B2 First Vocabulary:
Take up
‘Take up’ means to start a new hobby or practicing a sport with the intention of doing the hobby or sport on a regular basis. So you wouldn’t use it to talk about something that you have tried once or only do occasionally.
‘Take up’ also has another meaning which is to fill an amount of space or time. For example, “Most of my suitcase was taken up with gifts to give my family for the Christmas holidays”
Below are examples of how 'Take up' could be used in the B2 First (FCE) exam.
Speaking Part 1:
Examiner: “What do you like to do during the weekends?”
Candidate: “Well, I recently took up ice skating and have classes every Saturday morning…”
Reading and Use of English Part 2:
Sarah liked to take (2)…… new hobbies, but would rarely stick to anything for longer than a couple of months.