Collecting Things

British Council

A

There are many reasons why people like collecting things. First， you can learn lots about things which are interesting to you. It can also be a relaxing activity. It can keep you interested in things that you like and stop you from feeling bored. It is also possible to meet other people who like the same things that you like.

B

Collecting stamps is one of the most popular hobbies in the world. King George V of the United Kingdom， King Carol II of Romania and also US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt collected stamps. John Lennon of the Beatles and Freddie Mercury of Queen both collected them when they were children.

Some people only collect special types of stamps. Edgar Pfeffer， from Germany， has more than 11，700 different stamps with pictures of paintings， Celso Fernandes （Canada） has almost 6，500 stamps with pictures of ships， and Daniel Monteiro （India） nearly 5，000 stamps with pictures of birds.

The ‘1c Magenta’ is a stamp from British Guiana， from the year 1856. Someone bought the stamp in 2014 for $9.5 million， which is a record.

C

· Grigori Fleicher from Russia has a collection of more than 1，300 different toothbrushes.

· Petra Engels from Germany has more than 19，500 different rubbers （US = erasers） from 112 different countries.

· Jordan Geller from the USA has about 2，500 pairs of trainers （US = sneakers）.

· Malin Fritzell of Sweden has more than 4，700 paper dolls.

· Mark McKinley from the USA has more than 950 clocks that talk.

D

The male bowerbird， from Australia and Papua New Guinea， builds a very large nest. He then decorates it， both inside and outside， with many brightly coloured things. These can include leaves and flowers， but also plastic things and pieces of glass from broken bottles， mirrors and windows， and even things made of gold and silver. And why does he do this？ Because if the female bowerbird likes his nest， she comes to stay！

E

The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt collected books from all over the world at the Library of Alexandria from 305 BC to 30 BC. It was one of the largest and most important libraries of the ancient world. We do not know how many books they had in the library， but it is possible that there were between 40，000 and 400，000 of them.

Activity 1

Which words （1–8） go with which meanings （a–h）？

1. ancient 2. collection 3. decorate 4. dynasty

5. male/female 6. nest 7. record 8. relaxing

a. a group of things of one type

b. the place where birds sleep and keep their eggs

c. a number of kings and queens from the same family

d. add attractive things to a place

e. from a long time ago

f. making you feel happy because nothing is worrying you

g. （of a） man/woman

h. the most， best， biggest， etc. ever

Activity 2

Which text （piece of writing） （A–E） …

1. … has information about different things we could find at home？

2. … has information about a very expensive thing？

3. … explains why collecting things is a nice thing to do？

4. … is about a place where there was a big collection？

5. … is about ‘boys’ wanting ‘girls’ to like them？

Activity 3

Choose the correct answer for each question.

1. ‘These can include leaves and flowers’ （Text D）. What does ‘These’ mean？

a. bowerbirds

b. brightly coloured things

c. nests

2. ‘And why does he do this？’ （Text D）. What does ‘this’ mean？

a. decorate the nest

b. live in Australia and Papua New Guinea

c. come to stay

3. ‘… and Freddie Mercury of Queen both collected them …’ （Text B）. What does ‘them’ mean？

a. famous people

b. hobbies

c. stamps

4. ‘It can also be a relaxing activity’ （Text A）. What does ‘It’ mean？

a. meeting other people

b. collecting things

c. learning things

5. ‘… between 40，000 and 400，000 of them’ （Text E）. What does ‘them’ mean？

a. libraries

b. dynasties

c. books

Activity 4

Have you got a collection？ What do you collect？ Why？

Answers

Activity 1

1. e; 2. a; 3. d; 4. c; 5. g; 6. b; 7. h; 8. f

Activity 2

1. C; 2. B; 3. A; 4. E; 5. D

Activity 3

1. b; 2. a; 3. c; 4. b; 5. c