看美国人如何“消磨时光”

 　看美国人如何“消磨时光”

说到消遣玩乐，顾名思义，就是人在闲暇时间为找乐子而参加的娱乐活动。随着时代的变迁，美国人的消遣玩法儿也越来越潮：从早年的集邮、收集模型飞机，到现今的网上冲浪、玩“愤怒的小鸟”。为了更好地了解21世纪的美国人究竟是如何打发时间的，我们专程调阅了美国劳工统计局“美国人时间安排调查”的报告。

　　Watching TV

　　看电视

　　Americans spend half their leisure time in front of the television, making it the most popular 21st-century "hobby." According to a report by The Nielsen Co., 56.4 percent of that time in front of the TV is spent watching reality TV, while only 20 percent is spent watching sports.

　　美国人有近一半的闲暇时间是在电视机前度过的，也使得看电视成为了21世纪最潮的休闲娱乐。Nielsen公司有报道称，56.4%的收视率集中在现实型题材的电视节目，而体育节目仅为20%。

　　Sports and Exercise

　　做运动

　　Men are 6 percent more likely to exercise or play sports than are their "better halves." According to the National Sporting Goods Association, the activities that both sexes engaged in the most in 2010 were "exercise walking," exercising with equipment, swimming, bike riding and bowling¹.

　　相对于女性而言，男性对运动的热衷程度要高出六个百分点。据美国运动器材协会称，2010年，有一些运动项目同时受到了男女两性的青睐，包括徒步行走、器械训练、游泳、单车运动、保龄球。

　　Reading

　　阅读

　　Leisurely² reading varied³ drastically by age group. "Individuals age 75 and over averaged 1.1 hours of reading per weekend day," the ATUS says. "Conversely, individuals ages 15 to 19 read for an average of 6 minutes per weekend day."

　　不同年龄层的人群对阅读偏好大相径庭。75岁及以上的老年人每周用于阅读的时间平均在1.1小时左右，而15至19岁的青年人每周用于阅读的时间平均仅为6分钟。

　　Computer Games

　　打电玩

　　"Currently there are more than half a billion people worldwide playing online games at least an hour a day -- and 183 million in the US alone," writes Jane McGonigal, author of "Reality is Broken. "The average young person racks up 10,000 hours of gaming by the age of 21. That's almost exactly as much time as they spend in a classroom during all of middle school and high school if they have perfect attendance. Most astonishingly, 5 million gamers in the U.S. are spending more than 40 hours a week playing games -- the same as a full-time⁴ job!"

　　《打破现状》一书的作者Jane McGonigal在书中这样写到：“目前全球每天有超过5亿的人平均每天至少玩网游一小时，仅在美国这一数字就已达到了1.83亿人。21岁以下的青年人每天消耗在游戏上的时间累积起来竟有1万小时，这一时间几乎相当于全勤参加初、高中所有课程的时间总和。更令人震惊的是，在美国，有500万的铁杆游戏迷每周玩游戏的时间总计超过40小时，而这一时间也几乎等同于干一份全职工作付出的时间。

　　Social Networking

　　网络社交

　　"Social networks and blogs reach nearly 80 percent of active U.S. Internet users and represent the majority of Americans' time online," the Nielsen Social Media Report says. Where does America spend its time online? In May 2011, Americans spent 53 billion minutes on Facebook, making it the most popular U.S. website.

　　在美国，有近80%的网民会频繁关注社交网络及个人博客，这占据了他们大部分的网络时间。美国人究竟热衷于上什么网站呢？据统计，在2011年5月一个月内，美国人在Facebook上花费的时间总计为530亿分钟，这也使得Facebook成为了美国最具人气的热门网站。

　　Playing or Listening to Music

　　享受音乐

　　If Facebook "likes" are any indication, Americans love music. Of the top 30 most "liked" things, 11 are recording⁵ artists, and "music" itself has over 32 million fans (as of the time of publication).

　　美国人对Facebook的痴迷，也无疑反映了其对音乐的热衷。在全美前30种最受欢迎的大众爱好之中，有11种是关于音乐艺术的，音乐本身就拥有着3200多万的追随者。

　　Traveling

　　旅游

　　In 2010, Americans took 1.5 billion leisure trips. According to the U.S. Travel Association, the most popular reasons for taking leisure trips are seeing friends and family, shopping, sightseeing and going to the beach.

　　2010年一整年，美国人休闲游的次数累计达到了15亿次。美国旅游协会称，休闲游受欢迎的原因不外乎走亲访友、异地购物、饱览景观以及享受海滩风情。

　　Going to the Movies

　　看电影

　　Three out of every four Americans go to the movies at least once a year. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, "movie theaters in U.S./Canada continue to draw more people than all theme parks and major U.S. sports combined."

　　四分之三的美国人一年至少去影院看一次电影。美国电影协会自豪地表示，在美国和加拿大，电影院仍吸引着众多民众前来观赏影视作品，每年来电影院消费的人次要大于去其他剧院和运动场所的人次总和。

　　Shopping

　　购物

　　Even though the recession hit retailers⁶ pretty hard, the apparel industry is making a valiant⁷ comeback -- especially through online shopping. In 2010, Americans spent $186 billion in online transactions.

　　尽管经济萧条对零售商的冲击着实不小，但服装业可谓异军突起，尤其是在网络购物上更是实现了销售大突破。就2010年一年间，美国人的网络交易额已达1860个亿。

　　Relaxing and Thinking

　　放松身心冥想

　　While "relaxing" isn't a "hobby" as much as it is an absence of a hobby, it deserved to be included in this list. According to the ATUS, men spent more time "relaxing and thinking" than they did reading, and women spent more time "relaxing and thinking" than they did exercising or playing sports.

　　虽然放松本身算不上是消遣娱乐的方式之一，姑且先留个席位吧。“美国人时间安排调查”的报告透露，男人放松身心冥想的时间要多于阅读；女人通过这种方式消遣的时间则多于运动锻炼。

1 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

2 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

3 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。