欧洲人最担心的是——欧盟分裂

AS IT IS 2016-06-17 Europeans Most Worried About IS, Divided on EU 欧洲人最担心的是——欧盟分裂

Many people in Europe see Islamic State (IS) militants¹ as the biggest threat to their nations, a Pew Research Center study finds.

Climate change is the second largest concern of Europeans. The arrival of refugees² from Iraq and Syria in Europe is the third most important issue, the center says.

Researchers spoke³ with people living in 10 European countries. Only 17 percent of those questioned feel the self-declared Islamic State is a minor⁴ threat. Only 3 percent said the group is no threat at all to their nation.

Terrorist⁵ attacks in France and Belgium over the past year have put terrorism at the top of the list of concerns of Europeans. Security remains⁶ high across the continent since the attacks.

Thirty-two people were in March when bombers⁷ attacked the airport and a train station in Brussels, the Belgian capital. The Islamic State said it carried out the attacks. The group also claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks in and around Paris last November. A total of 130 people were killed.

The new study found most Europeans do not feel that military spending should be increased. Many fear that increasing military force to fight terrorism only leads to more hate, which will increase violence, the Pew Center said.

The study also found that a majority of Europeans want the EU to become more active in world events. Close to 74 percent of Europeans think the EU should have more influence.

Even in Britain, 55 percent of respondents said the EU should take a more active international stance in the coming years. British voters will decide in a special election next week whether the country should continue as an EU member.

Other studies, including one released by the Pew Research Center last week, show that many Europeans may want to follow Britain's example and possibly leave the EU.

Words in This Story

respondent – n. someone who answers something, such as a public opinion survey

stance – n. a publicly stated opinion

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》