VOA慢速英语2018 VOA研究称信仰基督教的美国人白人人数创新低（在线收听）

Study: Record Low Numbers of White, Christian Americans

The number of Americans who identify as white and Christian now represents less than 50 percent of the United States population.

认定为白人和基督教徒的美国人数量目前不到美国人口的50%。

A new study says immigrants have driven the decrease along with a growing number of Americans who reject organized religion.

一项新的研究表明，移民造成了美国白人基督教徒的减少，以及越来越多美国人拒绝有组织宗教。

The Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI, did the study. It questioned more than 100,000 people between January 2016 and January 2017.

美国公共宗教研究所（简称PRRI）进行了这项研究。该研究所在2016年1月到2017年1月之间调查了10万多人。

It found that Christianity overall remains a large majority. Nearly 70 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian. However, white Christians -- once dominant -- now make up only 43 percent of the national population.

该研究所发现，基督教总体上仍然占绝大多数。近70%的美国人自认为基督教徒。然而，一度占据主导地位的白人基督教徒目前只占到全国人口的43%。

Forty years ago, about 80 percent of Americans were white Christians.

40年前，大约80%的美国人都是基督教徒。

Today, about 25 percent of Americans do not identify with a single religion, the study found. About 17 percent of Americans now identify as white evangelical Christians, compared to 23 percent 10 years ago.

该研究发现，如今有大约25%的美国人不信仰特定宗教。大约17%的美国人目前认定为白人福音派基督教徒，而十年前为23%。

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump, a Republican, received 80 percent of the votes of white evangelicals.

在2016年的总统选举中，共和党人川普获得了白人福音派80%的选票。

The PRRI study found that more than one-third of all Republicans say they are white evangelicals. And nearly 75 percent of Republicans identify themselves as white Christians.

美国公共宗教研究所的研究发现，1/3以上的共和党人自称白人福音派，近75%的共和党人自认为白人基督教徒。

By comparison, about eight percent of Democrats call themselves white evangelicals. Almost 30 percent of Democrats identify as white Christians. And 40 percent of Democrats say they have no religious affiliation.

相比之下，大约8%的民主党人自称白人福音派，近30%的民主党人自认为白人基督教徒，还有40%的民主党人自称没有宗教信仰。

The latest PRRI study also provided state-by-state details. It found that New York is the state with the greatest religious diversity. The southern state of Mississippi has the least religious diversity.

美国公共宗教研究所这项最新研究还逐个州提供了细节数据。研究发现，纽约州的宗教多样性最好，南部的密西西比州的宗教多样性最差。

The northeastern U.S. has long been where most of American Catholics live, and the northeastern state of Rhode Island remains the most Catholic state in the country.

美国东北部长期以来一直是美国天主教徒生活的地方。东北部的罗德岛州仍然是美国最信奉天主教的地方。

However, the Catholic population in the country is shifting, PRRI reports. A majority of Catholics in the U.S. now live in the south or west. The change comes from an increase in Latin American immigrants settling in those areas.

然而，美国公共宗教研究所报告称，该国的天主教人口正在转移。美国大部分天主教徒现在生活在南部和西部。这种变化源自于越来越多拉美移民在这些地区定居。

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

dominant - adj. most common

evangelical - adj. ?of or relating to a Christian sect or group that stresses the authority of the Bible, the importance of believing that Jesus Christ saved you personally from sin or hell, and the preaching of these beliefs to other people?

affiliation - n. ? the state of being closely associated with or connected to an organization, company, etc.?

shift - v. to change or to cause (something) to change to a different opinion, belief, etc.