美國現代生活的10個不尋常的統計數字(上)

You've all heard the quote about lies, damned lies and statistics. We're not making any sweeping judgements based on the following stats, but it is mighty interesting to see just how much the United States has evolved over the decades.

你們應該都聽過關於謊言、可惡的謊言和統計數據的語錄。我們沒有要清除任何建立在以下數據的判斷，但是看看美國近幾十年來進步了多少，這或許真的很有趣。

145 Million Americans are Poor

10.超過1.45億的美國人很窮

Based on 2011 estimates, nearly half of the American population is currently either considered to be low income or simply living in poverty. If you have $10 in your pocket right now and no debts, you're wealthier than 78 million Americans.

根據2011年的估計，將近美國人口的一半普遍地被認爲是低收入，或者簡單地生活在貧窮中。如果現在你口袋裏有10美元並且沒有負債，你已經比七千八百萬美國人富裕了。

In 1950, only two in 10 men in the United States were without jobs. It's since gone up to about four in 10 men. Two out of 10 adults work at jobs that pay poverty level wages, and More than five in 10 Americans can't afford the house that they're living in right now. One in four kids live on food stamps. About 25 million adult Americans live with their parents, and some other 20 million live in mobile homes. We're not talking about poorly educated Americans only. There are 320,000 restaurant servers, 115,000 janitors, and 80,000 bartenders with Bachelor degrees. And over 33,000 PhD graduates are receiving public aid.

在1950年，在美國每10個男人中就有兩個沒有工作。自那以來上升到了4個。每10個成年人中有兩個做着只有貧困水平工資的工作，每10個美國人中就有超 過一半人不能支付他們現在所居住的房子的房款。四分之一的孩子靠着發給失業者和貧民的糧票生活。大約兩千五百萬成年美國人和他們的父母生活在一起，還有另外兩千萬住在移動房子裏。我們不只是討論未受到良好教育的美國人。有32萬餐館服務員、11.5萬看門人和8萬酒吧侍者有學士學位。超過3.3萬的哲學博士畢業生正在接收公共援助。

9.32 Million American Adults Can't Read this Line

9.320萬美國成年人不識字

An April 2013 study by the US Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy revealed that 32 million adults in the United States can't read. That's about three Americans in any room of 20. It's a figure that hasn't changed much since the 1980s.

美國教育部門和美國識字研究院一份2013年4月的研究揭露了在美國有320萬成年人不識字。那就表示不管任何20人的空間裏就有約三個美國人不識字。這個數據自20世紀80年代就沒有太變動過。

This means you can't read the hazard warnings on a bottle of pesticide. You can't write your sweetheart a love letter, an email or even a text message. You can't use the Internet or social media. You can't read street signs, and if you got lost you can't use a map. You find yourself living in a society that runs on facts and figures and unable to participate. Most problems in the United States directly correlate with illiteracy levels. More than six in 10 prison inmates, and nearly nine in 10 juveniles who show up in the courts, can't read. Interestingly, there are actually more public libraries in the US than McDonald's. But then there are also more prisons in US than degree granting colleges. Speaking of literacy, 27% of US Army enlistees can't read training manuals written at the seventh grade level.

這就意味着你無法讀懂殺蟲劑瓶子上的危險警告。你無法給你的心上人寫情書、寫郵件甚至是一條短信。你無法使用網絡和社會媒體。你無法讀懂街頭標誌，如果你迷失了還不能使用地圖。你會發現你自己生活在一個運轉着事實和數據的社會裏，並且沒有能力去參與。在美國，大部分的問題直接和文盲水平關聯。在法庭露面的超過五分之三的監獄居民和將近十分之九的青少年都不識字。有趣的是，事實上，在美國公共圖書館多於麥當勞。但是在美國監獄也比授予學位的高校要多。說到讀寫能力，27%的美軍士兵不能讀懂用七年級水平寫的訓練手冊。

gious Beliefs Are Eroding

8.失落的宗教信仰

The 21st Century seems to be ushering in the fall of religion in the USA. Studies from Berkeley and Duke University, as well as a Pew Research survey, reveal that more and more people are leaving religion behind. In 1972, about five in 100 people said they had no religion. In 1990 that number was up to eight in 100. And then the numbers start rising a lot faster — in 2010 it was 18 in 100, and in 2010 it became 20. Surprisingly, half of those born in non-religious homes eventually turned religious, although that's just four in 100. But many more people are leaving religion alone. Men tend to hold the lead in having the No Religion status, as for every three non-religious men you have two non-religious women.

21世紀似乎帶領美國走進了一個信仰缺失的時代。伯克利大學和杜克大學的研究，以及一項皮尤研究中心的調查顯示，越來越多的的人開始放棄宗教信仰。在1972年，每100個人里約有5個人說自己沒有信仰。到1990年，數據上升到了8/100。隨後數據急速飆升——2010年上升到18/100, 2012（達到）20/100.令人驚訝的是，半數出生於無宗教信仰家庭的人卻轉變爲宗教信徒，即使只有4/100的人如此。而更多的人則將宗教置諸腦後。在無信仰的人羣裏，男性的人數趨於領先地位，每5個無信仰人士中有3個是男性。

New England — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont – was founded by devout Puritans. Today, these same states now hold some of the largest non-religious populations in the USA.

新英格蘭地區——包括康涅狄格州、緬因州、馬薩諸塞州、新罕布什爾州、羅德島州和佛蒙特州——是由虔誠的清教徒建立的。如今，這些州的無信仰人士的數目在美國也是名列前茅。

e Is Making More Than the US Government

7.蘋果公司的收入遠超美國政府

Apple has twice as much money as the US Government, and Microsoft is also wealthier than Uncle Sam. It helps that some of America's big corporations know their way around Uncle Sam's laws — in 2010, General Electric made over $14 billion in profits but paid no taxes in the US.

蘋果公司的資產是美國政府的兩倍，微軟同樣比“山姆大叔”富有。這讓美國一些大企業知曉如何鑽“山姆大叔”的法律空子——在2010年，通用電氣盈利超過140億美元，而並未繳納任何稅款。

As for what the US is raking in, America held the world's number one GDP per capita in the 1950s, but now ranks 13th. The 2011 fiscal year saw the US trade deficit with China at more than 49,000 times what it was in 1985!

至於美國的GDP排名，在上世紀50年代，美國曾穩居世界第一，但現已排至第13名。在2011年的財政危機中，美國對華貿易逆差超過49000倍——更甚於1985年的慘況！

ica's Food Craze

6.馬蘇裏拉奶酪和蘇打水

Mozzarella and soda. On average, an American drinks about 600 sodas a year. While soda guzzling managed to fall by nearly 25% between 1998 and 2013, mozzarella consumption in 2013 had tripled the 1970s volume!

一個美國人平均每年要喝大約600瓶蘇打水。然而，在1998至2013年間人們對蘇打水的狂熱度消減了近百分之二十五。但是，2013年馬蘇裏拉奶酪的銷量暴漲到了上世紀七十年代銷量的三倍。

Americans consume about 100 pounds of chocolate every second. 100 acres of pizza are consumed daily. Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the US, but only Hawaii farms coffee in the US on a commercial scale. Another surprise came with the discovery that there are more cows in Montana than humans, at a three to one ratio. Little wonder that 50 billion hamburgers are sold every year in the US alone. As for those chicken nuggets and all that chicken noodle soup? Eight billion chickens lose their lives in the US yearly.

美國人平均每秒約消費100磅的巧克力、每天需要消耗100英畝的披薩餅。咖啡是美國消費量最大的飲料之一，但是隻有夏威夷農場生產的咖啡量達到商業規模。另一個驚人的發現是在蒙塔納州（Montana），奶牛的數量以3:1的比例超過了人口數。很少有人會對美國每年僅僅是漢堡就會售出500億感到奇怪。至於雞塊和雞肉麪條湯？每年就有80億隻雞因此被殺。

翻譯:兔寶寶 來源：前十網