新奇事件簿 近一半欧洲人为双语达人

Residents¹ of the European Union (EU) are becoming better and better at languages. Almost 50 percent of the EU population say they can speak at least one foreign language very well. That figure rises to nearly 80 percent for students. To celebrate its linguistic² diversity³, September 26 has become the official European Day of Languages. The day’s website shows a Slovak proverb⁴ that says: “The number of languages you speak is the number of times you are human”. This is to encourage all Europeans to brush up on their language skills.

欧盟市民语言水平提高。近一半欧盟人至少精通一门外语。而对于欧盟学生，这一数字接近80%。为了庆祝语言多元化，将每年的9月26日定为欧洲语言日。官方还有一则斯洛伐克谚语，“人文化数量与语言习得量相同”。鼓励所有欧洲市民提高语言能力。

The results of the “Eurobarometer” survey put Luxembourgers at the top of the language ability list. An amazing 99 percent of Luxembourg’s population is at least bilingual. Those with the poorest language skills are the Hungarians (29 percent) and British (30 percent). English is the most widely spoken foreign language, used by more than a third of the population. German (12 percent) is in second place followed by French (11 percent). European enlargement means⁵ Russian has risen to fourth place tied with Spanish. The EU spends $36 million a year on language programs.

根据民调机构“欧洲晴雨表”的调查显示，卢森堡市民的语言能力最强。99%的卢森堡人口至少会一门外语。语言能力最差国家是匈牙利（29%），英国（30%）。英语是普及度最高的外语，全球三分之一人口会说英语。第二大语言是德语（12%），紧随其后是法语（11%）。欧洲范围扩大后，俄语升入第四位，与西班牙语持平。每年，欧盟的语言项目经费达3600万美金。

1 residents   

n.居民( resident的名词复数 )；（旅馆的）住宿者

参考例句：

• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。
• Local residents have reacted angrily to the news. 当地居民对这一消息表示愤怒。

2 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

3 diversity   

n.差异，多样性；vt.使不同，使多样化

参考例句：

• Our party believes in encouraging cultural diversity,not diversion.我们党鼓励多种文化，而不是文化分歧。
• His object is to gather as great a diversity of material as possible.他的目标就是尽可能多地搜集各种材料。

4 proverb   

n.谚语，格言，箴言；vt.使成为谚语，用谚语表达

参考例句：

• As the proverb goes,time is money.俗语说，时间就是金钱。
• "Practice makes perfect." is a proverb.”熟能生巧 ” 是一句谚语.

5 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。