VOA慢速英语2015 美国人最害怕什么？

AS IT IS 2015-10-26 What Do Americans Fear Most? 美国人最害怕什么？

Do you think Americans are more afraid of possible terrorist attacks or U. S. government corruption¹?

你认为美国人最害怕恐怖袭击还是政府的贪污腐败？

If you guessed U.S. government corruption, you would be correct. It turns out Americans are more afraid of U.S. government corruption than a possible terrorist attack! 

如果你的答案是政府的腐败问题，那么恭喜你答对了。事实证明，与恐怖袭击想比，美国人更害怕美国政府的腐败！

At least that is what a Chapman University survey found. The researchers say 58 percent of people they asked said they were either afraid, or very afraid, of corruption by government officials. 44.4 percent fear man-made disasters, like terrorist attacks.

此结论是美国查普曼大学调查发现的。研究人员表示，受访的民众中58%的人害怕或者非常害怕政府官员的腐败问题。而44.4%的人表示更加害怕人为灾难，比如说：恐怖袭击。

Government corruption tops the list of 88 possible fears and anxieties that people were asked about. The university questioned 1,541 people across the country. 

在一份列有88类恐惧事件的名单中，政府腐败高居榜首。查普曼大学从全国各地挑选出1541名群众进行这项调查问卷。

Almost half of Americans say they fear cyberterrorism. They also fear having their online information tracked by the government and corporations.

另外，近一半的美国人表示他们害怕网络恐怖主义。此外，他们还担心政府和企业会追踪他们的网上个人信息。

The university survey grouped fear into 10 major categories. They include crime, personal anxieties and technology. They also include both man-made and natural disasters. The rest of the top 10 fears were corporate² tracking personal information, terror attacks, biological warfare³, identity theft, running out of money, and credit card fraud.

查普曼大学将这些恐惧事件归为10大类。包括犯罪，自身恐惧、技术，人为灾难、自然灾害。剩下的几类包括企业跟踪个人信息、恐怖袭击、生物战争、身份盗用、生活拮据、信用卡诈骗。

In the end, people seem to be more afraid of man-made disasters than those nature gives us.

最后值得一提的是，比起自然灾害带来的伤害，人们似乎更害怕人为灾害造成的创伤。

When it comes to natural disasters, the ones most-feared are pandemics – not hurricanes or earthquakes. Fear of reptiles⁵, like snakes, tops the list of personal anxieties. The main environmental concern is global warming.

说到自然灾害，最让人胆战心惊的不是飓风也不是地震，而是传染病。而爬行动物一栏中，蛇是最令人害怕的动物。全球变暖则当选为最让人胆寒的环境问题。

When the subject is daily life, death is what people fear most.

在日常生活中，死亡无疑是最让人心生恐惧的事情。

Also, some on the list of fears were not so surprising, like war, insects, loneliness, the dark, and a fear of heights.

此外，名单上还出现了一些恐惧程度较轻的名称，例如战争，昆虫，孤独，黑暗以及恐高。

Words in This Story

anxieties– n. fear, or feeling nervous

cyberterrorism –n. terrorism to damage or disrupt computer systems

categories – n. groups of things that are similar

fraud –n. crime of using dishonest ways to take something from someone

pandemic –n. a disease that spreads quickly and affects a large number of people throughout the world

reptile⁴ –n. an animal like a snake or alligator that has cold blood, lays eggs, and has a body covered in scales or hard parts

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

3 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

4 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

5 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》