介绍:
Young people in the United States do not have a strong understanding of the world and their place in it.
美国的年轻人对世界并没有很深的理解，也不明白自己在世界处于何种位置。
Two U.S.-based groups, the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Geographic Society, commissioned an online survey earlier this year. They wanted to know what young people educated in American colleges knew about geography, U.S. foreign policy, recent international events, and economics.
美国的两个机构，外交关系协会和国家地理学会今年初受邀发布了一个在线调查。他们想要知道美国大学生对地理、美国外交政策、最近的国际事件以及经济了解多少。
In general, the results were not very good.
总而言之，结果不是很理想。
The survey was given to over 1,200 Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 years. All of them currently attend, or formerly attended, a 2- or 4-year college or university.
调查涵盖了18岁到26岁共1200名美国大学生。他们都是在校或已离校的两年制或四年制大学生。
The average test score, out of 75 total possible answers, was 55 percent.
75道题，平均成绩是55%。
The study identifies a few important questions that American students did not know about their own country.
该调查显露出了一些重要问题，美国大学生对他们自己的国家知之甚少。
For example, less than 30 percent knew that a treaty requires the United States to protect Japan if it is attacked. Only 30 percent knew that the only part of the U.S. government that can declare war is Congress.
例如，不到30%的学生知道美国和日本之间有一个协定，若日本被袭击，美国需要保护它。只有30%的学生知道只有美国政府中的议会才能宣战。
The online survey produced findings that are similar to the findings of other recent studies.
在线调查的结果和最近的其他调查结果类似。
Part of the problem, say the organizers of the survey, is the Internet. They say it is becoming harder to get good information about what is happening in the world today.
该调查的组织者表示，部分问题出于互联网。他们说如今人们越来越难获得好的讯息，了解世界正发生了什么。
Susan Goldberg is with the National Geographic Society. She says people never have to see anything that differs from their understanding of the world; many get their news from a newsfeed.
Susan Goldberg就职于国家地理学会。她说人们从来不理会不同于自己世界观的讯息。很多人只看新闻摘要，从中获得信息。
Forty-three percent of those questioned said they read about national and international news on Facebook.
43%的调查者说他们在Facebook上了解国内外新闻。
Another problem is that classes do not require students to learn about international issues. That is the opinion of Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations.
另一个问题是，学校并不要求学生了解世界大事。该观点来自外交关系协会的Richard Haass。
The problem is schools do not require that students take these courses to graduate, he said. "There is a fundamental difference between offering a course and requiring it."
他说：“问题在于学校不要求学生参加类似课程，从而获得毕业资格。提供课程和要求学生了解之间有基本的区别。”
If such information is not required, Haass said, then the United States could have leaders like Gary Johnson. Johnson is the presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party. He did not know about the Syrian city of Aleppo when a reporter asked him about it.
Haass说，如果不要求学生掌握这种信息，美国就会出现很多类似于加里·约翰逊这样的领导人。约翰逊是自由党总统侯选人。他接受采访时居然不知道叙利亚城市阿勒颇。
The survey results were not all bad. The young people who were questioned demonstrated a good understanding of climate change and renewable energy.
但调查结果也没有那么糟糕。接受调查的年轻人对气候变化和可再生能源了解甚广。
Even if the young people failed to understand many of the questions, the majority of them said that international issues were becoming more important to them.
即便年轻人没有答对调查中的许多问题，他们大多数都表示，国际问题对他们越来越重要。
Only two percent said that knowledge of foreign or non-U.S. cultures was not important. One percent said knowledge of world events was not important.
只有2%的年轻人认为外国文化或非美国文化知识并不重要。1%的人认为世界大事不重要。
Haass says these findings suggest the need to find ways to get good information to students, both in school and online. To help, the Council on Foreign Relations is creating a new program called CFR Campus, designed to help build knowledge about global issues.
Haass说，他们的结果暗示了需要提供一种良好的信息渠道让学生们了解世界信息，不管是在学校还是在线。为了改善这种情形，外交关系协会如今启动了一个新的项目，叫做CFR Campus。意在帮助学生扩充关于全球问题的知识。
大家还在听
