lucrative 3 relaxing / calming / therapeutic 4 fruitful 5 rewarding 6 time-consuming 16.2 1 a couch potato 2 a shopaholic 3 a culture vulture 4 a dabbler 16.3 1 It’s a matter of personal choice but, for me, tidying is more of a chore than washing my clothes. 2 It depends, of course, but once a week in the grass-growing season is normal in England. 3 No, he/she doesn’t. 4 No, they do a bit of photography but are not seriously into it. 5 Again, it’s a matter of personal choice but, for me, being a participant is more appealing than being a spectator. 16.4 1 My daughter’s into folk music. She downloads a lot of traditional folk songs. 2 He locks himself away in the attic and plays with his model railway for hours on end. 3 She’s (totally) hooked on football these days. She watches every match on TV. 4 I have a full diary for the rest of the month. 5 What do you get up to when you aren’t working, Nigel? 6 Martine was a keen participant in the end-of-term concert. 16.5 1 therapeutic 2 couch potato 3 gone off 4 time-consuming 5 full diary 6 lucrative