A. Look at the pictures. What are the persons doing here? When do they do these kinds of activities?

B. Read the conversation and answer the questions.

Tiya        : Anusha, what’s the matter? You’re wearing sports trousers, T-shirts, sports shoes and carrying a bag! Where are you coming from? And you look tired!

Anusha   : Not exactly, Tiya. I’m great because I’m just coming back from the gym.

Tiya        : Do you go to the gym regularly?

Anusha   : Yes, I do. I go twice a week. It’s one of my favourite pastimes.

Tiya        : Really! Going to the gym is your favourite pastime! You make me laugh!

Anusha  : Why not? I like sports because I like to be fit. I’m not a lazy person like you!

Tiya        : What do you do there?

Anusha   : I do yoga.

Tiya        : Don’t you have any other pastimes?

Anusha   : Hmm… yes, I have. I like playing chess, painting, and reading books when I’m free. I also like photography but I’m yet to learn it. What do you do in your pastime?Tiya        : I like watching TV, listening to music, reading books and magazines, and playing games on the computer. I do like gardening. But we don’t have sufficient space. So I do pot planting. By the way, I don’t know much about yoga. Would you please tell me about it?

Anusha   : Sure! I’ll give you an article on it. It will help you know about yoga. Okay?

1  Why does Anusha like going to the gym?
2  What are her pastimes?
3  Make a list of Tiya’s pastimes.
4  How will Tiya learn about yoga?

C. Read the following texts. Then check (V ) the statements below:

Yoga: Tap into the many health benefits

Yoga is a kind of posture and breathing exercise. It brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peace of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Traditional yoga puts emphasis on behavior, diet and meditation. But if you’re just looking for better stress management—and not an entire lifestyle change—yoga can still help. Yoga trainers gradually choose easier to complex activities for practitioners. However, all practitioners do not necessarily need the same kinds of practice.

The health benefits of yoga

The potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include:

• Stress reduction. With its quiet, precise movements, yoga draws your focus away from your busy, chaotic day and towards calm as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.

• Increased fitness. As you learn and refine new poses, you may enjoy improved balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength. And this means you’re less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.

•  Management of chronic health conditions. Yoga might help in a variety of health conditions, such as cancer, depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia, fatigue and mood shifts. Yoga can also help reduce heart rate and blood pressure.
•  Weight loss. If you’re overweight or have eating disorder, yoga may help you make the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to gain control of your eating and reduce weight.
While you shouldn’t expect yoga to cure you or offer you 100 percent relief, it can help some health conditions when combined with standard treatment. And if you already enjoy good health, yoga can be an enjoyable supplement to your regular fitness routine.
D. Work in pairs. Discuss these questions. Give your own opinions.
1       How does exercise work on our memory?
2       What other benefits can you think of from exercise?
3       What is the most important benefit of exercise to you and why?
E. Complete the sentences.
a   Yoga is a practice of……………………………………………………
b   Traditional Yoga works through……………………………………………………..
c   Yoga is very effective in managing………………………………………….
d   Through the poses of balance and concentration Yoga………………………
e   ……………………………………………………    results in increased fitness.
f    Yoga can reduce or work for………………………………………………………….
g   Yoga can control………………………………………………….
h   Yoga cannot cure 100 percent, but…………………………………………… 
F. Check (V) the statements about yoga below.

G. Read the text:

Hi, I’m Shyam. I’m from Magura. Although it’s the district headquarters, it’s a small town. I’m in grade 9 now in Chander Haat Bidyaloya. I love games and sports very much. My father was an athlete in his student life. He inspires me to follow his footsteps and take part in games and sports or do some exercise besides my studies. So I get up early in the morning and take a walk with my father almost every day. We walk for about an hour. At school, during break I play kabadi, gollachhut, badminton, table tennis, and carom. Sometimes I prac­tise the high jump and the long jump outside the school campus. Playing football is a passion for me. I like watching television too.

I watch sports programmes on different TV channels during my free time. I’m a fan of National Geographic, Discovery, and Animal Planet for their documentaries as they are quite interesting as well as educative. Recently my father has presented me with a camera as he was very happy with the result of my Junior School Certificate exam. When I hold the camera, I feel so excited! I wish I could be an amateur photographer in future – not to take only personal photographs at different parties but to shoot our beautiful Bangladesh. I’m sure that soon photography will be my most favourite pastime.

H. Work in pairs. Read the statements of the following grid. First match the parts in Column B with Column C to make complete sentences. Then make questions for the statements in Column A.

Have you any favourite pastime?
I. Write about your own pastime following the model in G.

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:
Lesson: 2 | Reading really helps!