| Home | News| Living in China| MMS | SMS | About us | Contact us|
   
 Language Tips > Bilingual news
Updated: 2005-02-25 10:23
Americans place Lincoln, Reagan on top of polls

林肯里根“后来居上” “国父”华盛顿“风光不再”

Americans place Lincoln, Reagan on top of polls

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan

When Americans rate their greatest president, they do not agree on who tops the list, but seem to rank a half-dozen chief executives ahead of the nation's first.

George Washington tied for sixth place in one recent poll and rated seventh in another.

"Let's face it, 'First in war, first in peace, and seventh in the hearts of his countrymen,' doesn't sound very impressive," said Ted Widmer, a professor of history at Washington College.

Washington has been considered the "Father of His Country" by school children for generations.

Shortly after his death in 1799, Congress adopted the description Henry Lee used in his eulogy of his fellow Virginian: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

But in a poll commissioned by Washington College for President's Day, Americans rated Abraham Lincoln as the greatest president. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll put Ronald Reagan on top.

Many young adults have only sketchy information about Washington, according to the college's poll.

Asked who was the greatest president, 20 percent of those polled chose Lincoln. Reagan was picked by 15 percent, Franklin D. Roosevelt by 12 percent, John F. Kennedy by 11 percent, Bill Clinton by 10 percent and George W. Bush by 8 percent. Washington was picked by 6 percent.

In the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, Reagan had 20 percent, followed by Clinton and Lincoln in the mid-teens and then Roosevelt and Kennedy at 12 percent.

The poll done for the college looked at how much the public knows about Washington and found that 46 percent knew that Washington led the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

The college's poll of 800 adults and the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll of 1,008 adults were taken Feb. 7-10. The college's poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, compared with 3 percentage points for the Gallup poll.

(Agencies)

美国人在评选最伟大的总统时,没有在第一名的人选上达成一致,却似乎把大约六位总统排在开国元首之前。

乔治·华盛顿在最近两次民意测验中分别排在第六、第七位。

“让我们面对现实。他是‘战争中的第一人,和平中的第一人,美国同胞心目中的第七人’,这听起来并不怎么样。”华盛顿学院历史学教授特德·威德默说。

在几代美国小学生心中,华盛顿一直被尊为“国父”。

1799年他去世后不久,国会采用议员亨利·李对这位弗吉尼亚同乡的赞词来评价华盛顿:“战争中的第一人,和平中的第一人,美国同胞心目中的第一人。”

但是,在华盛顿学院为总统纪念日展开的民意调查中,美国人们把亚伯拉罕·林肯评为最伟大的总统。而在CNN和《今日美国》联合举办的盖洛普民意测验中,罗纳德·里根名列首位。

该大学的调查显示,很多美国年轻人对华盛顿只有模糊的了解。

当被问到谁是最伟大的总统时,20%的投票者选择了林肯,另有15%的投票者选择了里根,12%选择了富兰克林·罗斯福,11%选择了约翰·肯尼迪,10%选择了比尔·克林顿,还有8%选择了现任总统小布什。华盛顿获得了6%的选票。

在CNN和《今日美国》联合举办的盖洛普民意测验中,里根的得票率为20%,克林顿和林肯的得票率在16%左右,罗斯福和肯尼迪都获得了12%的选票。

华盛顿学院所做的调查着眼于公众对华盛顿的了解程度,结果发现只有46%的人知道华盛顿在独立战争中率领“大陆军”作战。

2月7日至10日期间,华盛顿学院对800名成年人进行了调查,同时,CNN与《今日美国》对1008名成人进行了调查。华盛顿学院的调查的抽样误差不超过四个百分点,而盖洛普民意测验的抽样误差率为三个百分点。

(中国日报网站译)

Vocabulary:

Gallup: 盖洛普(1901-1984),美国公众舆论分析家,盖洛普民意测验的创始人。他采用公众民意测验的方法,精确预估出1936年总统选举的结果。

sketchy: 粗略的,大体上的;不完全的

teens: 13到19(岁)期间

 
Go to Other Sections
Related Stories
· The Sound of Music is coming home
《音乐之声》重回奥地利
· Kennedy knickknacks sell for big bucks in NY sale
美国前总统肯尼迪魅力不减 专场拍卖再掀高潮
· Queen drops French for the menus at IOC banquet
英国女王发动“餐桌”申奥战 传统法文菜单无影无踪
more
 
Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved

版权声明:未经中国日报网站许可,任何人不得复制本栏目内容。如需转载请与本网站联系。
None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.