每日英語 #094: What the Kids are Thinking

https://tv.eslpod.com/

What the Kids are Thinking

Each year, the University of California, Los Angeles (known as “UCLA”) does a “poll” or survey of college students about many different topics, trying to understand their opinions and habits. In 2009, UCLA interviewed more than 240,000 freshman students from 340 colleges and universities. A “freshman” is someone in his or her first year of college, usually age 18 or 19. Below are the percentages of students who said they “agree strongly” or “somewhat” with the following “statements” (sentences), according to a story about the survey in the New York Times. To agree strongly means to agree very much, to agree completely; to agree somewhat means that you agree, but are perhaps not 100% in agreement.

每年，加州大學洛杉磯分校（簡稱“UCLA”）都會針對大學生進行“民意調查”或調查，試圖了解他們的觀點和習慣。在2009年，UCLA訪問了來自340所大學的超過240,000名大一新生。 “大一新生”是指正在大學第一年學習的學生，通常是18或19歲。以下是根據《紐約時報》關於該調查的報導中提到的，表示他們“強烈同意”或“有點同意”以下“陳述”（句子）的學生百分比。強烈同意表示非常贊同，完全同意；有點同意表示你同意，但可能並非100%完全贊同。

• 79%: Through hard work, anyone can succeed in American society.
  79%：通過努力工作，任何人都可以在美國社會中取得成功。
• 67%: Only volunteers should “serve” (be soldiers) in the “military” (army, navy, armed forces).
  67%：只有志願者應該“服役”（當兵）於“軍隊”（陸軍、海軍、武裝部隊）。
• 60%: The “wealthy” (rich) should pay a larger “share” (percentage; amount) of taxes than they do now.
  60%：富人應該支付比現在更多的“稅收份額”（百分比；金額）。
• 20%: “Racial discrimination” (negative treatment of people of different races and ethnicities) is no longer a major problem in America.
  20%：種族歧視（對不同種族和族裔人群的負面對待）不再是美國的一個主要問題。

Most of these results are not too surprising. Young Americans still believe in the “American Dream” – that anyone can be successful if they work hard enough. They don’t want to be forced into the army but prefer volunteers to be part of the armed services instead. They believe in taxing the wealthy and a large “majority” (percentage; group) does not think that the U.S. is “over” (past) its racial problems.

這些結果大多並不令人驚訝。美國的年輕人仍然相信“美國夢”——只要努力工作，任何人都可以成功。 他們不希望被強制入伍，而更願意志願者成為武裝部隊的一部分。他們相信應對富人徵稅，而且大多數人不認為美國的種族問題已經“結束”（過去）。

重點單字

• Poll /poʊl/ - 民意調查
• Survey /ˈsɜːrveɪ/ - 調查
• Freshman /ˈfrɛʃmən/ - 大一新生
• Agree strongly /əˈɡriː ˈstrɔːŋli/ - 強烈同意
• Somewhat /ˈsʌmwɒt/ - 有點
• Statement /ˈsteɪtmənt/ - 陳述
• Serve /sɜːrv/ - 服役
• Military /ˈmɪlɪˌtɛri/ - 軍隊
• Wealthy /ˈwɛlθi/ - 富有的
• Share /ʃɛr/ - 份額
• Racial discrimination /ˈreɪʃəl dɪsˌkrɪmɪˈneɪʃən/ - 種族歧視
• Majority /məˈdʒɔːrɪti/ - 大多數