Lesson1 Hobbies
“Hobbies” are a great British and American tradition. A “ hobby' ” is a special interest or activity that you do in your time off.
Some people have animals as hobbies. They keep rabbits, or go fishing. They train dogs to do tricks, or keep pigeons to race and carry messages. Some are crazy about plants. They try to grow cacti or rare tropical flowers in their kitchens and sitting rooms.
Others are mad about their car or their motorbike. They spend their Saturdays and Sundays washing them, painting them, or buying new bits and pieces to make them go even faster.
Children and teenagers are great collectors. They collect stamps, or postcards, or matchboxes, or pictures of a favorite footballer or pop star.
Many people make things as a hobby. Some teach themselves at home, but a lot of people go to evening classes at their local college. Just look under letter B in a list of London or New York evening classes and you'll find: Ballet, Batik, Bengali dance, Body building, Bread-making and Byzantine history. Not everyone goes to evening classes to learn about his or her special interest. These people can read books or just learn on their own.

cacti [ 植 ] 仙人掌 (cactus 的复数形式 )
batik 蜡染
Bengali dance 孟加拉舞
Byzantine history 拜占庭历史

业余爱好
“业余爱好”是英国和美国的一项伟大传统。“业余爱好”是指你在空闲时从事的一项特别兴趣爱好或活动。
有些人的业余爱好是养动物。他们养兔子或者去钓鱼。他们训练狗耍把戏，或者养鸽子参加比赛和传送信息。有些人特别喜欢植物。他们在厨房和客厅里种上仙人掌或者稀有的热带花草。
还有的人很喜欢汽车或摩托车。他们在周六和周日洗车、上油漆或者购买新零件使车跑得更快。
小孩和青少年酷爱收集。他们收集邮票、明信片、火柴盒，或者喜爱的足球运动员或当红明星的图片。
很多人的业余爱好是自制物品。一部分人在家自学，但很多人到当地大学上夜校。浏览一下伦敦或纽约以 B
开头的夜校课程，你会找到：芭蕾舞、蜡染、孟加拉舞、健身、做面包和拜占庭历史。有些人并不是去夜校学习自己特殊爱好的，他们看书学习或完全靠自己琢磨。