Cultivating a Hobby

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Unit 11

• Cultivating a Hobby
• By Winston Churchill

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• 1.About Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
• A public man having a most colorful political
  career
• early career as a solider, war time correspondent
  
•   at 27, (in 1901) as Conservative MP
•  office held including
• a.President of the Board of Trade (????)
• b. Home Secretary (????)
• c. First Lord of the Admiralty
• (??????)
• d.Chancellor of the Exchequer (1922-24)
• (????)

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• a political outcast (for a decade between late
  1920s to 1940s), not holding any office (The
  Conservative government failed to cope with the
  economic crisis and lost power in 1929.)
• returning to public life, (on the outbreak of
  World War II), serving as the First Lord of the
  Admiralty
• becoming the Prime Minister(1940-1945), becoming
  a symbol of British resistance in the darkest
  days of the conflict, as a War Leader, fighting
  against Nazism
• defeated in the General Election of 1945
• returning to office in 1951
• resigned at the age of 80 in 1955
•   

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• 2)A man of versatile talents
• a powerful orator
• man of letter (awarded Nobel Prize for literature
  in 1953)
• an amateur painter (paintings were displayed in
  the galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts in
  1958

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• Organization of the text
• Section 1 (Para. 1-2) Raising the topic
  what worry is and the importance of a hobby in
  attenuating worry.
• Section 2(Para. 3-5) Classification of
  human beings and the importance of hobbies to
  them

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Language points

• spasm n.
• e.g. - a spasm of the stomach
• - mascular spasm
• -a spasm of
• anger/coughing/grief/excitement

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• insinuate
• - to insinuate (to sb.) that a man is a liar
• c.f. allude to/ refer to/ insinuate/ proclaim
• allude to
• She didnt say Mr. Smiths name, but it is clear
  that she was alluding to him.
• insinuate
• - an insinuating remark
• .

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• refer to
• - He referred to Paris in his speech about
  travel.
• - If you dont know what it means, refer to the
  dictionary.
• - The new law does not refer to land used for
  farming.
• - The store referred the complaint to the makers
  of the product
• proclaim
• - to proclaim the news of the end of the war
• - A national holiday was proclaimed.

9

• Convulsion
• - a convulsion of nature ( such as an earthquake)
• - civil convulsion
• - political convulsion
• undue
• - with undue haste
• - undue influence upon sb
• - undue use of force
• - an undue loan

10

• recuperate
• - A good nights sleep was all I need to
  recuperate from the stresses of the day.
• hobby
• c.f. pastime/sport/ recreation
• pastime
• - His painting was merely a pastime.
• sport
• - country sports
• recreation
• - Football is the boys' usual recreation after
  school.

11

• improvise
• - When an actor forgets his lines, he has to
  improvise.
• - The gifted pianist improvised an accompaniment
  to the song.
• - I made an improvised meal for the unexpected
  guests.
• c.f. unrehearsed, improvised ( used in musical or
  theatrical contexts)
• unplanned, spontaneous, impulsive

12

• sedulously
• - The teacher proceeded so rapidly that only the
  most sedulous student can follow him.
• c.f. industrious, persevering
• vivify
• - A smile may vivify a face.
• at hand near, within reach
• - He lives at hand.
• - The exams are at hand.

13

• aggravate
• - His bad temper was aggravated by his headache.
• - Threats will only aggravate her.
• be tired out to tire sb out
• - I must sit down and rest. Im tired out.
• - Going to school all day soon tires little
  children out.

14

• trifle
• - to quarrel over trifles
• - It is no trifling matter. It is serious.

15

• command v.
• (a) to be in a position to use have sth at
  ones service
• - He commands great sums of money.
• (b) to deserve and receive as due exact
• - The great man commands our respect.
• (c) have authority over or authority over
  rule
• - Who commands the army?
• (d) to direct with authority give orders to
• - The officer commanded his men to fire.
• - God commands and man obeys.

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• gratify v.
• - to gratify a persons fancies
• - to gratify a childs thirst for knowledge
• - His achievement gratified his father.
• caprice
• - He acted not from reason, but from caprice.
• c.f. capricious adj. changing ones mind or
  behavior unexpectedly

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• satiate
• - be satiated with food or pleasures
• satiety (or satiation) n
• - to indulge in pleasure to (the point of)
  satiety
• satiable adj.
• - a satiable appetite
• avenge
• - He wanted to avenge his brothers death

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• clatter
• - The students stopped their chatter when the
  teacher came into the classroom.
• - Pots and pans were clattering in the kitchen.
• - Dont clatter your knives and forks. Thats
  poor table manner

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• Sustenance
• - There is more sustenance in cocoa than in tea.
• - We derive our sustenance from the land.
• .

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• grudge
• - The cruel master grudged him even the food he
  ate.
• - to bear a grudge against sb
• banish
• - He was banished from the realm.

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Text II

• pain
• a pain in the finger
• chest pains
• His body was wracked with pain.
• ache
• the ache of an abscessed tooth
• backache that accompanies kidney disease

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• ache (v.)
• The noise of the traffic made my head ache.
• an aching back
• ache to do sth/for sth
• I was aching to tell him the good news.

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• pang
• Pangs have taken hold upon me.
• Attacking them fleas was a waste of time, and
  unless a particularly savage pang forced you into
  action, you just sat and let yourself be devoured.

24

• obligation
• You can look at the books without any obligation
  to buy.
• I have certain obligations to my family.
• to meet/fulfil an obligation
• be under an obligation to place sb under an
  obligation e.g.
• Signing a contract places you under a long-term
  obligation.

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• perch
• A house perched on a cliff above the town.
• treacherous (ground or situations) particularly
  dangerous because you cannot see the dangers,
  e.g.
• There are treacherous currents in the bay

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• Heritage is the most widely applicable of these
  words, for it may apply to anything (as a
  tradition, a right, a trade, or the effect of a
  cause) that is passed on not only to ones heir
  or heirs but to the generation or generations
  that succeed .e.g.
• our neglect of the magnificent spiritual heritage
  which we possess in our own history and
  literature
• but the war had left its heritage of povertyof
  disease, of misery, of discontent

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• Inheritance applies to what passes from parent to
  children, whether it be money, property, or
  traits of character. e.g.
• my fathers blessing, and this little coin is my
  inheritance
• Inheritance, but not heritage, may also apply to
  the fact of inheriting or to the means by which
  something passes into ones possession. e.g.
• come into possession of a property by
  inheritance
• the power of regulating the devotion of
  property by inheritance or will upon the death of
  the owner

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• dip into (a)
• to read short parts of a book, magazine etc,
  but not the whole thing (b) to use some of an
  amount of money that you have.
• Medical bills forced her to dip into her savings.
• Parents are being asked to dip into their pockets
  for new school books. (i.e. to pay for something
  with your own money)

29

• unctuous (fml.) too friendly and praising people
  too much in a way that seems very insincere, e.g.
  
• There is something smug and unctuous about him.

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• gruff (a) unfriendly or annoyed, especially in
  the way you speak e.g.
• a gruff reply
• A gruff voice sounds low and rough as if the
  speaker does not want to talk

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• Diluted, undiluted
• The effect of his speech was diluted by the
  speakers nervousness.
• undiluted (literary) an undiluted feeling is
  very strong and not mixed with any other
  feelings e.g.
• undiluted joy.