![]() Cheer up, monsieur: One of Paris's famously sad mime artists seems to sum up the general mood in France as they look pessimistically towards 2011. |
They'll probably meet the news with a typically Gallic shrug, but the French are the saddest nation on the planet. It's not just their strings of onions that make our friends across the Channel cry - they top the charts for being the most pessimistic people looking ahead to 2011. The World Cup humiliation, which saw players sent home in disgrace and the team fail to win a game, won't have helped and nor does the handling of the economy by the enigmatic PM Nicolas Sarkozy. People in developing economies, by contrast, tend to view the coming year more positively. Now that the fireworks have been put out and the New Year’s bubbly downed, Europeans are ringing in 2011 in a far more downbeat mood, with the French the most pessimistic of them all. A BVA-Gallup poll of 53 countries found the French the world champions of scepticism, with 61 per cent of respondents saying 2011 will be 'a year of economic difficulty.' Britons were not far behind on 52 per cent, Spaniards 48 per cent and Italians 41 per cent. The poll found that 67 per cent of French respondents believed unemployment would rise over the next 12 months. Employment was also a major concern in the UK, with 74 per cent of Britons believing unemployment would increase. Pakistan came a close second at 72 per cent. The overall negative sentiment in Europe comes in stark contrast to the emerging economies in Asia, South America and Africa, where citizens are generally optimistic about the New Year. In Brazil, India and China, 49 per cent of respondents said they believed 2011 would be economically prosperous, with only 14 per cent predicting hardship. Vietnam topped the optimism rating with 70 per cent Vietnamese expressing confidence in the economic outlook for 2011. Even in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, respondents appeared to look forward to a brighter future with only 14 per cent of Afghans and 12 per cent of Iraqis fearing a deterioration of their situation. The poll was conducted from October 11 to December 13, 2010, in 53 countries. More than 63,000 people were interviewed by telephone, face-to-face or online. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
法國(guó)人看到這則新聞后很可能會(huì)報(bào)之以一個(gè)法式聳肩:法國(guó)是全球最悲觀的國(guó)家。 這并不是因?yàn)榉▏?guó)洋蔥串的辛辣味道使英吉利海峽對(duì)岸的朋友掉眼淚,而是因?yàn)榉▏?guó)人對(duì)2011年的展望最悲觀。 法國(guó)隊(duì)在世界杯比賽上的丟臉表現(xiàn)——球員不光彩地被遣送回國(guó),法國(guó)隊(duì)一場(chǎng)未勝,以及神秘兮兮的法國(guó)總統(tǒng)尼古拉斯?薩科奇的經(jīng)濟(jì)策略都加重了這種悲觀情緒。 相比之下,發(fā)展中國(guó)家的人們對(duì)來(lái)年的心態(tài)則更為積極。 新年的焰火已經(jīng)熄滅,香檳酒也已喝光,歐洲人懷著沮喪的心情敲響了2011年的鐘聲,而法國(guó)人則是歐洲人中最悲觀的。 一項(xiàng)由法國(guó)調(diào)查機(jī)構(gòu)BVA和蓋洛普民意測(cè)驗(yàn)中心聯(lián)合進(jìn)行的調(diào)查顯示,法國(guó)人對(duì)前景所持的懷疑態(tài)度最強(qiáng)烈,61%的被調(diào)查者認(rèn)為2011年法國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)會(huì)很困難。 緊隨其后的是英國(guó)人,有52%的英國(guó)被調(diào)查者態(tài)度悲觀。在西班牙和意大利,這一比例分別為48%和41%。 該調(diào)查還顯示,67%的法國(guó)人認(rèn)為未來(lái)12個(gè)月內(nèi)失業(yè)率將會(huì)上升。 就業(yè)問(wèn)題在英國(guó)也備受關(guān)注,74%的英國(guó)人認(rèn)為失業(yè)率將會(huì)上升。巴基斯坦人緊隨其后,比例為72%。 與歐洲整體的消極情緒形成鮮明對(duì)比的是亞洲、南美洲和非洲的新興國(guó)家人民對(duì)新年普遍持有的樂(lè)觀態(tài)度。 在巴西、印度和中國(guó),49%的被調(diào)查者認(rèn)為2011年的經(jīng)濟(jì)會(huì)很繁榮,只有14%的人認(rèn)為經(jīng)濟(jì)會(huì)出現(xiàn)困難。 越南人最樂(lè)觀,70%的被調(diào)查者對(duì)2011年的經(jīng)濟(jì)前景很有信心。 甚至在飽受戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)蹂躪的阿富汗和伊拉克,受訪(fǎng)者也預(yù)期會(huì)有一個(gè)更光明的未來(lái),只有14%的阿富汗人和12%的伊拉克人擔(dān)心形勢(shì)會(huì)惡化。 這項(xiàng)跨國(guó)民調(diào)是于2010年10月11日至12月13日在53個(gè)國(guó)家進(jìn)行的。共有6.3萬(wàn)余人通過(guò)電話(huà)訪(fǎng)談、面談或是網(wǎng)上問(wèn)答參與了調(diào)查。 相關(guān)閱讀 歐洲調(diào)查:英國(guó)人最?lèi)?ài)笑 波蘭人最嚴(yán)肅 調(diào)查:法國(guó)人花在吃飯睡覺(jué)上的時(shí)間最多 調(diào)查:英國(guó)人最?lèi)?ài)快餐 法國(guó)人最注重形象 調(diào)查:法國(guó)人自認(rèn)全球牢騷之王 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 崔旭燕 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: Gallic: 法國(guó)的;法國(guó)人的 enigmatic: mysterious and difficult to understand(神秘的;費(fèi)解的;令人困惑的) bubbly: 香檳酒 downbeat: dull or depressing; not hopeful about the future(沉悶的;沮喪的;悲觀的) |