文章大意：本文是一篇说明文。一年到头忙得团团转的人总是想，要是有一天能闲下来就好了。然而终日无所事事的人却也并不快乐。那么每天空闲多长时间最幸福？科学家的最新研究给出了答案。
9 . Feeling controlled by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir (灵丹妙药) many of us dream it could be.
In a new study shown last week, researchers analyzed data from two major surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 respondents (受访者). The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being—but only up to a point.
People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse.
So finally the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest. “While too little time is bad, having more time is not always better,” said Marissa Sharif, lead author of the paper.
Of course, most people know that being too busy can cause stress. But the new study is not the first to question whether more free time will actually make people as happy as they believe it will. Part of “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the free time. Researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3.5 to 7 free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV).
Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day—but only if they used it unproductively. Though that experiment was hypothetical (假设的), which is one limitation of the new research, it’s certainly in line with other research showing that being in a state of “flow” can be good for people’s mental health.
In other words, how people use their free time matters, Sharif said. Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you.
1. What can we know about the new study?
| A．It included many American respondents. | B．It surveyed people from different countries. |
| C．It found that more spare time was better. | D．It’s the first to question the importance of free-time. |
2. How much free time may you need a day to be happier according to the findings?
| A．Less than 2 hours. | B．About 3.5 hours. | C．About 2 to 3 hours. | D．More than 7 hours. |
3. What’s the limitation of the study?
| A．The experiment included unproductive activities. |
| B．The experiment wasn’t in line with other researches. |
| C．The experiment didn’t include enough participants. |
| D．The experiment was not based on adequate evidence. |
4. Which of the following will Sharif agree with?
| A．Being productive is an important matter. |
| B．The way people spend their spare time makes a difference. |
| C．Being in a state of “free” can be good for people’s mental health. |
| D．More free time will actually make people as happy as they believe. |
