TRI DUC ENGLISH - Uses of Leisure Time TRI DUC ENGLISH Reading Practice: Uses of Leisure Time A Although it may seem that people are working more, studies show that we have more leisure time than ever before. Yet researchers are reporting higher levels of both stress and obesity. These reports appear to be a sign that we are not using our leisure time to our best advantage. B Health experts agree that the best way to restore body and mind is to spend time in nature pursuing a comfortable level of physical exercise. Spending time in natural surroundings is especially crucial now because, for the first time, a majority of the world’s population live in cities. Recent studies show that intellectual function weakens as a result of the energy expended simply sorting out the overwhelming stimuli of city life. Tests demonstrate that people suffer decreases in attention span, memory, and problem-solving ability after taking a short walk on a busy city street or merely seeing pictures of city life. Tests also show that time spent in the city results in a decreased ability to concentrate and to control emotions and impulses. On the other hand, spending time in the country produces the opposite effects. C Unfortunately, as society becomes more centered on city life, we have to rejuvenate ourselves in nature deliberately rather than as a matter of course. Yet research shows that we are not spending our leisure time rejuvenating ourselves. Around the world, the most popular way to spend free time is watching television. This, the most passive of pastimes, is how Americans spend more than half their leisure time. Globally, the next most popular is using the Internet, also passive, and it ranks as the most favored among the billions in China. The third is shopping, which may be slightly more active but is still as far from nature as possible. Modern shopping malls remove shoppers from everything natural, leaving them to experience the outdoors only between the paved par...