美国人的“十大无知”-英语点津

美国《新闻周刊》近日评出了美国人的十大无知之处，进化论、日心说等常识问题赫然在列。

According to the Newsweek of August 26, Americans (mistakenly) believe 10 things as follows:

Obama and Muslim 相信奥巴马是穆斯林

Recently Pew poll found that nearly one fifth of Americans (mistakenly) believe that President Obama is a Muslim. The portion of poll respondents who believe Obama is a Muslim has risen recently.

皮尤民调发现，近二成的美国受访者认为奥巴马是穆斯林。错误地相信奥巴马是穆斯林的受访者比例最近呈上升趋势。

Evolution 相不相信进化论

To mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, Gallup thought it might be a good idea to poll Americans on their beliefs of the British naturalist's theory. But the results must have had Darwin spinning in his grave, since only 39 percent of Americans believed in the theory. The good news: only a quarter said they didn't believe it; the remaining portion either didn't have an opinion or didn't answer.

为了纪念达尔文诞辰200周年，盖洛普进行了自认为有意义的调查：美国人对这个英国自然学家理论的相信程度。结果定能让达尔文从坟墓里跳出来，因为只有39%的美国人相信达尔文的进化论。当然好消息是：只有25%的美国人称他们不相信进化论，剩下的受访者要么没主意要么没有作答。

Witchcraft 巫术存在与否

It turns out that 21 percent of Americans believe there are real sorcerers, conjurers, and warlocks out there.

一项民调显示，21%的美国人相信兽人、魔灵、巫师是真实存在的。

Death panels “死亡委员会”

On Facebook, Sarah Palin wrote in August 2009 that Obama would institute a "death panel" as part of health-care reform. Soon pundits and politicians were demagoguing the issue into common currency. Even in August 2010, one year after the initial burst and five months after health reform was signed into law, four in 10 Americans mistakenly believe it.

佩林曾于去年8月在Facebook上称，作为医疗改革方案的一部分，奥巴马将组建一个“死亡委员会”。不久专家和政客将此谣言炒至白热化。一年之后，也就是今年8月，同时也是医疗改革被写进法律之后5个月，还有四成的美国人相信这一谣言。

Saddam's WMDs 萨达姆的大规模杀伤性武器

Even years after claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or had links to the September 11 attacks had been debunked, not all Americans were convinced. In a June 2007 Newsweek poll, four years after the invasion of Iraq, 41 percent believed Saddam was involved in 9/11.

萨达姆拥有大规模杀伤性武器、萨达姆同“9.11”事件有关均不属实，尽管真相暴露于天下已有几年，但并不是所有美国人都买这个账。《新闻周刊》2007年6月进行的一项民调显示，伊拉克战争4年后，仍有41%的美国人认为萨达姆与“9·11”恐怖袭击事件有关。

Heliocentrism 不知日心说

Didn't we clear this one up in the 16th century? Copernicus be damned, 20 percent of Americans were still sure in 1999 that the sun revolved around the Earth.

我们不是在16世纪就把这件事搞清楚了吗？然而哥白尼会吃惊的，因为1999年进行的民调显示，仍有20%的美国人认为太阳围绕地球转。

History of religion 宗教历史盲

If mutual understanding is the key to tolerance, we're in trouble. According to Newsweek's 2007 What You Need to Know poll, barely half of Americans were correctly able to state that Judaism was older than both Christianity and Islam.

如果相互理解是彼此宽容对待的基础，那么我们有麻烦了。据《新闻周刊》2007年一项名为“你不可不知的事情”的民调显示，只有半数的美国人能正确地说出犹太教的历史要比基督教和伊斯兰教更悠久。

Supreme Court vs. Seven Dwarfs 最高法院 vs. 七个小矮人

In a 2006 poll, more than three quarters of Americans could name at least two of the seven dwarfs, while not quite a quarter could name two members of the Supreme Court.

2006年的民调显示，超过75%的美国人可以说出至少两个小矮人的姓名，但只有25%的美国人可以说出两位美国最高法院大法官的名字。

World geography 世界地理盲

Lost? Don't ask an American. Sixty-three percent of young Americans can't find Iraq on a map, despite the ongoing U.S involvement there. Nine out of 10 can't find Afghanistan - even if you give them the advantage of a map limited to Asia.

迷路了？千万别问美国人怎么走。尽管美国和伊拉克“互动频繁”，还是有63%的美国年轻人无法在地图上找到伊拉克。而即使你给他限定在亚洲地图上找，九成美国年轻人还是无法找到阿富汗。

Three Stooges vs. Three Branches 《活宝三人组》vs. 三权分立

According to Zogby, the majority of Americans - three in four - can correctly identify Larry, Curly, and Moe as the Three Stooges. Only two out of five respondents, however, can correctly identify the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as the three wings of government.

ZogBy民调称，近四分之三的美国人可以说出《活宝三人组》三位主人公的名字，但只有四成美国人可以正确地说出美国政府由行政、立法、司法三个分支组成。