考研英语阅读理解中的文章，很多来自一些外刊杂志方面的题材。接下来，北京文都考研网为扩宽2020考研学子的知识面，整理了考研英语经济学人外刊:为何越来越多美国人不信教了?，供考生参考。
2020考研英语经济学人外刊:为何越来越多美国人不信教了?
American religion is starting to look less exceptional
美国的宗教开始显得不那么特殊了
To be young is not quite heaven
年轻人不再信仰天堂了
For anyone who studies Americans and their beliefs, the most startling phenomenon of recent times has been the rise of the religious “nones”.
对于那些研究美国人及其信仰的人来说，近来最令人吃惊的现象是越来越多的无宗教信仰者。
About a quarter of the total population, and about a third of those who became adults in the new millennium, identify with no creed. Some new figures suggest the flight from organised religion is even quicker than previously thought.
大约有四分之一的美国人以及三分之一在2000年后成年的美国人不再有宗教信仰了。最新的数据显示，美国人逃离宗教组织的速度比我们曾想象的还要快。
The share of Americans who acknowledge being members of a religious group is falling much faster than the proportion who, perhaps loosely, hew to one faith tradition or another.
相比忠于某个或多个传统宗教的美国人的比例，承认自己是某个宗教团体成员的美国人的比例正在以更快的速度下降。
Comparing 2016-2018 with the last three years of the 20th century, declared participants in organised religion have plunged by nearly 20 points to 52%. And among millennials, signing up to a church is a minority (42%) pursuit, according to Gallup, a venerable pollster.
相比20世纪的最后三年，在2016年至2018年的三年里，宣称自己是某宗教组织成员者的比例下降至52%(下降了近20个百分点)。根据权威民调机构盖洛普的数据，在千禧一代中，参加教会只是少数人(42%)的追求了。
Membership of any faith is plummeting much faster among Democrats (71% to 48%) than among Republicans (77% to 69%) and it is not hard to imagine why.
民主党中宗教信仰者比例(从71%下降至48%)的下降速度要远远快于共和党(从77%下降至69%)，不难想象其原因所在。
The closer the embrace between church and the Republican Party, the less appealing faith becomes to those on the left. But religion-watchers see a vast generational change which transcends political loyalty and will eventually embrace politically conservative youngsters too.
教会和共和党的关系越紧密，对左翼人士来说，信仰的吸引力也就越小。但宗教观察者看到了一种超越政治忠诚的巨大的代际变化，最终也将接纳那些政治立场保守的年轻人。
A change towards what, exactly? According to Mike Hout, a sociology professor at New York University, what Americans are rejecting is not the transcendent but simply structures and organisation.
到底是什么改变了?根据纽约大学社会学教授迈克·豪特的说法，美国人拒绝信教并不是因为超越性，而仅仅是因为结构和组织。
Younger Americans are more atomised and provisional in everything they do, from work to relationships, and that affects religious behaviour. He finds it telling that some polls suggest a steady to slightly rising belief in an afterlife, but declining faith in a Christian heaven: people often prefer things to be vague.
从工作到人际关系，年轻的美国人做事情变得更具分散性和临时性，这也影响了他们的宗教行为。他发现，一些民意调查显示，越来越多的人开始信仰来世，但越来越少的人信仰基督教的天堂了：这说明人们往往更喜欢模糊不清的事物。
Americans in their 20s have long been less devout than their seniors, but in the old days, they eventually married and brought their children to church. Many of today’s young parents were raised without a faith so they have none to go back to, notes Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute, an independent study centre.
长期以来，20多岁的美国人并不像他们的长辈那样虔诚，但在过去，他们最终还是会结婚生子并把孩子带去教堂。公共宗教研究所(一家独立研究中心)的罗伯特·琼斯指出，如今许多年轻的父母都是在没有信仰的环境下长大的，因此他们不会再回到教堂去了。
On the face of things, the United States is now on a path towards secularism that is already far advanced in western Europe, while other rich democracies like Canada are somewhere in between.
从表面上看，美国现在正走在一条通往世俗主义的道路上，而西欧在这条道路上已经走得很远了，而像加拿大之类的富裕的民主国家则处于美国和西欧之间。
Gallup’s numbers suggest Democrats are now about as religious as Britons are. “America is not such an outlier any more,” says Mark Silk, a religion professor at Trinity College in Connecticut.
盖洛普的数据显示，民主党人和英国人一样有着虔诚的信仰。康涅狄格州三一大学的宗教学教授马克·希尔克说：“美国不再是这样的局外人了。”
[重难点词汇]
startling ['stɑrtlɪŋ] adj. 令人吃惊的
millennium [məˈlɛniəm] n. 千年期，千禧年;一千年，千年纪念;太平盛世，黄金时代
creed [krid] n. 信条，教义
pursuit [pɚ'sut] n. 追赶，追求;职业，工作
venerable ['vɛnərəbl] adj. 庄严的，值得尊敬的;珍贵的
plummet ['plʌmɪt] n. [测] 铅锤，坠子 vi. 垂直落下;(价格、水平等)骤然下跌
transcend [træn'sɛnd] vt. 胜过，超越
provisional [prə'vɪʒənl] adj. 临时的，暂时的;暂定的 n. 临时邮票
afterlife ['æftəlaɪf] n. 来世;死后的生活
vague [veɡ] adj. 模糊的;含糊的;不明确的;暧昧的
devout [dɪ'vaʊt] adj. 虔诚的;衷心的
secularism ['sɛkjələrɪzəm] n. 世俗主义;现世主义;宗教与教育分离论
以上是北京文都考研网给出的“2020考研英语经济学人外刊:为何越来越多美国人不信教了?”，希望对备考2020考研英语的考生有所帮助!祝2020考研顺利!
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