As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas is becoming harder to find. If you're lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it's unusual to find places in a city that are relatively wild.

Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.

The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then examined these submissions, coding experiences into different categories. For example, one participant's experience of "We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while" was assigned the categories "sitting at beach" and "listening to waves."

Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a "nature language" began to emerge. After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.

Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.

"We're trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives. And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it," said Peter Kahn, a senior author of the study.

Questions:
question_stem: What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?
choices: tag: A
text: Pocket parks are now popular.

tag: B
text: Wild nature is hard to find in cities.

tag: C
text: Many cities are overpopulated.

tag: D
text: People enjoy living close to nature.
answer_key: B

question_stem: Why did the researchers code participant submissions into categories?
choices: tag: A
text: To compare different types of park-goers.

tag: B
text: To explain why the park attracts tourists.

tag: C
text: To analyze the main features of the park.

tag: D
text: To find patterns in the visitors' summaries.
answer_key: D

question_stem: What can we learn from the example given in paragraph 5?
choices: tag: A
text: Walking is the best way to gain access to nature.

tag: B
text: Young people are too busy to interact with nature.

tag: C
text: The same nature experience takes different forms.

tag: D
text: The nature language enhances work performance.
answer_key: C

question_stem: What should be done before we can interact with nature according to Kahn?
choices: tag: A
text: Language study.

tag: B
text: Environmental conservation.

tag: C
text: Public education.

tag: D
text: Intercultural communication.
answer_key: B