My friend Nick is very busy and he doesn't have much time to spare. But he's got a lot of hobbies and interests. Five years ago Nick was fond of collecting stamps. His hobby helped him to learn a lot about other countries and other peoples' traditions, the world's flora and fauna. Maybe that's why he was good at geography and biology at school. He used to bring the albums to school and we examined his stamps with great interest and envy. Sometimes he exchanged stamps with his schoolmates. When Nick was in the tenth form his parents bought him a compact disc player and Nick decided to collect compact discs. Today, he has got more than one hundred CDs of his favourite groups and singers! I think that he is very proud of his collection. Every time Nick buys a new CD he carefully studies the information printed on disc booklets. He also tries to find out everything about the singers he likes. That's why he reads a lot of specialised magazines and books on the history of rock. Nick never misses MTV shows — he thinks he must keep up with the news in the world of music. He says he likes all types of music except "rave". He even writes letters to some fan-clubs in other countries, so he has to brush up his English. Nick never misses a concert of his favourite group. He brings his compact discs to the concert and asks the singers for their autographs. But in spite of his new hobby, Nick sometimes sits in his room and looks through his albums of stamps (with his earphones on, of course).
Names MTV [,em ti: 'vi:] = music television (24-часовой музыкальный канал американского телевидения)
Vocabulary time to spare ['spea] свободное время flora f'fkxra] растительный мир fauna ['fo:na] животный мир to be good at быть способным к envy f'envi] зависть to exchange [iks'tjeind3] обмениваться schoolmates школьные друзья compact disc ['kompaekt 'disk] player проигрыватель компакт-дисков booklet ['buklit] вкладыш (к компакт-дискам) specialised ['spejalaizd] специализированный to keep up with быть в курсе, не отставать rave [reiv] рейв (музыкальный стиль) to brush up освежать (в памяти), восстанавливать fan-club клуб любителей (той или иной группы) autograph ['o:tsgra:f] автограф
Questions 1. Nick doesn't have much time to spare, does he? 2. Why was he good at geography and biology at school? 3. What is his new hobby? 4. Why does Nick try not to miss MTV shows? 5. Do you think his English is good? 6. Have you ever written a fan letter to your favourite singer? 7. Are you fond of listening to music? 8. What kind of music do you prefer? 9. Do you play any musical instruments? 10. Have you ever collected anything? 11. What is your hobby? 12. What is your best friend's hobby? 13. Which of your friends collects stamps (records, compact discs, etc)? 14. Do you watch MTV? 15. How do you usually spend your leisure (['1езэ
