新视野大学英语视听说教程 4 Unit 7-14

Task3:  How Americans Use Their Time
Script¹
If you want to know what Americans do when they are not working, well, the average adult spends almost two hours a day on household activities like cooking, cleaning and paying bills. How do we know? The Department of Labor² has just released³ a study of how Americans use their time.
The study confirmed⁴ something that many people already knew. Women spend more time on child care and housework than men do, even when the women are employed. Men, however, spend more time at work. Men also spend more time on leisure⁵ activities and sports. They average five hours and twenty minutes a day, half an hour more than women.
Leisure activities include things like watching television, visiting friends or exercising. Both men and women reported that they spent about half their leisure time watching television. Visiting friends and attending social events was the next most common leisure activity for both sexes.
Older Americans spent more of their leisure time watching TV and reading than younger people did. Younger people reported spending more time with friends, using the computer and playing sports. In all, 19 percent of men and 16 percent of women play sports on any given day..

For Reference⁶
1. They spend almost two hours a day on household activities like cooking, cleaning and paying bills.
2. Men spend more time at work. Men also spend more time on leisure activities and sports. They average five hours and twenty minutes a day, half an hour more than women
3. Both men and women reported that they spent about half their leisure time watching television. Visiting friends and attending social events was the next most common leisure activity for both sexes.
4. They spend time with friends, using the computer and playing sports
5.  In all, 19 percent of men and 16 percent of women play sports on any given day..

1 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

4 confirmed   

adj.确认的；坚定的；根深蒂固的v.批准(confirm的过去式和过去分词)；证实

参考例句：

• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。
• The truth of his conjecture was confirmed by the newspaper report. 新闻报道证明了他的推测果然不假。

5 leisure   

n.空闲时间，空暇；悠闲，安逸

参考例句：

• I am seldom at leisure.我很少有空。
• He read books at his leisure.他在空闲时读一些书。

6 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。