| This year, the average American will spend 3,518 hours (nearly five months) watching TV, surfing the Internet, listening to the radio and reading. 今年，美国人均花费 3518 小时（约 5 个月）看电视、上网、听广播和阅读。 That's just one prediction from The Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007 . This is the 126th edition of the Statistical Abstract , which is published annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. 这正应了《美国统计摘要》 2007 版的预测。这是《统计摘要》的第 126 版，美国人口调查局每年出版一期。 Statistician Lars Johansen says the 2007 edition is a far cry from the first one, from the late 1800s. 美国统计学家拉 丝· 琼汉森 说 2007 版和 19 世纪末的第一版迥然不同。 Lars Johansen : Now, of course, there are many more things that are available. For example, statistics on the use of leisure time. There are statistics on the composition of household and families, which was not available on the first edition of the Abstract . 拉 丝· 琼汉森： “现在，当然了，有更多的东西可供统计，例如统计空闲时间的安排。对家族和家庭成分的统计，在第一版的《摘要》中就不能实现。” As the Abstract has expanded over the years, it has presented an increasingly complete picture of America's changing social, political and economic life. 由于《摘要》已出版多年，它越来越完整地展现出美国社会、政治、经济生活的改变。 For example, Johansen says, the latest statistics reflect the growing emphasis on higher education, with a threefold increase in the percentage of college graduates over the last half-century. 汉森说根据最新统计，在过去的半个世纪中，大学生的比例增长了三倍，表明国家对高等教育越来越重视。 Lars Johansen : In the year 1960, about 8 percent of the population, 25 years and over, had completed college. By the year 2005, 28 percent of the population 25 and over completed college. 拉 丝· 琼汉森：“ 1960 年约有 8% 的 25 岁到 25 岁出头的年轻人完成了大学学业。到 2005 年这个人群的 28% 完成了大学学业。 Even in terms of high school graduates, [there was] a similar increase over that period of time; in 1960 it was 41 percent for high school graduates and in 2005, 85 percent. 即使就高中毕业生而言，近几年也有相应的增长。 1960 年有 41% 的高中毕业生， 2005 年则是 85% 。” He says it's also possible to see how young Americans' objective in life has changed over the years. 汉森说统计还表明近几年来美国年轻人的生活目标也有所改变。 Lars Johansen : In the year 2005, the majority of freshmen, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be very well-off financially. However, back in 1970, the majority of freshmen, 79 percent, had as an important personal objective to develop a meaningful philosophy of life. 拉 丝· 琼汉森： “ 2005 年，大多数的大一新生约 75% 说他们的首要目标是经济富裕。然而 1970 年时， 79% 的新生想要发展有意义的哲学生活观。” |
