UNIT 4 - LIFESTYLE

Topic: Life, leisure

I. VOCABULARY INTRODUCTION
Life

1.1. Think about how you would answer the following questions.
1. Do you think people work too much nowadays? (*)
Actually, there has been a misconception that people work too hard these days, as
often portrayed in the media. But if you examine the facts, you’d see that people
used to have to work all around the week with no day off in the past. This situation
has radically changed, meaning that employees these days are entitled to have
Saturday and Sunday off. So, my answer to this question is an obvious no.

2. What do you like to do to relax? (*)

I’m a workaholic really. That is to say, I work up to 12 hours a day and this often
leads to unbearable stress. One way to cope with the overwhelming stress I’d have
to deal with is working out. I hit the gym every now and then to do a few exercises.
I’ve got to say that it really works for me as it tends to release all the stress. So
anyway, exercises are by far my favorite means of relaxation.

3. What is your idea of a perfect day? (*)

Having said that I’m a workaholic, I’ve got to say that a day off work once in a while
would be ideal for me. This is when I can stay in bed in the morning as long as I want
to without a worry in the world. I’d get up in the late morning to cook myself a simple
but tasty breakfast. I can't say that I’m a good cook but I kind of enjoy what I cook
still.
4. How would you describe your attitude to life? (*)
To be honest with you, I’m naturally inclined to be pessimistic and cynical. This is, to
a large extent, due to the bad experiences I had during adolescence, which has led
me to believe that everyone has an underlying self-interest motive. But I’ve come to
realize that it’s not necessarily true in many circumstances. So, I’m trying to change
myself - to shift my outlook to the brighter side and believe in the people I interact
with. It’s incredibly hard to change the mindset that has been hardwired to you
though.

1.2. (Audio 4a) Now listen to four people answering these questions and decide
which of the words in the box best describes each speaker.

pessimist realist optimist risk-taker

Speaker 1 ___realist____ Speaker3______pessimist_____

Speaker2 ___risk-taker___ Speaker4 ____optimist_____

1.3. (Audio 4a) Listen to the speakers again and complete the following phrases.

Speaker 1 work hard for _a living_; __achieve____ something in life; life has its
_____ups and downs_____

Speaker 2 live life on ___the edge____; feel __alive__ your quality ___of
life___depends substantially on ___attitude_____

Speaker 3 have a __negative____ attitude; life is full of ___disappointments___

Speaker 4 have a ___positive outlook__on life; live life to __the full___ ;____lead
to____ a happy life.

1.4. Make a note of any of these words and phrases that apply to you and then
answer the questions in 1.1 again.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________

2. COLLOCATION: Complete the words or phrases in the sentences with life or

living. Which answers are written as one word?

Vocabulary note
Note the difference between life and living. Life is used to refer to the period
between birth and death, living is used to refer to being alive, make a living refers to
earning money

1. Going to Egypt and seeing the pyramids was a once in a __life___ time opportunity
for me.
2. The standard of ___life___ in my country is very good; there are not many poor
people there.
3. In my job as a nurse I get to meet people from all walks of __life____.
4. For me, being a vegetarian is not just about diet, it has become a way of__life___.
5. Many people only think about bills they need to pay and forget to allow for
everyday ___living___ expenses when they calculate a budget.
6. It was a __life__ long ambition of mine to travel to the Arctic Circle and see the
northern lights.
7. A rise in petrol prices inevitably leads to a rise in the cost of __living___.
8. The happiest people are those who have found a way to make a __living___ from
their hobby.

Leisure

3.1. Read the text and decide whether the

sentences below are true or false. Match the
words in bold in the sentences with one of
the underlined words or phrases in the text.
Leisure activity isn’t just for fun, says a
University of Florida psychologist who has developed a scale that classifies hobbies
based on needs they satisfy in people. The scale can help people find more personal
fulfillment by giving them insight into what they really like. ‘The surprising thing is
that activities you might think are very different have similar effects on people,’ said
Howard E.A. Tinsley, a UF psychology
professor who developed the measurement. ‘Probably no one would consider acting
to have the same characteristics as roller-skating or playing baseball, but men and
women who act as a hobby report feeling an intense sense of belonging to a group,
much the same way others do in playing sports.’
And activities providing the strongest sense of competition are not sports, but card,
arcade and computer games, he found. Participating in soccer satisfies our desire
for a sense of ‘belonging’ and coin collecting and baking fulfill their need for
‘creativity.’ ‘With so many people in jobs they don’t care for, leisure is a prized aspect
of people's lives,’ Tinsley said. ‘Yet it's not something psychologists really study.
Economists tell us how much money people spend skiing, but nobody explains why
skiing really appeals to people.’ Or how one activity relates to another, perhaps in
unexpected ways, Tinsley said. Fishing, generally considered more of an outdoor
recreational activity, for example, is a form of self-expression like quilting or stamp
collecting, because it gives people the opportunity to express some aspect of their
personality by doing something completely different from their daily routine, he said.

1. Both acting and roller-skating give people a strong feeling of being part of a team.
T / strong feeling = intense sense
2. Taking part in sports gives you the strongest desire to win
F / Taking part = participating in, desire to win = sense of competition
3. Collecting things satisfies people’s desire for making things
T / satisfies people’s desire = fulfill their need, making things = creativity
4. Researchers already know why a hobby attracts a person
F / attracts = appeal to

5. Fishing allows you to show the type of person you are

T / Type of person you are = personality
3.2. Now look at the remaining words and phrases that have been underlined in the
text and match them to these definitions.
1. a feeling of doing what you have always wanted to do ___personal fulfillment___
2. a deep understanding ______insight______
3. a feature of ______aspect______
4. something that is done for enjoyment in your free time. (x3) ___ hobbies ___
5. things you do every day ______daily routine_______

4.1. COLLOCATION: Match the verbs with nouns from the box. You may use the
words more than once.

a need a goal
a balance a living
a choice a role
a change an opportunity
a chance pressure (on)
a decision

achieve play make

__a goal ___ _____a role________ ___ a decision _____
____a balance_____ ____a choice____
Meet put ____a change___
____a need ______ ____ ___pressure______ ____a living___
take set miss
__an opportunity_____ ____ a goal ______ ___an opportunity____
___ a chance _____ ____ a chance ___

4.2. Correct the 14 vocabulary mistakes in the text.

Although we have a better standard of living nowadays, in many ways our quality of
life is not as good as in the past because we are always too busy to enjoy what we
have.
Everyday life today is much more complicated than in the past. Even in our leisure
time we have to take so many choices about what to do or even what to watch on
TV. We are often spoilt for choice and this can leave us feeling confused and
dissatisfied. We all know that it is important to get a balance between work and play,
but many of us do not succeed. Instead, we make extra pressure for ourselves by
trying to be as successful in our work life as in our personal life.

Life in the past was much simpler as many people worked to get their basic needs.
Today, for many of us, our job is not just a way of making a life. For many, work is an
important role in our everyday life and gives us a strong sense of personal
fulfillment. What is more, we have become much more materialistic. Many people
get themselves goals such as buying a new house or car and so we measure our
success by the material things we own. Desiring these luxuries is what motivates us
to work much harder than in the past, so in many ways we choose this way of life.

We have worked hard to improve our standard of living, but it may have come at a
very high price. We need to take some changes in our priorities so that family
occasions are as important as business meetings. We should also make every
possible opportunity to relax and enjoy our leisure time. Once you have given the
decision to do this, you should find that your quality of life also improves. My
ultimate aim is to have a happy family life. If I get this goal then know I will not regret
any chances I have lost to stay longer at the office.
1. _____make______ 6. ______make______ 11. take

2. ____ achieve _______ 7. _____take_____ 12. made

3. _____put______ 8. ______made_____ 13. achieve

4. ____meet_____ 9. _____set____ 14. missed

5. ______set____ 10. ____make_______

1. Do you think people work too much nowadays? (*)

Actually, there has been a misconception that people work too hard these days, as
often portrayed in the multimedia. But if you examine the facts, you’d notice that in
the past, people used to have to work all around the week with no day off. This
situation has radically changed, meaning that employees these days are entitled to
have Saturday and Sunday off. So, my answer to this question is an obvious no.
● There has been a misconception that…
● portrayed in the multimedia
● Examine the facts:
● Used to have to
● work all around the week
● Now: radically changed
● To be entitled to( have Saturday and Sunday off )

2. What do you like to do to relax? (*)

I’m a workaholic really. That is to say, I work up to 18 hours a day and this often
leads to stress that it’s hard for me to bear. One way to cope with the overwhelming
stress I’d have to deal with is working out. I hit the gym every now and then to do a
few exercises. I’ve got to say that it really works for me as it tends to release all the
stress. So anyway, exercises are by far my favorite means of relaxation.
● Workaholic
● That is to say
● Work up to 18 hours a day
● Stress that is hard for me to bear
● Cope with the overwhelming stress ➜ Work out
● Works for me
● Release all the stress
● By far my favorite means of relaxation.

3. What is your idea of a perfect day? (*)

Having said that I’m a workaholic, I’ve got to concede that once in a while, a day off
work would be ideal for me. This is when I can stay in bed in the morning as long as
I want to without having to worry about what’s my working agenda today. Hmmm,
and then, I’d get up and prepare a simple but tasty breakfast with my secret recipe,
though it’s a fact that I’m not a good cook really, but I kind of enjoy what I cook
anyway.
● Having said that….
● Workaholic
● To concede/to admit/to acknowledge
● Once in a while
● A day of from work stay in bed as long as I want to
● Prepare a tasty breakfast & secret recipe
● Not a good cook

4. How would you describe your attitude to life? (*)

To be honest with you, I’m naturally inclined to be pessimistic and cynical. This is
due to a large extent to the bad experiences I had during adolescence, which has
led me to believe that everyone has an underlying self-interest motive. But I’ve come
to realize that it’s not necessarily true in many circumstances. So, I’m trying to
change myself, I mean, to shift my outlook to the brighter side and believe in people
I interact with. Yet it’s incredibly hard to change the mindset which has been
hardwired to you really.
● To be honest with you
● Naturally inclined to be
● pessimistic and cynical
● Due (to a large extent) to
● Experiences I had during adolescence
● Believe that everyone has an underlying self-interest motive
● Come to realize that
● Not necessarily true
● Shift my outlook to the bright side
● Believe in people I interact with
● Incredibly hard to change the mindset hardwired to you
I. VOCABULARY IN FOCUS

[Link]-related

Phrases/clauses Words/phrases Phrases/clauses (Eng) Pronunciati

(Vie) (Eng) - in bold on

1 Cô ấy đã luôn phải work for a living She used to work hard for a UK /ˈlɪv.ɪŋ/
làm việc vất vả để living. US /ˈlɪv.ɪŋ/
kiếm sống

2 Sống một cuộc sống lead to a happy It is important to lead a happy UK /liːd/
hạnh phúc là rất quan life life. US /liːd/
trọng

3 Chúng ta có mức standard of We have a better standard of UK

living living nowadays.
sống tốt hơn thời /ˈstæn.dəd/

nay US

/ˈstæn.dɚd

4 Cân nhắc đến chi phí living expenses Do not forget to consider UK /ɪk
sinh hoạt khi tính everyday living expenses when
ˈspens/
toán ngân sách calculating the budget.
US /ɪk

ˈspens/

5 Anh ấy đang làm 2 meet basic He is working two jobs to meet UK

công việc chỉ để đáp needs basic needs
/ˈbeɪ.sɪk/
ứng nhu cầu cơ bản
US

/ˈbeɪ.sɪk/
6 khá khó để có thể có achieve work- It is hard to achieve work-life UK
được cân bằng cuộc life balance balance.
/ˈbæl.əns/
sống và công việc
US

/ˈbæl.əns/

7 cô ấy thực sự là workaholic She is truly a workaholic UK /ˌɪn.tə

người nghiện công ˈrækt/
việc US /ˌɪn.t̬ɚ

ˈækt/

2. General Vocabulary

Phrases/clauses Words/phrases Phrases/clauses (Eng) Pronunciati

(Vie) (Eng) - in bold on

1 Công việc đóng vai play a role Job plays an important role in UK /rəʊl/
trò quan trọng trong our daily life.
US /roʊl/
cuộc sống hằng ngày
của chúng ta

2 Đặt một mục tiêu mà set a goal/target Set a goal/target that you can UK
bạn có thể đạt được achieve.
/ˈtɑː.ɡɪt/

US

/ˈtɑːr.ɡɪt/

3 nắm bắt cơ hội với take an Take an opportunity/a chance UK /ˌɒp.ə

công việc mới opportunity/ a on a new work
ˈtʃuː.nə.ti/
chance
US /ˌɑː.pɚ

ˈtuː.nə.t̬i/

4 Bố mẹ cô ấy đặt put pressure on Her parents put a lot of UK

(nhiều) áp lực cho về pressure on her to enter a top
/ˈpreʃ.ər/
việc cô ấy vào phải university.
US
một trường đại học
top đầu. /ˈpreʃ.ɚ/

5 Thi thoảng (idiom) thì once in a while Once in a while, a day off work UK /waɪl/
một ngày nghỉ làm would be ideal for me.
US /waɪl/
cũng là lý tưởng với
tôi

6 Tôi nhận ra rằng nó not necessarily I’ve come to realize that it’s not UK
không nhất thiết là true necessarily true /ˈnes.ə.ser.ɪ
in many cases.
đúng trong vài l.i/

trường hợp US

/ˈnes.ə.ser.ɪ

l.i/

II. ADDITIONAL VOCABULARY

1. Topic-related Vocabulary

Words/ Words/phrases (Eng) - in bold Pronunciation

phrases (Vie)
1 Thăng trầm trong cuộc Life has its __ups and downs_, and I UK /ˌʌps ən
sống think the best thing to do is to
ˈdaʊnz/
accept that and get on with it.
US /ˌʌps ən

ˈdaʊnz/

2 Từ mọi ngả đời I get to meet people from __from all UK /wɔːk/
(Mọi xuất thân/tầng lớp walks of life___ at the carnival.
US /wɑːk/
XH)

3 Một lối sống/cách sống Being a vegetarian has become___ a UK /weɪ/

way of life
US /weɪ/

4 Chả có ngày nào là ngày As a pessimist, he believes that __ UK /lʌntʃ/

hoàn hảo cả there is no such thing as a perfect
US /lʌntʃ/
day
______

5 Làm việc suốt tuần She is so busy nowadays that she UK /əˈraʊnd/
(không được nghỉ) has to____work (all) around the
US /əˈraʊnd/
week____

6 Hiệu quả với tôi (informal) It really ___works for me___ as it UK /wɜːk/
tends to release all the stress.
US /wɝːk/
7 Xả stress We like to go on vacation to___ UK /rɪˈliːs/
release stress
US /rɪˈliːs/
_____

2. General Vocabulary

Words/ Words/phrases (Eng) - in bold Pronunciatio

phrases (Vie) n

1 Cả đời chỉ có một lần It is a____once-in a- UK

lifetime_____opportunity to fly to space
/ˌwʌn.sɪnə

ˈlaɪ[Link]ɪm/

US

/ˌwʌn.sɪnə

ˈlaɪ[Link]ɪm/

2 Khát vọng cả đời & giấc My ____lifelong dream/ambition_____is UK /æm

mơ cả đời to have a happy family life.
ˈbɪʃ.ən/

US /æm

ˈbɪʃ.ən/

3 Lỡ mất cái gì đó I’ve __missed____ the chance to go UK

overseas for my tertiary/university /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/
education US
/ˈsʌm.θɪŋ/

4 Máu cạnh tranh (Hint: Activities providing the strongest UK

sense) __sense of competition____ are not /ˌkɒm.pə
sports, but card, arcade and computer
ˈtɪʃ.ən/
games.
US

/ˌkɑːm.pə

ˈtɪʃ.ən/

5 Có một sự nhầm tưởng __There has been a misconception that UK

____ more money brings more
là…. /ˌmɪs.kən
happiness
ˈsep.ʃən/

US

/ˌmɪs.kən

ˈsep.ʃən/

6 Đã từng He ___used to__ work in that company UK /juːst/

but he quit 2 years ago US /juːst/

7 Đã nhận ra rằng I’ve come __come to realize UK

that______it’s not necessarily true in
/ˈnes.ə.ser.ɪ
many cases.
l.i/

US

/ˈnes.ə.ser.ɪ

l.i/

III. Questions
1. Task 1,3:
1. What are your favorite leisure activities?
2. What do you like to do after work?
3. Are leisure activities important for you?
4. How important is work-life balance to you?
5. Do you think people work too much nowadays?
6. How is work life today different from work life in the past?

Questions Idea

1. What are your ● work/study put pressure on…

favorite leisure ● Release stress - play sports/Hit the gym (đi tập gym), watch
activities? movies, listen to music… work for me
● Once in a while, go to cinema

2. What do you ● As workaholic/hard-working student …

like to do after ● Work/study all around the week
work? ● During week, miss home-cooked meals (bữa ăn gia đình - tự nấu
nướng)
● Weekends, stay in bed, no deadlines,
● Cook & Spend time with family; spend time + hang out with
friends at cafes

3. Do you see ● Optimistic

yourself as a ○ Many ups and downs, still try have positive outlook on life (cái
positive person? nhìn tích cực về cuộc sống)
○ Stressed - find ways release stress
○ Surrounded myself, positive people
○ Attitude has big impact
● Pessimistic
○ Many bad experience growing up
○ No free lunch & people - self-interest motive
○ Come to realize - Not necessarily true
■ => shift outlook to the brighter side (thay đổi cách nhìn
nhận tích cực hơn)
4. Are leisure ● Yes
activities ● Recreational activities (~ leisure activities)
important for ● play important role, lead a happy life
you? ● Help - achieve/attain work life balance
● If, work hard for a living/cover living expenses, no time to relax ->
depression (trầm cảm)

5. Why are you ● Play sports - sense of competition/belonging

interested in the ● Good exercise, stay active→ Lead a healthy life
sports/leisure ● have fun, enjoy outdoors
activities you ● Express one’s personality
mentioned? ● Set a goal to do … hours of ….. a week

6. How important ● Important - Achieve work life balance

is work-life ● standard of living increase -> not work all the time - cover living
balance to you? expenses.
● Life without fun - highly stressful
● Release the stress, -> increase work productivity (năng suất)
○ Play a role, lead a healthy life

7. How is work ● misconception…people work too hard

life today ● Past people from all walks of life; used to; work around the week
different from ○ meet basic needs
work life in the ● Now, leisure activities play an important role →
past? work life balance

8. What is the ● Freedom what you want, without financial worries

opinion of people ● Lifelong dream/ambition of many
in your country ● To some (millionaires) - a way of life
on financial ● Chance - financial freedom, happen once in a lifetime
freedom (tự do ● Most people, take the opportunity
tài chính)?
2. Task 2
Describe an activity you did that made you happy (can be a day off work/school,
work-life balance....)
You should say
● What the activity is/What it is
● When you did it
● And why it made you happy
You will have to talk about the topic for 1 -2 minutes. You should have one minute to
think about what you’re going to say. You can make notes if you wish.

Idea Answers

● After working around the week

● Day off (work/school); Travel
● Leisure activities (hoạt động thư giãn,
giải trí) (sports, music, cooking…)
● Set a goal to do ….
● I’d hate to miss …,
● Have time Weekends, holidays, Once in
a while
● Have opportunity release the stress
● recharge/have quality time friends and
family/ physically active, healthy
● play important/crucial role achieve
work life balance
● Help a positive outlook on life
● It’s a way of life for me
● It’s the key to leading a happy life