Read the text and fi
ll in the blanks (1—6) with the parts of the sentences (a—g). One
part you don’t have to use.
Hobbies
Hobbies become a necessary part of life for a lot of people. They (1) ... and are a
means of self-expression, helping us (2) ... .
Hobbies can possibly be divided into several categories. There are, for instance,
hobbies (3) ... . These may be gardening, house decorating, making clothes,
keeping bees, cooking and others.
The second category of hobbies includes (4) ... — stamps, picture
postcards, matchbox labels, badges, model cars or ships, coins etc.
A large number of people choose hobbies that have something to do with the
natural world. They keep birds like budgies or canaries and also dogs, cats, gold-
fish or exotic animals like snakes, iguanas
[ɪˈɡwɑ:nəz]
and spiders. Nature lovers
(5) ... from common violets
[ˈvaɪələts]
to rare kinds of cactuses. Collectors and
nature lovers are one large world brotherhood with their own magazines and in-
ternational friendships. Anyhow, we have to admit that such hobbies take up a
lot of time, money and space.
One more category of people are those who enjoy the arts: those who go in for
singing, competitive dancing, playing on the stage, music-making, drawing and
painting. Photography has become very popular as well. Most of these pastimes
give (6) ... .
Finally, there are hobbies which are good for keeping fit and broadening one’s
knowledge and mind: they are occupations like travelling, camping, rock-climb-
ing, doing sport and playing different games. These hobbies are good for meeting
people and sharing fun with them.
a) grow house plants of various types
b) which most people consider useful
c) makes people’s lives more fun
d) give us a change from the daily routine
f) people a chance to get together socially
f) to live in harmony with ourselves
g) those connected with collecting objects of interest