托福阅读背景：五分之一地球人相信外星人潜伏在身边

 　　Aliens exist and they live in our midst disguised as humans -- at least, that's what 20 percent of people polled in a global survey believe.

　　The Reuters Ipsos poll of 23,000 adults in 22 countries showed that more than 40 percent of people from India and China believe that aliens walk among us disguised as humans, while those least likely to believe in this are from Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands (8 percent each).

　　However, the majority of people polled, or 80 percent, don't believe aliens in our midst.

　　"It would appear that that there's a modest correlation¹ between the most populated countries and those more likely to indicate there may be aliens disguised amongst them compared with those countries with the smaller populations," said John Wright, Senior Vice² President of market research firm Ipsos.

　　"Maybe it's a simple case that in a less populated country you are more likely to know your next door neighbor better," he said.

　　More men than women -- 22 percent vs 17 percent -- believe that alien beings are on earth.

　　Most of those believers are under the age of 35, and across all income classes, the survey showed. Of those who do not believe, most are women.

　　外星人不仅存在，而且假扮成人类生活在我们中间——至少有20%的人这么认为。

　　日前，路透社与益普索集团对22个国家的2.3万名成年人开展的一项全球调查显示，印度和中国有40%的人相信外星人伪装成人类生活在我们中间，而比利时、瑞典和荷兰(各8%)相信这一说法的人最少。

　　不过多数受访者(80%)不相信外星人就在我们身边。

　　市场调查机构益普索集团的高级副总裁约翰?怀特说：“相对于人口较少的国家，人口最稠密的国家民众似乎更倾向于认为可能有外星人潜伏在他们中间。”

　　他说：“道理很简单，在人口较少的国家，人们更容易知道周围都住着什么人。”

　　此外，男性比女性更相信外星人藏身地球的说法，比例分别为22%和17%。

　　调查显示，多数相信外星人存在于地球的人年龄在35岁以下，而且各收入阶层的人都有。在不相信外星人存在的人中，女性居多。

1 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。