Passage 2

　　Results of a recent Harry’s poll on free time showed that the average work week for many Americans is 50 hours. With the time spent eating, sleeping and taking care of the household duties, there’s little time left for leisure activities for many Americans. However, having free time to relax and pursue hobbies is important. People need time away from the pressures of study or work to relax and enjoy time with friends and family. In different countries free time is spent in different ways. The results of a Harry’s poll showed that reading was the most popular spare time activity in the US. This was followed by watching TV. In a UK survey on leisure time activities, watching TV and videos was the most popular. Listening to the radio came second. In a similar survey conducted in Japan, the most popular free time activity was eating out. The second most popular activity was driving. There were also differences in the most popular outdoor pursuits between the three countries. The most popular outdoor activity for Americans was gardening. In the UK, it was going to the pub. In Japan, going to bars ranked eighth in popularity and gardening ranked ninth. Although people around the world may enjoy doing similar things in their free time, there’s evidence to suggest that these interests are changing. In the US, for example, the popularity of computer activities is increasing. Many more people in the States are spending their free time surfing the web, emailing friends or playing games online.

　　Question 20

　　What is the recent Harry's poll about?

　　Question 21

　　What was the most popular leisure activity in the US?

　　Question 22

　　What was the most popular outdoor pursuit in the UK?

　　答案：

　　20. C Time spent on leisure activities.

　　21. A Reading.

　　22. C Going to the pub.

　　【點評】

　　本篇短文圍繞休閑娛樂活動展開，是大家熟悉的話題。Harry最近一次民意調查結果表明許多美國人沒有多少時間用于休閑活動。但是人們需要一些休息時間來調節學習工作壓力。接著文章舉例子說明不同國家的休閑活動不同。美國最流行的休閑活動是閱讀，而在英國是看電視，在日本是外出吃飯；而且這三國最流行的戶外活動也有所不同。最后指出雖然全世界的人們有著相似的休閑活動，但是有證據表明這些興趣正在改變。

　　本篇難度不大，題目都是考查學生對于原文事實細節的理解，第二個題目是問美國最流行的娛樂活動，而第三個題目是問英國最流行的戶外活動，考生要區別開來，避免混淆。其中關注下幾個單詞：poll民意測驗；household家庭的；leisure空閑；popularity流行；pursuit追求；outdoor戶外的；spare多余的。