HOBBIES AND TRADITION IN THE USA AND BRITAIN

“ Hobbies” are a Great British and American tradition. A “hobby” is a special interest or activity that you do in your time off. Some people have animals as hobbies. They train does to do tricks, or keep pigeons to race and carry messages. Some are crazy about plants. They try to grow race flowers and plants in their kitchens and sitting rooms.

Others are mad about their car or motorbike. They spend Saturday and Sundays washing them, painting them, or buying new bits and pieces to make them go even faster.

Children and teenagers are great collectors. They collect stamps, or postcards, or matchboxes, or pictures of a favorite footballer or pop star.

A “hobby” is usually something that a person does alone. But American and British families sometimes like to do things together, too.

Americans love get out of town into the wild, and many go for holidays or long weekends into the thirty-five fabulous national parks. There magnificent areas of countryside include tropical forests, high mountains, deserts, long sandy coasts, grassy prairies and wooded hills full of wild animals. Americans are very interested in culture too. Millions take part-time courses in painting and music. And at the weekends the museums, art galleries and concert halls are full.

SPORTS IN GREAT BRITAIN

The British are known to be great sports-lovers, so when they are neither playing, nor watching games, they like to talk about them. Many of the games we play now have come from Britain.

One of the most British games is cricket. It is often played in schools, colleges, universities and by club teams all over the country. Summer isn’t summer without cricket. To many Englishmen cricket is both a game and a standard of behavior. When they consider anything unfair, they sometimes say: ’’That isn’t cricket.,,

Rugby football is also very popular, but it is played mainly by amateurs. Next to football, the chief spectator sport in British life is horse-racing. A lot of people are interested in the races and risk money on the horse which they think will win. Britain is also famous for motor-car racing, dog-racing, and even races for donkeys. The famous boat-race between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge attracts large crowds of people.

A great number of people play and watch tennis. Tennis tournaments at Wimbledon are known all over the world. The British also like to play golf, baseball, hockey, grass-hockey. Various forms of athletics, such as running, jumping, swimming, boxing are also popular. You can sometimes hear that there are no winter sports in England. Of course the English weather is not always cold enough to ski, skate, or toboggan, but winter is a good season for hunting and fishing.

Indeed, sports in one form or another is an essential part of daily life in Britain.

AT THE DOCTOR

It is winter now. It is often cold. I can't say that I can stand colds. So, sometime ago I suddenly fell ill. I mounted a high temperature. I had a running nose and a sore throat. Also I had a splitting headache and a cough. My whole body ached. My mother fixed me a hot lemonade but that didn't help me much. She wanted to give me some aspirin tablets too, but there weren't any in our house. My mother told me to stay in bed, then she called for a doctor. The doctor came, remove his coat and put on his white gown. The doctor asked me to strip to the waist. He examined my lungs, felt my pulse and blood pressure, took my temperature. Then he examined my throat and said that it was a little inflamed. He said that is was a light case of the flu and told me to stay in bed and to have a rest. He wrote a prescription for a gargle and cough medicine. Also he gave me some sulfa pills, a slip for X-Ray and blood examination. He prescribed cups and mustard plasters. The prescription, which the doctor left, was made up at the chemist's. I followed all the doctor's instructions and very soon I felt much better. In 10 days I fully recovered and resumed my studies.

HEALTHY DIET

There is a good proverb that I like very much: “We eat to live, but do not live to eat.” I think this is true because food is something that we need to stay alive. Food is a source of energy. Nevertheless I like eating tasty food even though I am not much into it. So, for some people food is a source of pleasure, too. But the food that we eat should also be healthy.

We need to eat different kinds of food every day. Fruit and vegetables, cereals and grains, fats and sugar, meat and dairy.Fruit and vegetables give us lots of vitamins and minerals and help us grow and stay healthy. We should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. A portion is one piece of fruit, a serving of vegetables or a glass of juice.

Cereals and grains are things like bread, rice, potatoes and noodles. These foods give us the energy we need.

Biscuits, sweets, chocolate and ice cream give us energy and are important for our nervous system. But too much of this food can make you fat and can be bad for your teeth.

Meats and proteins are foods like chicken, fish, duck, eggs, nuts, beans and tofu. These foods give us important minerals and help us to build and repair our bodies. We need to eat a little of this food every day (about 10% of our food).

OUR LIFESTYLE

Healthy way of life is popular with the old and the young. What do you need to do to keep healthy? It is widely known that life expectancy is increasing. But the reason why the average figures are higher than they used to be, say, hundred years ago is not that all people live longer than before. The only possible way of preserving your health is, therefore, healthy way of life which includes keeping fit, balanced meals, and giving up unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and, of course, drugs.

Physical fitness is a general state of good physical health. For anyone who really wants to be healthy, fitness has become an integral part of their lives. The fitness boom resulted in a rise in the numbers of people participating in sports and sports activities. It is a well-known fact that even moderate physical activity can protect you from heart diseases, strokes and influenza. There are many ways of keeping fit. Firstly, you could visit health and fitness clubs. Secondly, regular exercise is necessary. People of different ages can choose or design exercises that will fit them. Some people do aerobics or yoga; others prefer weight training in a gym. Doing some sport or other on a regular basis is the best way of keeping fit.

Поиск по сайту: