调查:2/3英格兰人不知国庆日是哪天

England is the least patriotic country in Europe, with just one in three British people aware of the date of St George's Day a survey has shown.

Only a third of people were aware that the celebration of St George was this Friday, while forty percent did not know why he is the patron saint, a study revealed on Monday.

Political correctness and a fear of appearing racist were said to be the main factors in the apparent lack of patriotism in England, along with the increasing influence of the European Union.

Six percent of English men and women are "scared" to fly the St George's Cross, while one in six fear they would be told to take it down according to the report, commissioned by This England magazine.

Twenty percent blamed a broken society for their lack of patriotism, while half said they had been patriotic in the past.

The survey, which questioned 5,820 adults in nine European countries including Scotland, Wales and The Republic of Ireland, found that The Netherlands was the most patriotic European country.

Respondents were questioned on several aspects of national pride, with English people judging their overall level of patriotism to be 5.8 out of ten on average – the lowest of the nine nations.

One in four English adults said 'political correctness' had left them feeling ashamed to be English, while forty percent said they felt England had completely lost its national identity.

Just ten percent said they would happily fly the national flag on their house or in their garden, compared to more than a third of Dutch people, with more than a quarter saying they feared being called racist if they did so.

However, forty percent of English people said they were happy to express their national pride in private, with a similar number saying they felt patriotic during big sporting events such as the world cup and the Olympics.

Three out of ten said they felt waves of patriotism in the wake of terrorist attacks on British soil.

Stephen Garnett, editor of This England magazine, said: "We're incredibly disappointed that English people are afraid of displaying the St George's Cross on our patron saint's day.

"It was quite shocking to see some of the results, particularly the amount of people that don't fly the flag because of fear of being judged.

"It just shows what political correctness has done to the English people over the years."

The study, which was carried out between the 7th and 14th April, was published to celebrate St. George's Day this Friday.

Scottish people ranked their patriotism at 7.1 out of ten, the Welsh at 7.06 and the Irish at 6.72, while the Dutch were the most patriotic on 7.18.

一项调查显示，英国是欧洲最不爱国的国家，只有三分之一的英格兰人知道本国的国庆日圣乔治节是哪天。

这项于周一公布的调查显示，仅有三分之一的英格兰人知道本周五是圣乔治节，40%的人不知道为什么把圣乔治称为英格兰的守护神。

坚持政治上的正确性和害怕被贴上种族主义的标签是英格兰人爱国精神缺失的主要原因，欧盟影响力的日益增强也是其中一个因素。

据这份由《英格兰》杂志委托开展的调查显示，6%的英格兰人不敢悬挂圣乔治红十字旗，六分之一的人担心别人会让他们把旗子取下来。

20%的人认为社会分裂是导致人们缺乏爱国心的主因，一半的人称自己过去很爱国。

这一调查对包括苏格兰、威尔士和爱尔兰共和国在内的九个欧洲国家的5820名成年人进行了访问，结果发现荷兰是其中最爱国的国家。

受访者在有关民族自豪感的几个方面接受了访问。英格兰人对自己的总体爱国水平评分平均为5.8分（满分是10分），在九个国家中最低。

四分之一的英格兰人说保证“政治上的正确”让他们失去了民族自豪感，40%的人觉得英格兰已经完全丧失了国家认同感。

只有10%的人愿意在自家的房子上或花园里悬挂国旗，而荷兰的这一比例为三分之一。另外，超过四分之一的英格兰人说他们担心如果悬挂国旗会被认为有种族主义倾向。

但40%的英国人说他们愿意在私下里表达自己的民族自豪感，相同比例的人说他们在国家举行世界杯和奥运会这样的大型体育赛事时会感到很自豪。

十分之三的人说他们在恐怖主义分子袭击英国后迸发出强烈的爱国热情。

《英格兰》杂志的编辑史蒂芬．加内特说：“英格兰人不敢在我们的国庆日悬挂红十字旗，这让我们非常失望。

“有些调查结果令人震惊，尤其是这么多的人因为害怕遭到指责而不敢挂国旗。

“由此可以看出，这些年来坚持政治上的正确性对英格兰人都产生了什么样的影响。”

该调查在4月7日至14日期间开展，旨在纪念本周五的圣乔治节。

苏格兰人对自己的爱国心评分为7.1分（满分10分），威尔士人为7.06分，爱尔兰人为6.72分，荷兰人最爱国，达7.18分。

Vocabulary:

St George's Day: 圣乔治日即4月23日，是一个带有强烈宗教色彩的纪念日，主要在一些将圣乔治作为主保圣人的国家和地区间举行，包括英国、德国、格鲁吉亚、保加利亚、葡萄牙以及加泰罗尼亚。在英国，圣乔治日同时也是英格兰地区的国庆日。公元303年的这一天，圣乔治因试图阻止罗马皇帝对基督徒的迫害而被杀。

political correctness: the principle of avoiding language and behaviour that may offend particular groups of people 政治上正确（言行避免有歧视之嫌）

in the wake of: 随……之后而来；跟随在……后