VOA常速英语2007-Survey Shows Australians Losing Faith in United

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
03 October 2007

Australians have suffered a dramatic loss of confidence in the ability of the United States to manage international affairs. The first survey of attitudes by a center set up by the Howard government to improve relations, finds a significant deterioration¹ in the way Australians feel towards the U.S. due largely to the Iraq War. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

This is the most detailed² survey ever undertaken of Australian attitudes towards the United States.

It was carried out by the U.S. Studies Center at the University of Sydney, which was set up by the Australian government to enhance understanding with the United States.

The study sought the opinions of 1,200 Australians and found that the Iraq War has severely³ dented⁴ their confidence in the U.S.

Support for President George W. Bush has also hit rock bottom. His popularity here has shrunk to an all-time low.

Asked to name something they disliked about the United States, the most common response was the President himself.

Professor Murray Goot from the University of Sydney says the survey shows America's reputation has been damaged.

"The proportion of people thinking the U.S. can deal well with international problems has really dropped from 66 percent before the war to 37 percent," he said. "Those are the sort of measures we're looking at and it's because of the Iraq War and because of President Bush. President Bush's popularity is - whichever way we measured it - it's barely above 25 percent."

Almost three-quarters of respondents believe Australia's involvement in the war on terror has made their country more of a target for extremists.

Many Australians believe that close military ties to Washington are important for their long-term security, but consider the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan unnecessary.

Half of those questioned disapproved⁵ of the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.

A large number of those surveyed also believed the threat of Islamic fundamentalism has been exaggerated and that climate change is a more pressing issue.

Many of these views are at odds⁶ with those of Prime Minister John Howard, ahead of elections in which his opponent, Kevin Rudd, promises to bring combat troops home from Iraq but not Afghanistan.

Australia and the United States agreed a formal security treaty in the 1950's, which is still in force.

1 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 disapproved   

v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？