Leisure Time In America Reading Answers

Jan 9, 2023

Leisure Time In America Reading Answers contains a write up about the leisure time of Americans. Leisure Time In America Reading Answers contains a total of 9 paragraphs. Related to the paragraphs are 13 questions. Candidates in this IELTS Section will be shown various question types with clear instructions. The paragraph is about the leisure time of Americans. Also, it contains the research made by the researchers on the work time of Americans.

Leisure Time In America Reading Answers is an IELTS Reading passage which comprises two types of questions:Choose the correct option, associate the information with each paragraph. To associate the information with the paragraphs the candidates must interpret the meaning of each paragraph. The information of each paragraph must be remembered. To choose the correct option although reading the paragraph is a must. To answer the questions provided in the given passage,Applicants must attentively read each passage. To gain proficiency, candidates can practice from IELTS reading practice test.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Leisure Time In America Reading Answers

As most Americans will tell you if you can stop them long enough to ask, working people in the United States are as busy as ever. Sure, technology and competition are boosting the economy; but nearly everyone thinks they have increased the demands on people at home and in the workplace. But is the overworked American a creature of myth?

A pair of economists have looked closely at how Americans actually spend their time. Mark Aguiar, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Erik Hurst, at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business constructed four different measures of leisure. The narrowest includes only activities that nearly everyone considers relaxing or fun; the broadest counts anything that is not related to a paying job, housework or errands as “leisure”. No matter how the two economists slice the data, Americans seem to have much more free time than before.

Over the past four decades, depending on which of their measures one uses, the amount of time that working-age Americans are devoting to leisure activities has risen by 4-8 hours a week. For somebody working 40 hours a week, that is equivalent to 5-10 weeks of extra holiday a year. Nearly every category of American has more spare time: single or married, with or without children, both men and women. Americans may put in longer hours at the office than other countries, but that is because average hours in the workplace in other rich countries have dropped sharply.

How then have Messrs Aguiar and Hurst uncovered a more relaxed America, where leisure has actually increased? It is partly to do with the definition of work, and partly to do with the data they base their research upon. Most American labor studies rely on well-known official surveys, such as those collected by the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) and the Census Bureau, that concentrate on paid work. These are good at gleaning trends in factories and offices, but they give only a murky impression of how Americans use the rest of their time. Messrs Aguiar and Hurst think that the hours spent at your employer’s are too narrow a definition of work. Americans also spend lots of time shopping, cooking, running errands and keeping house. These chores are among the main reasons why people say they are so overstretched, especially working women with children.

However, Messrs Aguiar and Hurst show that Americans actually spend much less time doing them than they did 40 years ago. There has been a revolution in the household economy. Appliances, home delivery, the internet, 24-hour shopping, and more varied and affordable domestic services have increased flexibility and freed up people’s time.

The data for Messrs Aguiar and Hurst’s study comes from time-use diaries that American social scientists have been collecting methodically, once a decade, since 1965. These diaries ask people to give detailed information on everything they did the day before, and for how long they did it. The beauty of such surveys, which are also collected in Australia and many European countries, is that they cover the whole day, not just the time at work, and they also have a built-in accuracy check, since they must always account for every hour of the day.

Do the numbers add up? One thing missing in Messrs Aguiar’s and Hurst’s work is that they have deliberately ignored the biggest leisure-gainers in the population, the growing number of retired folk. The two economists excluded anyone who has reached 65 years old, as well as anyone under that age who retired early. So America’s true leisure boom is even bigger than their estimate.

The biggest theoretical problem with time diaries is “multi-tasking”. Do you measure the time you spend cleaning your house while listening to portable music as “leisure” or “work”? This problem may be exaggerated: usually people seem to combine two work activities, using a laptop computer on a plane, or two leisure ones, watching television and doing something else. The two economists counted many combinations of work and leisure, such as reading a novel while commuting or goofing off on the internet at the office, as time spent working.

Is all this leisure a good thing? Some part-time workers might well wish they had less leisure and more income. For most Americans, however, the leisure dividend appears to be a bonus. Using average hourly wages after tax, Steven Davis, a colleague of Mr Hurst’s, reckons that the national value of five extra hours of leisure per week is $570 billion, or $3,300 per worker, every year.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 28-40

Match each heading to the most suitable paragraph.

One possible source of inaccuracies

Less time doing chores
A difference between perception and reality
The value of extra leisure time
Americans are working harder
Significantly more free time
The effect of including retirees
The need for a wider description of work
An effective system for measuring time spent
How Americans think about their time

Paragraph A

Answer: x
Supporting Statement: As most Americans will tell you if you can stop them long enough to ask, working people in the United States are as busy as ever.
Keywords: Americans tell you
Keyword Location: Paragraph A
Explanation: As per paragraph A the introductory lines suggest the perspective of time as per Americans. If one can stop and ask Americans about anything for long. The people of America are as busy as ever. So, the correct answer is x.

Paragraph B

Answer: iii
Supporting Statement: The narrowest includes only activities that nearly everyone considers relaxing or fun; the broadest counts anything that is not related to a paying job, housework or errands as “leisure”. No matter how the two economists slice the data, Americans seem to have much more free time than before.
Keywords: consider, seem to
Keyword Location: Paragraph B
Explanation: As per paragraph B, the research conducted on leisure activities. The Leisure activities included which result in relaxing or fun and does not include paywork, housework or errands. As per the data, Amricans have more free time than before. So, there is a difference between the perception that Americans are busy as ever and reality is exactly opposite. So, the correct answer is iii.

Paragraph C

Answer: vi
Supporting Statement: Over the past four decades, depending on which of their measures one uses, the amount of time that working-age Americans are devoting to leisure activities has risen by 4-8 hours a week. For somebody working 40 hours a week, that is equivalent to 5-10 weeks of extra holiday a year.
Keywords: Leisure activities, time risen
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, the amount of time the Amwricans belonging to the working class are included in leisure activities has risen up. This leisure activity time has risen by 4-8 hours per week for some more than 40 hours per week. So, the correct answer is vi.

Paragraph D

Answer: viii
Supporting Statement: Messrs Aguiar and Hurst think that the hours spent at your employer’s are too narrow a definition of work. Americans also spend lots of time shopping, cooking, running errands and keeping house. These chores are among the main reasons why people say they are so overstretched, especially working women with children.
Keywords: Narrow, definition of work
Keyword Location: Paragraph D
Explanation: As per paragraph D, the thinkers and researchers think the definition of work as per Americans is too narrow. The work including time at employers must not be just in work definition. Works like shopping, running errands, cooking etc must also be included in work. So, the correct answer is viii.

Paragraph E

Answer: ii
Supporting Statement: However, Messrs Aguiar and Hurst show that Americans actually spend much less time doing them than they did 40 years ago. There has been a revolution in the household economy. Appliances, home delivery, the internet, 24-hour shopping, and more varied and affordable domestic services have increased flexibility and freed up people’s time.
Keywords: Spend much less time
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: As per paragraph E, the thinkers and researchers think the time has reduced. The time used in doing certain works has been reduced by the evolution of technology. There might be a very wide difference between the consumed in particular tasks at present and 40 years ago. So, the correct answer is ii.

Paragraph F

Answer: ix
Supporting Statement: The data for Messrs Aguiar and Hurst’s study comes from time-use diaries that American social scientists have been collecting methodically, once a decade, since 1965. These diaries ask people to
give detailed information on everything they did the day before, and for how long they did it.
Keywords: Collecting methodically
Keyword Location: Paragraph F
Explanation: As per paragraph F, scientists have been using a very interesting and effective method to know about the time management of Americans. They collect the diaries from people. They asked the people tio note everything down in a diary about the work they did the previous day and for how much time. So, the correct answer is ix.

Paragraph G

Answer: vii
Supporting Statement: One thing missing in Messrs Aguiar’s and Hurst’s work is that they have deliberately ignored the biggest leisure-gainers in the population, the growing number of retired folk. The two economists
excluded anyone who has reached 65 years old, as well as anyone under that age who retired early. So America’s true leisure boom is even bigger than their estimate.
Keywords: retired folks
Keyword Location: Paragraph G
Explanation: As per paragraph G, the most leisure activities are enjoyed by retired forks. The two researchers have excluded anyone above 65 years of age and below who have retired. The number of leisure time Americans will boost if retired folks are included. So, the correct answer is vii.

Paragraph H

Answer: i
Supporting Statement: The biggest theoretical problem with time diaries is “multi-tasking”.
Keywords: theoretical problem
Keyword Location: Paragraph H
Explanation: As per paragraph H, the diary method is ineffective due to multitasking. People multitask all the time. While drinking coffee they use the internet and surf. While watching television they do household chores or anything else. This reduces its effectiveness. So, the correct answer is i.

Paragraph I

Answer: iv
Supporting Statement: For most Americans, however, the leisure dividend appears to be a bonus. Using average hourly wages after tax, Steven Davis, a colleague of Mr Hurst’s, reckons that the national value of five extra
hours of leisure per week is $570 billion, or $3,300 per worker, every year.
Keywords: Leisure, income
Keyword Location: Paragraph I
Explanation: As per paragraph I, the value of extra leisure time costs $570 billion per week. People want less leisure time and more income. While money is a source of happiness for most people nowadays. So, they try to even overwork for income. So, the correct answer is iv.

Questions 37-40

Choose A, B or C.

Americans seem to spend more time in the office than people in other rich countries

Because of the increase in Americans leisure time
Because of a decrease in leisure time in the other rich countries
Because of a decrease in office time in the other rich countries

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: Americans may put in longer hours at the office than other countries, but that is because average hours in the workplace in other rich countries have dropped sharply.
Keywords: Rich countries, workplace
Keyword Location: Paragraph C
Explanation: As per paragraph C, the Americans spend most time in their office or workplace. While in most rich countries the time spent at the workplace has decreased. The main reason for this is in rich countries the time spent at the workplace has been limited which forces people to work for a particular time period. So, the correct answer is C.

One problem with data from the BLS is that

it is unclear about out of work time
it is limited to factories and offices
it does not include leisure time

Answer: A
Supporting Statement: The biggest theoretical problem with time diaries is “multi-tasking”.
Keywords: theoretical problem
Keyword Location: Paragraph H
Explanation: As per paragraph H, the diary method is ineffective due to multitasking. People multitask all the time. While drinking coffee they use the internet and surf. While watching television they do household chores or anything else. This reduces its effectiveness. So, the correct answer is A.

Time-use diaries

are only available in America and Australia
are the most accurate time use measurement tool
provide data for 24 hours of each day

Answer: C
Supporting Statement: However, Messrs Aguiar and Hurst show that Americans actually spend much less time doing them than they did 40 years ago. There has been a revolution in the household economy. Appliances, home delivery, the internet, 24-hour shopping, and more varied and affordable domestic services have increased flexibility and freed up people’s time.
Keywords: Spend much less time
Keyword Location: Paragraph E
Explanation: As per paragraph E, the thinkers and researchers think the time has reduced. The time used in doing certain works has been reduced by the evolution of technology. There might be a very wide difference between the consumed in particular tasks at present and 40 years ago. So, the correct answer is C.

Aguiar and Hurst counted multi-tasking activities of leisure and work

as free time
as work time
as neither free time or work time

Answer: B
Supporting Statement: The biggest theoretical problem with time diaries is “multi-tasking”.
Keywords: theoretical problem
Keyword Location: Paragraph H
Explanation: As per paragraph H, the diary method is ineffective due to multitasking. People multitask all the time. While drinking coffee they use the internet and surf. While watching television they do household chores or anything else. These works were also included in the work time as per the researchers. This reduces its effectiveness. So, the correct answer is B.

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