大學(xué)英語綜合教程學(xué)生用書 Surveys,Surveys and More Surveys

[00:00.00] Surveys,Surveys and More Surveys [00:06.48]In the United States, [00:10.55]there's a widespread belief that statistics don't lie. [00:17.79]Perhaps that's why surveys are such an important part of American life. [00:26.54]For many years,politicians,businesspeople, [00:32.71]and scholars have used surveys to find out more about that mysterious [00:41.35]and complicated creature,the human being. [00:46.60]American newspapers and magazines have been taking [00:53.05]public opinion polls since the 1800s. [00:58.51]In the 1930s,poll experts such as Elmo Poper and George Gallup [01:06.56]began using scientific methods [01:11.52]to select and interview participants in political surveys. [01:18.47]Since the 1940s,American businesspeople have been developing, [01:25.92]naming,packaging,and promoting products with the help of surveys. [01:33.78]And also since the 1940s, [01:38.72]surveys have been a major research tool [01:43.97]among scholars in the social sciences [01:49.82]Psychologists and sociologists have asked people about everything [01:57.58]from their religious beliefs to their sexual behavior. [02:03.74]The mass media have frequently reported the results of these surveys, [02:11.29]and the American public has always been quite interested in the responses. [02:19.23]However,the most complete and most important survey [02:25.29]for Americans is the national census. [02:30.94]A census is official count of the number of people living in a city, [02:39.09]state,or country. [02:42.53]The idea of a census has existed for more than two thousand years. [02:51.18]In ancient Rome,the government counted its citizens [02:57.42]for purposes of taxation and military service. [03:03.07]But the first modern census began here in the United States in 1790. [03:11.90]In that year,the population of the new nation was 3 929 214. [03:23.55]Since 1790,the American government has taken a census every ten years, [03:32.11]and the population has been growing steadily every decade. [03:38.57]The 1980 census reported a population of 226 504 825. [03:51.11]In addition to statistics on the total population, [03:57.06]the 1980 census has given us a great deal of information [04:03.72]about recent changes in American life. [04:09.36]One of the many important changes concerns where people live. [04:16.42]American are still a mainly urban people with about 75 percent [04:24.57]of the population living in or near large cities. [04:31.33]But,sice 1970,the small communities have been gaining population [04:38.39]at a faster rate than the cities or suburbs. [04:44.73]Americans have been moving back to the small twons and the rural areas. [04:52.49]This is a dramatic change from the trend in preceding decades. [05:00.54]Americans have always done a great deal of moving [05:06.18]from one part of the country to another, [05:10.65]but,in recent years,the moves have been mostly to the Suth and West. [05:18.09]States in the "Sun Belt"have been gaining population, [05:24.44]and states in the Northeast and the Midwest have been losing population. [05:32.49]Marriage and family life hav been changing,too. [05:38.91]Americans have been marrying later, [05:44.06]having fewer children,getting more divorces, [05:49.41]and living more often as singles of as unmarried couples. [05:56.15]The actual number of married couples has risen in recent years, [06:04.12]but the percentage of married people has declined. [06:10.57]Similarly,the number of actual births has gone up, [06:17.21]but the size fo the average family has gone down. [06:22.96]The average young wonam of today plants to have only two children. [06:30.90]Along with many other surveys,the national census gives Americans [06:38.73]a statistical picture of a changing society. [06:45.37]It allows the government and the people to see [06:51.22]what's happening and to adjust to the new picture.

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