It is said that technological development has given people more leisure time than they used to have, and that this frees them up to concentrate (1) ... their interests and hobbies. It seems to me however, that most people spend their free time doing things that do not contribute (2) ... their development. To start with, the most popular free-time activities seem to be ones that people do alone. For instance, most people spend much time (3) ... the internet and, even when they are interacting (4) ... others, t hey are only doing so electronically. In addition (5) ... this, when people go out it is often to visit the shopping centre. At (6) ... same time, there are examples of people making good use of their time. At weekends, there are parks, forests and beaches full of people doing sports or taking walks together. Some people do (7) ... volunteer work for charity organisations. Other people join theatre or singing groups and there are many people who enjoy reading Sadly, however, this reflects (8) ... relatively small part of the overall population.