Prime Time 5, Transition, Coursebook mit Audio-CD

4 Unusual hobbies Unusual hobbies: Are they real? a) In pairs, pick one of the green words below for your partner. Your partner has to try to explain it in his/her own words. Then take turns. If you don’t know anything about this unusual hobby, make up a plausible explanation. 1 button collecting cloud watching scrapbooking aircraft spotting beachcombing embroidery papermaking garage saleing matchstick modelling calligraphy yo-yo b) Research these spare time activities on the internet and find out what they are about. c) In pairs, discuss which of these activities you would/would not like to take up. Reading: Top five of the weirdest hobbies a) Read the text about weird hobbies. Answer the questions (1–6) using a maximum of four words. Write your answers in the spaces provided. The first one (0) has been done for you. 2 Do you have too much free time but no idea how to spend it? Maybe it’s time to take up one of the world’s weirdest hobbies. Admittedly, other people might shake their heads when they see you engaging in one of the following unusual activities. But they are simply sheer fun – and that’s all that counts when it comes to hobbies, doesn’t it? Playing dead: Chuck Lamb from Ohio probably has the world’s strangest hobby: He likes to play dead. As if that’s not enough, he takes it one step further: His wife takes bizarre photos and videos of Chuck playing dead and posts them on his website. When he started the site four years ago, he attracted 32 million hits only in the rst year. He also appeared in several newspapers, TV and radio programmes and got a number of awards for his unusual ideas. But what is his motivation? On his popular website, he says that he’d always dreamed of being in a movie or on TV. Appearing in the background on TV: Paul Yarrow of south London appears on TV regularly as well, but he doesn’t stand in the limelight like Chuck Lamb. Whenever a news camera crew gets set up in a public venue, Paul Yarrow hangs around in the background and hopes to be seen when the reporter gives a comment live on TV. He has appeared in the background of live news reports on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky News at various locations and times. It seems like if there is a camera crew about at the moment, he is there too. Giving away ten dollars to strangers: Reed Sandridge from Washington, D.C., lost his job last 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 year and took up a new hobby. He gives away $10 every day to someone who looks as if they could use it, a dierent person every day. Sandridge expects nothing in return but a good feeling. His mum always told him that when you’re going through tough times, that’s when you most need to give back. So not long aer he was laid o he started his “year of giving”, documenting each $10 gi in a small black notebook. Sandridge is using his savings and his unemployment benets for the giveaways. He tells fascinating stories of the people he meets in his blog, which has led others to help them out as well. Mooing: When it comes to mooing, 10-year-old Austin Siok from Wisconsin is an expert. e smart h-grader won the annual mooing contest at the Wisconsin State Fair because he sounded more like a real cow than the other 80 contest participants. Austin has mooed a lot since kindergarten and said he started doing it even more this summer aer his mum read about a mooing contest at the Racine County Fair and decided to enter Austin. For his win, Austin got $1,000, a stylish cow print jacket, a golden cowbell and a year’s worth of free subs from Cousins Subs, which sponsored the contest. Riding roller coasters: 78-year-old pensioner Vic Kleman from Knoxville, Tennessee, rode his favourite roller coaster 90 times in one day – bringing his lifetime total to 4,000 rides. Kleman spent about ve hours on the Jack Rabbit roller coaster at Kennywood Park in West Mi¯in. e classic wooden coaster is 50 Hobbies Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv