English For Today chapter 6: Leisure

Unit Six

Leisure

Learning outcomes

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

• ask and answer questions
• read and enjoy poems
• use sounds, stress, and intonation appropriately
• talk about people, places and events
• read and understand texts
• write paragraphs and short compositions

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Lesson 1: A Day in Zishan's Life

A . Read about Zishan's daily routine.

6:30 am : wake up

7:00 am : breakfast

8:30 am—3:00 pm : school

4:00 pm—5.00 pm : snack and free time

5.00 pm—6.00 pm : study with maths / science teacher

6:15 pm—7:15 pm : study with English / Social Science teacher

7:30 pm—8:30 pm : homework

8:30 pm : supper

9:00 pm—10:00 pm : TV

10:30 pm : go to bed

On Fridays Zishan does not go to school. But he studies for one hour with his teacher of religious studies. He also studies his school subjects by himself. Often he goes to visit his relatives with his parents.

B . Discuss in groups or pairs and answer these questions.

1. How much time does Zishan spend on his studies?

(hints: too much / too little / the right amount of time)

2. Why do you think he spends too much / too little / the right amount of time on his studies?

3. What does Zishan study on Fridays?

C . Look at Zishan's daily routine again and give your opinion about this statement, "All work and no play will make Zishan a dull boy."

D . Make your own daily routine. Show in it your free time and the activities you do in that time.

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Lesson 2: Leisure

Keywords: stare , streams

A . Read aloud and recite the poem.

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs, And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad day light, Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

A poor life this is if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

[William Henry Davies]

B . Make a list of the beautiful things the poet talks about in the poem.

C . Read the poem, discuss in groups / pairs and write answers to these questions:

1. Why does the poet think that we have no time to stand and stare?
2. Do you think people often do not have time to enjoy the beauty of nature? Give reasons.

D . Suppose you are walking along a path through a wood. There are beautiful trees and flowers on either side of the path. What would you like to do?

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Lesson 3: What are They Doing?

Keywords : glued to, upload, download, messages

A . Work in groups. Look at the pictures and talk about what the boys and girls are doing.

Figure

Labels: A Description: A woman sitting at a desk, looking at a computer monitor with a keyboard in front of her.

Figure

Labels: B Description: Several boys playing football on a field; one boy is kicking the ball near a goal net.

Figure

Labels: C Description: A boy sitting in front of a television and playing a video game with a controller.

Figure

Labels: D Description: Two girls playing hopscotch on a squared pattern on the ground.

B . Now read the paragraphs and match them with the pictures.

1. Young children play this game on the ground. The ground is marked by a set of joined squares. Each child throws a stone into a square, then hops (jumps on one leg) and jumps along the empty squares to pick up the stone again. They play this game in turn.
2. Some children are often glued to computers. They download games to play on them. Some also share personal updates on Facebook by uploading posts and pictures.
3. Children often watch football matches of both national and international teams on TV.
4. Children often play football in the school playground.

Note: glued to : giving all your attention to something

upload : transfer information, data to a computer system

download : copy data, information, etc from one computer system to another or to a disk

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C . Discuss in pairs and answer this question orally.

Which activities mainly take place in cities and which activities mainly take place in villages? Also say which activity or activities can take place both in cities and villages.

D . Work in groups. Here is a list of children's activities. Which of them are free-time or leisure activities and which are not? Why are they so?

• studying for exams
• listening to music
• visiting relatives on weekends
• attending music lessons
• reading story books
• going to movies
• helping parents with housework
• going on a picnic with family or friends
• walking in the park on holidays

E . Write answers to these questions.

1. What free-time / leisure activities do you do?
2. Where and with whom do you do your leisure activities?
3. Why do you like or dislike to do your free-time activities?
4. Do you face any problems or difficulties in doing your leisure activities?

Lesson 4: Travelling by train (1)

A . Ask and answer these questions.

1. Have you ever travelled by train?
2. If you have, when, where, with whom, and why did you go?

B . Listen to the teacher / audio and answer the following questions.

Listening text: 7

Tick the best answer.

1. The school is closed for ________ .

a. winter. b. summer. c. autumn.

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2. Julie is Zishan's ________ sister.

a. older b. younger c. cousin

3. Zishan and Julie have finished their ____________ exam.

a. annual b. first-terminal c. second terminal

4. Zishan and Julie chat online. This means they talk to their friends ________ .

a. on the internet. b. on the telephone. c. in the classroom.

5. Zishan and Julie are getting bored. The underlined words mean

a. making friends. b. becoming angry c. feeling tired.

6. Zishan and Julie are getting bored because ________ .

a. they are staying in the house. b. they are staying inside their closed room. c. they are busy talking to their friends.

7. What was the wonderful surprise to Zishan and Julie?

a. Their second term exam were over. b. They were going to see their grandparents. c. They did not like to go to the village.

C . Write a paragraph about what you will do after your first/second terminal exam is over.

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Lesson 5: Travelling by Train (2)

Keywords : departure, empty, printout

A . Ask and answer this question:

Have you ever looked through the window from a running train? If you have, what did you see?

B . Read about a train journey.

Zishan, Julie and their parents Mr and Mrs Arif Khan got into a 1^st class compartment at Kamalapur Railway Station. It was the Dewanganj-bound Tista Express. Zishan saw that the departure time on the big time table of the station was 7:30 am, but the train left at 8 o'clock. However, the train was running quite fast. The children sat by the window beside their parents. The compartment was half empty.

Yesterday Julie had downloaded a beautiful poem on a train journey by Robert Louis Stevenson, and printed out a copy of the poem. She took a printout of the poem. Now while looking out of the windows, she found similarities between the poem and real scenery. She took out the poem and began to read.

Questions

1. Were all the seats in the compartment taken?
2. Where did Zishan sit?
3. Where was the train going?
4. Did the train leave Kamalapur Station late or on time?
5. Where did Julie get the poem from?
6. What was Julie doing from her seat?

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Lesson 6: From a Railway Carriage

Keywords : hedge, ditch, charge, wink, bramble, tramp, stringing, lump, glimpse

A . Listen, read aloud and recite the poem.

From a Railway Carriage

Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle All through the meadows the horses and cattle: All of the sights of the hill and the plain Fly as thick as driving rain; And ever again, in the wink of an eye, Painted stations whistle by. Here is a child who clambers and scrambles, All by himself and gathering brambles; Here is a tramp who stands and gazes; And here is the green for stringing daisies! Here is a cart runaway in the road Lumping along with man and load; And here is a mill, and there is a river: Each a glimpse and gone forever!

[Robert Louis Stevenson]

B . Read the poem silently and match the words with their meanings.

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C . Make a list of things that you can see passing quickly by a running train.

D . Make a list of the words and phrases that tell us about how fast the train is running. Examples: faster than fairies, charging along etc.

E . Listen and read the first two lines with stress.

Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

F . How fast can you say?

The rain in Spain stays in the plains.