Topic of InterestsLeisure SportsArtistic ActivitiesFood and DrinkHousingHolidays
LeisureBritons enjoy various indoor and outdoor
activities in their spare timeBritons spend about 45% of their free time
watching TV, 24% of it socializing, 22-23% on sport and hobbies, and 10% on other activities. Other popular leisure activities are listening to the radio, listening to pre-recorded music, reading, DIY, gardening, eating out and going to the cinema.
Leisure-televisionThe most common leisure activityAverage viewing time is 25 hours per person
per weekPopular television programs
DIY programsDrama and sitcomsSoapsReality programs
Television (2)TV shows of international fame
Pop IdolBritain’s Got TalentThe X Factorhttp://www.tudou.com/programs/view/iD55hNGhYxc/
Leisure-PubsPub: short name for public housePubs are an important part of British life. They
are popular social meeting places. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there.
Licensing LawsLegal age to purchase alcohol is 18.Asking for ID if the person looks under 21
LeisureActivities at weekends
Saturday are busy time for shopsSundays used to be time for going to church and doing
odd jobs around the home such as gardening and DIY. Today, Sundays are becoming like any other day other week with shops open. Some families will spend Sundays shopping rather than going to the church or they will combine the two activities.
SportsSports play an important part in the life in
UK and is a popular leisure activity.Many of the world’s famous sports began in
Britain, including soccer, tennis, golf, rugby, badminton, hockey, boxing, snooker, and billiards.
Sports-SoccerSoccer is the one of the most popular
sporting activities in UK.
Sport-Soccer• The modern global game of soccer evolved
out of traditional football game played in England in the 19th century.
• Each of the four nations of UK has its own professional soccer clubs and its own soccer league competition.
• England has 92 fully professional clubs in total, which is considerable more than any other country in the Europe.
Sport-SoccerThe English Premier League is the most-watched football
league in the world.The most successful English soccer teams include
Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
Sport-RugbyRugby originated from Rugby school in
Warwickshire.It is similar to soccer, but played with an oval
ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other.
Sport-CricketCricket is the national sport of England.It is a bat-and-ball game played between 2
teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field
Sport-TennisTennis originated in the city of Birmingham
between 1859 to 1865. Wimbledon Championships (1877 )is the
oldest and the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.
Sport-Horse RacingHorse Racing, the sport of Kings is a very
popular sport with meetings being held everyday throughout the year.
People can place bets on the races at legal off-track betting shops.
Sport-GolfModern competitive golf originated in
Scotland. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone.
Golf is the sixth popular sport, by participation, in the UK.
Sport-SnookerSnooker, invented in India by British Army
officers, is popular in many of the English-speaking and Commonwealth countries.
Sport-MotorsportBritain is the center of Formula One, with
the majority of Formula One teams based in England.
The UK hosted the very first Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone.
Artistic Activities• The UK has an extraordinarily rich and
diverse cultural heritage.• London is one of the leading world centers for
drama, music, opera and dance, where some 650 professional arts festivals take place each year.
• There are about 2, 500 museums and art galleries in the UK, providing a variety of tastes.
Artistic Activities (2)With the emergence of the Beatles and the
Rolling Stones, British popular music has led the world from the early 1960’s, and is both an economic and cultural phenomenon.
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band,
formed in Liverpool in 1960. They are the most successful and critically
acclaimed act in the history of popular music.
The Beatles• Legacy:
– The Beatles’ influence on popular culture was and remains immense.
– “In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive.”-commented by former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield
– They broke the dominance of popular entertainment culture by US, and triggered the British Invasion of the US. At the same time, they became a globally influential phenomenon.
The BeatlesLegacy Their musical innovations, as well as their
commercial success , inspired musicians worldwide. A large number of artists have acknowledged them as an influence.
They were primary innovators of the music video (MTV).
Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.
As icons of the 1960s counterculture, they became a catalyst for activism in various social and political arenas, fueling such movements as women’s liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism.
The BeatlesYesterday has the most cover 翻唱 versions
of any song ever written. There has been more than 1, 600 recorded cover versions.
It was performed over seven million times in the 20th century alone.
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/0NfGrDD9698/
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/cfpxe7YMYXw/
ColdplayFormed in 1996, Coldplay is considered to be
the most commercially successful British rock act of the decade.
Coldplay have won international wide success:they have sold over 50 million records worldwidethey have six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music
Awards, and seven Grammy Awards
ColdplayMusical Style:
Chris Martin once proclaimed the band’s music as “limestone rock” in comparison to “hard rock”
“meditative” and “blue romantic”“sound British but on the other they sound like
a huge global artist”
http://www.tudou.com/playlist/p/l11773332i77418844.html
Cuisine
Chicken tikka masala (masala: mixture of spicesTikka: chunk)
Historically, British cuisine means “unfussy dishes made with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavor, rather than disguise it”.
However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influenced of those that settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes.
CuisineTraditional British
DishesRoast beefRoast meetsFish and chipsYorkshire pudding
Picture: Sunday roast Fish and chips, a
popular take-away food of the UK
http://www.projectbritain.com/food/dishes.htm#2
Eating EtiquetteThe British generally pay a lot of attention to
good table manners.Do’sDon’ts
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/behaviourfood.html
HousingMost people in England live in urban areas. More people are buying their own houses
than in the past. About 2/3 of people in UK either own, or are in the process of buying, their own home.
People buying their property almost always pay for it with a special loan called a mortgage, which they must repay, with interest , over a long period of time, usually 25 years.
Housing
Types of HousesDetached houses ( not joined to another house)Semi-detached houses (two houses joined togetherTerrace houses (several houses joined together)Flats (apartments)
Holidays and Festivals in UKHolidays reflect the religious, historical,
social and cultural diversity of the country.These holidays provide an opportunity for
families and friends to get together to visit, eat, exchange good wishes and enjoy each other’s company and hospitality.
Holidays and Festivals in UKReligious Holidays
ChristmasEasterHalloween
National Holidays
Holidays and Festivals in UKChristmas
Christmas is the biggest and best loved British holiday. Nowadays, Christmas is celebrated by most Britons by exchanging gifts and Christmas cards, preparing holiday foods, and decorating homes and workplaces with colored lights, Christmas trees and ornaments.
Holidays and Festivals in UKChristmas traditions
Christmas Pantomime童话剧
Queen’s Christmas message over the television and radio
Boxing Day Next day after Christmas Giving money to workers Householders give small
gifts or tips to milkman, paper boy, dustman
Holidays and Festivals in UKEaster (first Sunday
after the full moon, Mar. 22-Apr. 25)It commemorates the
Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Worship services, special music, feasting and parades
Easter Egg hunting (east egg originally
was a Christian symbol of new life)
Holidays and Festivals in UKHalloween (Oct. 31st)
A major Catholic festival
Customs Pumpkin lanterns Fire Apple Bobbing Dressing up Trick or Treat Visiting haunted
attractions Watching horror films
Holidays and Festivals in UKNational Holidays
Queen’s Birthday (second Saturday in June) Trooping the Color
Holidays and Festivals in UKHolidays in the 4 nationsBonfire Night (Nov. 15 )The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (a secret plan to
overthrow the king Night) failedPeople lit bonfires to celebrate the King’s survival
HolidaysHolidays in 4 nations
St. David’s Day (Mar. 17th) for Northern Ireland To celebrate the birthday of the patron saint of
Ireland, St Patrick, who drove snakes (the Christian symbol of evil) out of Ireland
Characterized by the attendance of church services, wearing green attire, and the lifting of restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol
HolidaysHolidays in 4 nations
Hogmanay [ˌhɔɡməˈneː] for Scotland The New Year’s Eve Customs:
first-footing: to cross the threshold of a friend/neighbor and give symbolic gifts (a bottle of spirits, alcohol, a lump of coal) to them to bring good luck
Singing Auld Lang Syne ( 友谊地久天长) Note: its traditional use being to celebrate the start
of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions.
HolidaysHoliday in 4 nations
Eisteddfod [ə(i)ˈstɛðvɔd] for Wales (first week of August) Originally a Welsh festival of literature, music and
performance Later as a way to preserve the Welsh language Now the largest popular festival of music making
and poetry writing in Europe