The line graph illustrates the percentage of five spare time activities (reading, hiking, theatre, watching TV, surfing the internet) of the elderly in the US from 1980 to 2010.
Overall, it is noticeable that despite fluctuations, four activities (reading, hiking, watching TV, surfing the internet) exhibited an upward trajectory, with hiking and surfing the internet experiencing the most significant growth throughout the period, whereas theatre was the only activity that showed a decline.
Initially, watching TV was consistently the most popular activity, rising from 60% in the 1980s to 70% in the 2000s, but it then decreased slightly to 65% by the final year. By contrast, the figure of theatre, which began at 50% in the 1980s, dropped significantly to 30% in the 1990s before rising gradually to 45% in the 2010s. Meanwhile, there was a steady rise in the level of reading from 30% to 40% in the first decade. However, after a moderate falling to 20% in the 2000s, it rose dramatically, reaching 60% by the 2000s.
By contrast, hiking experienced a consistent surge, beginning at only 20% in the 1980s, it quadrupled by the final year, making it the most popular activity. Similarly, starting at just 5% at the initial year, the percentage of surfing the internet steadily tripled in the 2000s before rising sharply to half by the 2010s.