Hobbies. Leisure Time. Бекерова Е.А - 15 стр.

      the component of my dress ...                                       she says. "And besides, if everyone took up my hobby, there would be
      Ode to duct tape, my best friend;                                   fewer skunks out there for me to collect!”
      Ode to duct tape,
      may the gray never end.                                                                              Clown
                                                                                 Tracy Earley, 16
                          Junk Craftsman
                                                                                 Richmond, Virginia
        Zach Duke, 19                                                            “Have you ever met anybody who wears a red nose and floppy
        Palatka, Florida                                                  shoes for fun?” Tracy asks. “That’s me! I’m a clown!”
        "Have you ever dreamed of having one thing in your life that             Tracy got into clowning as part of a church ministry. She's still a
you could say you’ve made? Well, if so, this is the hobby to get into.    part of that group, and she's also started clowning around at kids’
All you need is an imagination, some old junk, and a creative outlook.    birthday parties. She can tie animal balloons, ride a unicycle, paint
This hobby is completely original: No one's junk is the same!"            faces, juggle and do magic tricks.
        Zach’s hobby includes making picture frames, clocks and little           One of the toughest things about clowning, besides coming up
storage boxes out of odd items ("junk" items). He uses materials          with new routines all the time, is the expense – a pair of clown shoes
ranging from CD sleeves and license plates to an old snare drum. What     alone costs over $200. But Tracy still loves her hobby. "I love making
surprises him about his creations isn't just how well they turn out—he    people laugh!" she says. "In the serious, fast-paced world we live in,
can't believe that people want to pay for them.                           clowning is a way to relax and have fun. Plus it becomes fun during
        "When I made the storage boxes," he says, "a few of my friends    boring moments at school. Sometimes in the middle of a really slow
offered me money for them. Then when I made a clock, people offered       day, I gather up things to juggle from my friends' backpacks and liven
to buy that, too. I was amazed that my small ideas to create something    up the class a bit!"
a little out-of-the-ordinary would receive so much attention".
                                                                          3.4. Post-reading discussion.
                          Skunk Enthusiast
                                                                                • Find a partner from each group. Work in groups of four.
       Brittany Miller, 21                                                        Exchange the ideas.
       Stillwater, Oklahoma                                                     • What is the most unusual hobby of all hobbies discussed?
       Collecting stuffed animals is quite a common hobby. But                    What do you think?
collecting skunks is something else. “I have never met another person
                                                                                • Do you want to have this hobby? Why? /Why not? Explain.
who even likes skunks–much less collects them”, Brittany says.
                                                                                • Do you have a strange hobby?
       There aren’t too many collectors with Brittany’s taste, besides
                                                                                  Vote and make a table on the blackboard
the toys can be pretty tough to locate. "You can find plenty of
                                                                                         NO                               YES
miniature dogs, stuffed bunnies and model horses, but skunks aren't as
common," she says. “It seems, though, that there are starting to be
more and more. Since I buy one every time I see one, skunk producers
are probably starting to think they’re a hot item!'' Which is fine with         If you have an unusual hobby, say what it is.
her, as long as skunk supply continues to exceed skunk demand. "If              • Do you want to have your groupmates’ hobbies? Why? /Why
everyone collected skunks, my hobby wouldn't seem as special to me,”              not? Explain.

                                  29                                                                         30