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.

　　【点评】

　　本篇短文围绕休闲娱乐活动展开，是大家熟悉的话题。Harry最近一次民意调查结果表明许多美国人没有多少时间用于休闲活动。但是人们需要一些休息时间来调节学习工作压力。接着文章举例子说明不同国家的休闲活动不同。美国最流行的休闲活动是阅读，而在英国是看电视，在日本是外出吃饭；而且这三国最流行的户外活动也有所不同。最后指出虽然全世界的人们有着相似的休闲活动，但是有证据表明这些兴趣正在改变。

　　本篇难度不大，题目都是考查学生对于原文事实细节的理解，第二个题目是问美国最流行的娱乐活动，而第三个题目是问英国最流行的户外活动，考生要区别开来，避免混淆。其中关注下几个单词：poll民意测验；household家庭的；leisure空闲；popularity流行；pursuit追求；outdoor户外的；spare多余的。