Please comment - IELTS part 1 - 001 (idiom)

Question 1: Are you a student or do you work?
Answer 1: Since I no longer have a job, I started from scratch to study English and Mandarin. Learning a foreign language requires you to put on a hat you are unfamiliar with, so in this case, take out your actor’s hat or your singer’s hat. I try to talk with other learners on the internet every day using either language. Practice makes perfect.

Question 2: Do you like your hometown?
Answer 2: My hometown, Hong Kong, has no room to swing a cat. <font style="background-color: rgb(206, 198, 206);">("and for the whole year New York minute - I did not understand this, what is the meaning</font>?). A blessing in disguise, seventy percent of Hong Kong is greenbelt. The place where I live is one of the most picturesque in the country. There is a lovely mountain near where I live, which I absolutely love, especially at times when there are hundreds, if not thousands, of monkeys on the side of the road. I go there for cross country runs twice a week <font style="background-color: rgb(206, 198, 206);">(by bi-weekly, do you mean twice a week or once every two weeks - as this word can be interpreted both ways, it is better to be more specific)</font>.

Question 3: What leisure activities do you enjoy?
Answer 3: I am quite keen on running. Running is easy to pick up. <font style="background-color: rgb(206, 198, 206);">(if treating as a piece of cake and also easy to give up if not understanding - what does this mean</font>?). Rome was not built in one day. To cut a long story short, after learning that persistence and patience is a plaster for all sores, I am now a marathon runner, after two year of training.