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  • S: In October 2015, Chapman University released their annual list of America’s greatest

  • fears. K: Turns out, America has a LOT of fears ranging

  • from clowns, zombies, and ghosts to more serious, arguably legitimate, concerns.

  • S: Famed political commentator, Noam Chomsky has said that America isan unusually frightened

  • country”, compared to the rest of the world. K: So we wanted to know, what are America’s

  • biggest fears?

  • S: Well, most of the US’s fears fall into specific categories. On average the most feared

  • topic is Man-made Disasters. Of those, unsurprisingly, the first is terrorism.

  • K: More than 44% of respondents reported being afraid or very afraid of terrorist attacks.

  • But as a matter of a fact, the rate of terrorist attacks has been steadily dropping since the

  • 1970s, with the main exceptions being the September 11th attacks, and more recently,

  • the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Along the sames lines, Americans are terrified of the

  • possibility of bio warfare. S: But, actually, aside from the 2001 anthrax

  • attack where live spores were sent through the mail, killing 5 people, the greatest use

  • of biological agents on US soil has been by the US government. In 1977, the US Army revealed

  • that from 1949 to 1969, the military conducted more than 200 tests, releasing simulated toxins

  • in a number of major cities. These tests were suspected to have caused at least one death,

  • and ten hospitalizations. But perhaps the most likely man-made disaster is one weve

  • recently experienced. Economic collapse. K: In 2008, the global recession caused a

  • 777 point drop in the US stock market, the largest in US history. Even though the economy

  • has significantly recovered, a number of factors that caused the original collapse are still

  • plaguing the US, such astoo-big-to-fail-banks”, and derivatives trading.

  • S: After man-made disasters, Americans are deeply afraid of increasingly pervasive technology.

  • First on the list, cyber terrorism. K: This one is actually really scary. According

  • to US intelligence agencies, cyber attacks are considered the number one threat to national

  • security due to the US’s extremely weak internet infrastructure. In particular, Russia

  • and China are the most aggressive cyber attackers. But some also fear domestic misuse of technology.

  • S: Specifically, technology we rely on every day also represents an invasive violation

  • of privacy. Services like Google and Facebook collect significant amounts of personal data,

  • and we often don’t have control over what they do with it.

  • K: Similarly, leaks in 2013 by whistleblower Edward Snowden, revealed the government’s

  • mass surveillance program, run by the NSA. Both corporate and government tracking of

  • personal information represents some of America’s biggest technological fears.

  • S: In fact, the US government itself inspires the country’s single greatest fear: fear

  • of corruption. K: With 58% of respondents reporting high

  • levels of fear, government corruption clearly keeps people up at night. As frequent political

  • scandals dominate headlines, US officials working against their constituentsbest

  • interests is clearly a very real concern.

  • S: Other high ranking fears are focused on the environment, our personal futures, and

  • natural disasters. K: But while government corruption tops the

  • US’s list, on average, the rest of the world is most concerned about the effects of climate

  • change.

  • S: To learn about some of the world’s other fears, check out our video on what countries

  • fear the most. K: And if you happen to be interested in a

  • more satirical look at politics and global issues, check out my channel Newsy News and

  • if you like it, subscribe. S: Thanks for watching TestTube News, don’t

  • forget to like and subscribe to OUR show, for new videos every day.

S: In October 2015, Chapman University released their annual list of America’s greatest

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B1 中級 美國腔

美國最大的恐懼是什麼? (What Are America's Biggest Fears?)

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    羅紹桀 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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