How Connected Are You to the World?你与世界的联系有多紧密？

How Connected Are You to the World?

你与世界的联系有多紧密？

【听力音频】

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　　By Gena Bennett

　　01 January 2024

　　Saodat Sadikova is an English teacher in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan. As a young girl, she dreamed of becoming a flight attendant and traveling the world. Her parents told her she would have to learn at least three languages in order to reach that goal.

　　Although she was not able to become a flight attendant, Sadikova did study languages. She speaks Uzbek, Russian, English and Turkish.

　　Sadikova has never traveled outside Uzbekistan. Even so, she reports feeling connected to people around the world. "The whole world is for human beings," Sadikova said. She still dreams of visiting many countries.

　　American Trina Bright worked in education for nearly 25 years. Today, she lives in the southern U.S. state of Arkansas. During her career, she traveled to many countries, including China and South Africa.

　　Bright used stories from her travels to help her students in the U.S. understand their place in the world. She spent most of her career in a minority-serving school district. Sharing stories from her travels helped her students see value in their own cultures. "There's value in all experiences, not just typical American ones," Bright said.

　　Bright has visited more than 20 countries. But Bright, unlike Sadikova, does not report feeling connected to people around the world.

　　Bright is not alone. She is among the more than half of Americans who report they do not feel especially close to people around the world.

　　That information comes from a new report by Pew Research Center, an organization that aims to inform the public about the issues, beliefs and trends shaping the world. The report, called Attitudes on an Interconnected World, was released on December 6.

　　Pew recently asked people in 24 countries a series of questions about how connected they feel to their own communities and countries as well as to people around the world. Pew researchers looked at, among other things, how international travel experience relates to feelings of connectedness.

　　About half of all respondents reported they feel at least somewhat close to people all over the world.

　　Feeling close to others around the world is more common in Europe than in most other places, the study found. In the United States, only 35 percent of the respondents said they feel at least somewhat connected to those in other countries. The percentage was even lower in Argentina (28 percent) and Indonesia (22 percent).

　　The study found that, in general, respondents who had traveled to at least one other country feel more connected to people around the world.

　　Ninety-nine percent of respondents in the Netherlands reported having visited at least one other country and about half said they had visited 10 or more countries. The Pew researchers found that 77 percent of respondents from the Netherlands said they feel at least somewhat close to people all over the world.

　　But international travel does not always mean a person feels a closeness to people around the world. Bright, the retired American schoolteacher, is one such exception. She said, "I don't know a bunch of people around the world, just some." And, she said, her connections to them are not especially deep.

　　Pew researchers found a similar case in Sweden. Ninety-nine percent of Swedish respondents said they had visited at least one other country. Yet a much smaller share of Swedish respondents – 47 percent – report feeling close to people all over the world.

　　In fact, a higher number of Indian respondents – 68 percent – report feeling at least somewhat close to people all over the world. Yet just 3 percent of respondents from India said they had traveled to another country. Such findings show that international connectedness can be formed in ways other than traveling overseas.

　　Sadikova, the Uzbek English teacher, told VOA Learning English she feels connected to people all over the world even though she has never traveled outside Uzbekistan. She said, "Some years ago it was difficult for us to get information about people in the world, but currently, because of media, it is quite easy to get acquainted with events and news."

　　I'm Gena Bennett.

　　Gena Bennett wrote this story for Learning English with additional information from Pew Research Center.

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　　作者：吉娜·贝内特

　　日期：2024年1月1日

　　Saodat Sadikova是乌兹别克斯坦吉扎赫的一名英语教师。她在年轻的时候曾梦想成为一名空姐，周游世界。她的父母告诉她，如果想实现这个目标，她至少需要学会三种语言。

　　尽管Sadikova并未成为一名空姐，但她确实学习了语言。她会说乌兹别克语、俄语、英语和土耳其语。

　　Sadikova从未离开过乌兹别克斯坦。即便如此，她报告说她感觉自己与世界各地的人们有所联系。"整个世界都是为人类而存在的，" Sadikova说。她仍然梦想着访问许多国家。

　　美国人Trina Bright在教育领域工作了近25年。如今，她居住在美国南部的阿肯色州。在她的职业生涯中，她去过许多国家，包括中国和南非。

　　Bright用她的旅行故事来帮助她在美国的学生理解他们在世界中的位置。她的职业生涯大部分时间都在为少数族裔服务的学区工作。分享她的旅行故事帮助她的学生看到他们自己文化的价值。"所有的经历都有价值，不仅仅是典型的美国经历，" Bright说。

　　Bright已经访问过20多个国家。但是，与Sadikova不同，Bright并没有报告说她感觉自己与世界各地的人们有所联系。

　　Bright并不孤单。她是超过一半的美国人中的一员，他们报告说他们并不觉得自己与世界各地的人们特别亲近。

　　这些信息来自于皮尤研究中心的一份新报告，该组织的目标是向公众提供关于塑造世界的问题、信仰和趋势的信息。这份名为《关于互联世界的态度》的报告于12月6日发布。

　　皮尤最近向24个国家的人们提出了一系列问题，询问他们对自己的社区和国家以及世界各地的人们的联系感如何。皮尤的研究人员在其他方面，研究了国际旅行经验与联系感的关系。

　　大约一半的受访者报告说他们至少在某种程度上感觉与世界各地的人们亲近。

　　研究发现，在世界各地，与他人感觉亲近的情况在欧洲比在大多数其他地方更为常见。在美国，只有35%的受访者表示他们至少在某种程度上感觉与其他国家的人们有所联系。在阿根廷（28%）和印度尼西亚（22%）这一比例甚至更低。

　　研究发现，总的来说，至少去过一个其他国家的受访者更容易感觉到与世界各地的人们有所联系。

　　荷兰的受访者中有99%报告说他们至少访问过一个其他国家，大约一半的人说他们访问过10个或更多的国家。皮尤的研究人员发现，来自荷兰的77%的受访者表示他们至少在某种程度上感觉与世界各地的人们亲近。

　　但是，国际旅行并不总是意味着一个人会感觉到与世界各地的人们的亲近。已退休的美国教师Bright就是一个例外。她说："我并不认识世界各地的很多人，只有一些。"而且，她说，她与他们的联系并不特别深。

　　皮尤的研究人员在瑞典发现了类似的情况。99%的瑞典受访者表示他们至少访问过一个其他国家。然而，只有更少的瑞典受访者——47%——报告说他们感觉与世界各地的人们亲近。

　　事实上，更多的印度受访者——68%——报告说他们至少在某种程度上感觉与世界各地的人们亲近。然而，只有3%的印度受访者表示他们去过其他国家。这样的发现显示，国际联系可以通过其他方式形成，而不仅仅是通过海外旅行。

　　乌兹别克斯坦的英语教师Sadikova告诉VOA学习英语，尽管她从未离开过乌兹别克斯坦，但她感觉自己与世界各地的人们有所联系。她说："几年前，我们很难获取关于世界各地人们的信息，但现在，由于媒体的存在，我们很容易就能了解到各种事件和新闻。"

　　我是吉娜·贝内特。

　　吉娜·贝内特为学习英语写了这个故事，其中包含了来自皮尤研究中心的额外信息。

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　　故事中的词汇

　　typical–adj. 正常的

　　respondent–n. 回答问题的人

　　somewhat–adj. 适度的

　　acquainted with—phrasal verb. 对某人或某事有所了解