雅思阅读素材精选11

　　调查：沃尔玛最能代表美国

　　Wal-Mart best symbolizes America, a new poll finds

　　In this Sept. 12, 2009 file photo, actor George Clooney attends a special screening of 'Up In The Air' during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto.(Agencies)

　　Half the respondents of a new poll say taxing the richest Americans by at least 50 percent is a great idea, while more than a third consider Twitter a fad that will likely fade.

　　Those are among the findings of a new "60 Minutes"-Vanity Fair Poll released Sunday.

　　Nearly half of the respondents chose Wal-Mart as the institution that best symbolizes America today, leaving in the dust runners-up Google, Microsoft, the NFL, and the banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs.

　　Dining out was chosen most often by respondents as a luxury they hate sacrificing in these tough economic times. And 5 percent thought the best way to fight obesity among patrons of fast-food chains is to equip each restaurant with scales for them to weigh themselves.

　　A politician taking bribes is considered by far the greater sin (chosen by 37 percent of the respondents) when stacked against extramarital affairs (just 2 percent).

　　President Barack Obama has set a time table for a troop pullout in Iraq by 2011. But one-third of poll respondents predicted he won't be setting a time table for removing troops from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, 31 percent said he would time it to the beginning of the next presidential campaign, and 25 percent chose "in about a year."

　　Obama was edged out by George Clooney (24 percent to 26 percent) among respondents choosing "which man they would most like to trade places with for a week," followed by Tom Brady and Bruce Springsteen.

　　But among woman, First Lady Michelle Obama was the favorite, chosen by 26 percent, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton picked by 16 percent, actress Angelina Jolie by 13 percent and singer Beyonce selected by 12 percent.

　　The poll is based on a random sample of 1,097 respondents nationwide. It was conducted by phone between Aug. 27 and 31 by CBS News.

　　Vocabulary:

　　NFL: National Football League，美国橄榄球联盟

　　edge out: to surpass or beat by a small margin 以微小的优势打败(The runner edged her opponent out at the last moment. 赛跑者在最后一刻险胜她的对手。)

　　Tom Brady: 汤姆 布兰迪，美国橄榄球星，号称“美国小贝”。外形非常英俊，他被美国顶尖娱乐杂志大众杂志(People's Magazine)选为世界最英俊的五十名男人之一。著名时尚杂志GQ也使用他作为封面人物，宣传时尚男装。妻子为巴西名模吉赛尔·邦辰(Gisele Bundchen)。

　　Bruce Springsteen: 美国70年代以来大红大紫的摇滚乐巨星之一。截至目前，Bruce Springsteen的冠军专辑数量已经追平了滚石乐队(The Rolling Stones)，只落后于披头士乐队(The Beatles)的19张、猫王阿尔维斯·普莱斯利(Elvis Presley)的10张和Jay-Z的10张。

　　根据一项新的民意调查，半数受访者认为把最富有的美国人至少一半的收入作为税收是一个不错的主意，超过三分之一的人认为微型博客Twitter这一风尚可能会在未来消亡。

　　这些调查结果均来自最近“新闻60分”与《名利场》杂志的民意调查，该调查结果于周日发布。

　　近半数受访者认为沃尔玛是现在最能代表美国的机构，人数远远超过谷歌、微软、美国橄榄球联盟以及银行和证券企业高盛公司。

　　绝大多数受访者认为在这种经济不景气的时候出去用餐是件奢侈的事，他们不愿意为此付出。5%的人认为，应对快餐连锁店食客肥胖问题最好的方式是在每家餐馆都配置体重秤供顾客使用。

　　比起婚外情来，政客受贿被认为罪过更大(37%的被调查者选择)，而只有2%的人认为婚外恋罪过大。

　　巴拉克 奥巴马总统为2011年从伊拉克撤军设立了一个时间表。但是三分之一的被调查者预言他不会确定从阿富汗撤军的时间。另外，31%的被调查者认为奥巴马会把从阿富汗撤军的时机选在下届总统竞选开始的时候，而25%的被调查者认为会在“大约一年后”撤军。

　　当被调查者被问及“他们最想和哪个男人互换位置一周”时，奥巴马惜败乔治 克鲁尼(24%对26%)，接下来就是汤姆 布兰迪和布鲁斯 斯普林斯汀。

　　如果和女人互换位置，第一夫人米歇尔 奥巴马是最受欢迎的，26%的被调查者选择了米歇尔，另外有16%的人选择了国务卿希拉里 克林顿，13%的人选择了女演员安吉丽娜 朱莉，12%的人选择了歌手碧昂丝。

　　该调查的受访者是从全国随机抽取的1097名民众。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻台在8月27日到31日之间对他们进行了电话调查。