盤點美國人十大休閒方式

What is a "hobby?" By definition, a hobby is an activity that we do for pleasure during our leisure time. Over the years, America's hobbies have evolved -- where we once collected stamps and Model planes, we're now surfing the Internet and playing "Angry Birds." To get a better idea of how Americans spend their leisure time in the 21st century, we looked into the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey, or ATUS。

說到消遣玩樂，顧名思義，就是人在閒暇時間爲找樂子而參加的娛樂活動。隨着時代的變遷，美國人的消遣玩法兒也越來越潮：從早年的集郵、收集模型飛機，到現今的網上衝浪、玩“憤怒的小鳥”。爲了更好地瞭解21世紀的美國人究竟是如何打發時間的，我們專程調閱了美國勞工統計局“美國人時間安排調查”的報告。

Watching TV

看電視

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。

美國人有近一半的閒暇時間是在電視機前度過的，也使得看電視成爲了21世紀最潮的休閒娛樂。Nielsen公司有報道稱，56.4%的收視率集中在現實型題材的電視節目，而體育節目僅爲20%。

Sports and Exercise

做運動

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 bowling。

相對於女性而言，男性對運動的熱衷程度要高出六個百分點。據美國運動器材協會稱，2010年，有一些運動項目同時受到了男女兩性的青睞，包括徒步行走、器械訓練、游泳、單車運動、保齡球。

Reading

閱讀

Leisurely reading varied 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."

不同年齡層的人羣對閱讀偏好大相徑庭。75歲及以上的老年人每週用於閱讀的時間平均在1.1小時左右，而15至19歲的青年人每週用於閱讀的時間平均僅爲6分鐘。

Computer Games

打電玩

"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-time job!"

《打破現狀》一書的作者Jane McGonigal在書中這樣寫到：“目前全球每天有超過5億的人平均每天至少玩網遊一小時，僅在美國這一數字就已達到了1.83億人。21歲以下的青年人每天消耗在遊戲上的時間累積起來竟有1萬小時，這一時間幾乎相當於全勤參加初、高中所有課程的時間總和。更令人震驚的是，在美國，有500萬的鐵桿遊戲迷每週玩遊戲的時間總計超過40小時，而這一時間也幾乎等同於幹一份全職工作付出的時間。

Social Networking

網絡社交

"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。

在美國，有近80%的網民會頻繁關注社交網絡及個人博客，這佔據了他們大部分的網絡時間。美國人究竟熱衷於上什麼網站呢？據統計，在2011年5月一個月內，美國人在Facebook上花費的時間總計爲530億分鐘，這也使得Facebook成爲了美國最具人氣的熱門網站。Playing or Listening to Music

享受音樂

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

美國人對Facebook的癡迷，也無疑反映了其對音樂的熱衷。在全美前30種最受歡迎的大衆愛好之中，有11種是關於音樂藝術的，音樂本身就擁有着3200多萬的追隨者。

Traveling

旅遊

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，美國人休閒遊的次數累計達到了15億次。美國旅遊協會稱，休閒遊受歡迎的原因不外乎走親訪友、異地購物、飽覽景觀以及享受海灘風情。

Going to the Movies

看電影

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."

四分之三的美國人一年至少去影院看一次電影。美國電影協會自豪地表示，在美國和加拿大，電影院仍吸引着衆多民衆前來觀賞影視作品，每年來電影院消費的人次要大於去其他劇院和運動場所的人次總和。

Shopping

購物

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

儘管經濟蕭條對零售商的衝擊着實不小，但服裝業可謂異軍突起，尤其是在網絡購物上更是實現了銷售大突破。就2010年一年間，美國人的網絡交易額已達1860個億。

Relaxing and Thinking

放鬆身心冥想

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。

雖然放鬆本身算不上是消遣娛樂的方式之一，姑且先留個席位吧。“美國人時間安排調查”的報告透露，男人放鬆身心冥想的時間要多於閱讀；女人通過這種方式消遣的時間則多於運動鍛鍊。