English Vocabulary in Use Advanced » Unit 16: Free time: relaxation and leisure

Word List
  • alcoholic
  • amateur
  • be into
  • calming
  • chocaholic
  • chore
  • couch potato
  • culture vulture
  • dabbler
  • fruitful
  • full diary
  • get up to
  • go off
  • hooked (on)
  • keen
  • lawn
  • lock yourself away
  • lucrative
  • participant
  • relaxing
  • rewarding
  • shopaholic
  • therapeutic
  • time-consuming
  • workaholic
Exercises

16.1 ‣ Fill the gaps with a suitable adjective from A opposite. There may be more than one possible answer.

  1. I find writing poetry very _____. It helps me to get a truer understanding of myself and gives me a good feeling inside.
  2. I enjoy selling the pictures I paint, but it’s not very _____. I only made £300 last year.
  3. Gardening is very _____. It reduces stress levels and calms you down.
  4. I’ve had a _____ partnership with Jane for several years: she plays the piano and I play the violin. It’s been very good for both of us.
  5. Doing unpaid work at the hospital has been a _____ experience for me.
  6. I would like to be on the club committee, but I’ve heard it’s very _____, and I don’t have a lot of free time.

16.2 ‣ Solve these riddles, based on words in B opposite.

  1. I am a vegetable that sits where humans sit. What am I? _____
  2. I enjoy shopping a bit too much. What am I? _____
  3. I am a bird that eats the flesh of art. What am I? _____
  4. I do some of this and some of that, but never all of this or all of that. What am I? _____

16.3 ‣ Answer the questions.

  1. Which of these is your least favourite chore – washing your clothes or tidying your room?
    _____
  2. How often is it usually necessary to mow a lawn?
    _____
  3. Does an amateur footballer get paid for playing a match?
    _____
  4. If you say that someone ‘dabbles in photography’, are they a serious photographer?
    _____
  5. When it comes to sport, do you prefer to be a spectator or a participant?
    _____

16.4 ‣ Give alternatives for the underlined words.

  1. My daughter’s extremely interested in folk music. She downloads a lot of traditional folk songs.
    _____
  2. He isolates himself in the attic and plays with his model railway for hours on end.
    _____
  3. She’s totally addicted to football these days. She watches every match on TV.
    _____
  4. I have a long list of social appointments for the rest of the month.
    _____
  5. What do you engage in when you aren’t working, Nigel?
    _____
  6. Martine performed with enthusiasm in the end-of-term concert.
    _____

16.5 ‣ Complete the dialogues with a word or expression from the opposite page. B agrees with A by saying the same thing in a different way.

  1. A: Going for a swim helps you forget your everyday worries, doesn’t it?
    B: Yes, it’s very _____.
  2. A: Dan spends every evening watching rubbish TV.
    B: That’s true. He’s a terrible _____.
  3. A: I’m not so keen on playing in the school orchestra as I used to be.
    B: Yes, I’ve _____ it too.
  4. A: I’d like to join a drama group but it would mean giving up lots of evenings and weekends.
    B: Yes, it can be a very _____ activity.
  5. A: I don’t think I can fit in a tennis match with you for another couple of weeks.
    B: No problem. I’ve got a very _____ too.
  6. A: Someone said I could make some money out of those necklaces I make in my spare time.
    B: I agree. I think it could prove very _____ for you.
Answer Key
A ‣ Adjectives describing free-time activities

adjectivemeaningpossible examples
rewardinggives you a lot of positive experiencesdoing voluntary work, helping charities
fruitfulproduces good resultscollaborating/cooperating with someone in an activity
lucrativemakes a lot of moneyselling designer jewellery, writing apps for smartphones
therapeutic /θerəˈpjuːtɪk/makes you healthy in body and/or mindgardening, yoga, jogging
relaxing/calmingreduces stress, gives a peaceful feelingreading, listening to music, meditation
time-consumingtakes a long time to dobeing president of a club, being a member of a committee

I enjoyed being secretary of the sports club but it was very time-consuming. I had to give up two evenings a week to do it.

The conservation work I do is very rewarding. I feel I’m doing something good and useful.

Photography has been a lucrative pursuit for her. She often sells her pictures to magazines.

Painting is such a therapeutic activity. It makes me feel good, and teaches me patience.

B ‣ Informal expressions: how people spend their leisure

Rob’s a real culture vulture; he goes to the theatre regularly and to every art gallery he can find. [big fan of anything cultural]

I’m a bit of a couch potato; I spend hours every day just watching TV. [physically very inactive person]

Lucy loves playing tennis but only as an amateur – she’d never want to be a professional. [someone who does something as a hobby, not a job]

Fatima’s a bit of a dabbler; she takes up a hobby for a couple of weeks, then she gets bored and starts something different. [person who never keeps doing one activity for long]

Matt does a lot of chores at the weekend – things like shopping and mowing the lawn. [boring tasks that have to be done] [grass]

Laura’s a shopaholic. She buys all sorts of things she doesn’t need. [person addicted to shopping; compare alcoholic: addicted to alcohol]

Joe is heavily into downhill skiing these days. [is very involved in]

I went off football and I took up golf instead. [stopped liking, lost interest in]

She locks herself away for hours in her room and listens to music. [isolates herself from the world]

He’s totally hooked on motor racing these days. [is addicted to]

What do you get up to at weekends, Mariana? [do]

Do you have a hectic social life? I have a pretty full diary. [a lot of activities]

Mark is a keen participant in all the community activities in his town. [takes part enthusiastically]

Language help

Words like shopaholic, workaholic and chocaholic are used in a light-hearted way and are different from alcoholic, which is a serious and medically recognised condition.

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