The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格（大全5篇）

第一篇：The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格

The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格(Bradford Smith 布拉德福德·史密斯)

The following is part of an essay taken from Bradford Smith's book, Why We Behave Like Americans.Success as a goal and materialism, according to Smith, are among the underlying factors that make up the American character.以下節(jié)選自布拉德福德所著《為什么我們的舉止象美國(guó)人》里的一篇文章。據(jù)布拉德福德所說(shuō)，目標(biāo) 為成功和物質(zhì)享樂主義，構(gòu)成美國(guó)人性格的內(nèi)在因素。沒

When visitors from abroad undertake to describe the American Character, the results are frequently puzzling to Americans.“All Americans are Puritans;that's what's wrong with them,” says one.“They're always thinking about enjoying themselves,” says another.“They spend too much time at work,” a distinguished visitor tells us.“They don't know how to play.” “Americans don't know what work is, ” retorts another.“ Their machines do it all.” “American women are shameless sirens.” － “No, they're prudes.” “The children here are wonderful － outgoing and natural.” － “Natural as little beasts.They have no manners, no respect for their elders.” 要是讓國(guó)外來(lái)客描述美國(guó)人的性格，結(jié)果常常令美國(guó)人感到奇怪。一個(gè)人說(shuō)：“所有的美國(guó)人都是清教徒；所以他們與眾不同?！绷硪粋€(gè)人說(shuō)：“他們總是想方設(shè)法讓自己開心。”一位尊貴的客人告訴我們：“他們花在工作上的時(shí)間太多。他們不懂如何玩樂?！绷硪粋€(gè)人反駁說(shuō)：“他們不懂什么是工作。因?yàn)闄C(jī)器替他們做了一切?！薄懊绹?guó)女人是不知廉恥的，妖艷而危險(xiǎn)的女人。”--“不，她們假正經(jīng)?！薄斑@里的孩子真好－－外向，自然。”----“象小小的野獸一樣自然。他們沒禮貌，不尊敬長(zhǎng)輩。”

There is, of course, no single pattern of American character any more than there is a single English or Turkish or Chinese character.Personality in America is further complicated by our diverse racial and cultural origins, by successive waves of immigration from all parts of the world, by our regional diversities.It is complicated by several hundred varieties of religious belief with their varying impact on the believers.It is further diversified by the generation to which the person belongs － first generation immigrant, second generation child of immigrants, and on down the line.當(dāng)然，世上既沒有單一模式的美國(guó)人性格，也沒有單一的英國(guó)人性格或土耳其人性格或是中國(guó)人性格。個(gè)性的定義在美國(guó)變得更為復(fù)雜，因?yàn)槲覀冇胁煌姆N族和文化背景，因?yàn)閬?lái)自世界各地連續(xù)不斷的移民浪潮，因?yàn)槲覀儏^(qū)域的多樣性。個(gè)性的定義變得復(fù)雜，因?yàn)閹装俜N不同的宗教信仰及其對(duì)各自的信奉者的影響不同。個(gè)性的定義也由于每個(gè)人所處的年代不同而趨多樣化－－第一代是移民，第二代是移民的孩子，一直照此延續(xù)下去。

The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Yet those who look a little deeper are puzzled by the seeming contradictions in American life.It is true that Americans as a whole work hard.But they also play hard.They spend more time and money in traveling, camping, hunting, watching sports, drinking, smoking, going to movies, watching television and reading newspapers and magazines than any other people in the world.Yet they also spend more money on churches, social services, hospitals and all kinds of charities.They are always in a hurry, yet they spend more time relaxing.They are at the same time sensitive to the rights of the individual and habitual conformist.They worship bigness yet idealize the little man, whether he be the small business man as opposed to the big one or the plain citizen as opposed to the big wheel.強(qiáng)大的吸引力把眾多的美國(guó)人聚集在了一起。然而那些想再了解深入一點(diǎn)的人弄不懂美國(guó)人生活中各種似乎自相矛盾的東西。的確，美國(guó)人總體上工作努力。但他們也拼命地玩。他們?nèi)ヂ糜?、露營(yíng)、打獵、看體育比賽、喝酒、抽煙、看電影電視、讀報(bào)紙雜志，花的時(shí)間和金錢比世界任何地方的人都多。而他們還把更多的時(shí)間花在教會(huì)、社會(huì)服務(wù)、醫(yī)院和各種各樣的慈善活動(dòng)上。他們總是忙來(lái)忙去，又總是花更多的時(shí)間休閑。他們十分在乎個(gè)人的權(quán)利，又習(xí)慣于墨守陳規(guī)。他們崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化，不論他是和大商人形成對(duì)照的小商人，還是和大權(quán)在握的人形成對(duì)照的平民百姓。

Success as a Goal 成功作為目標(biāo)

One thing almost everyone is agreed on, including Americans, is that they place a very high valuation upon success.Success does not necessarily mean material rewards, but recognition of some sort － preferably measurable.If the boy turns out to be a preacher instead of a business man, that's all right.But the bigger his church and congregation, the more successful he is judged to be.包括美國(guó)人在內(nèi)幾乎每一個(gè)人都會(huì)贊同的一點(diǎn)是，美國(guó)人極為看重成功。成功不一定是物質(zhì)上的回報(bào)，而是得到某種認(rèn)可，最好是可以衡量的那種。如果一個(gè)男孩后來(lái)沒有從商，而是做了布道的教士，那也沒什么。但是他的教堂規(guī)模越大，教堂會(huì)眾越多，別人就認(rèn)為他越成功。

A good many things contributed to this accent on success.There was the Puritan belief in the virtue of work, both for its own sake and because the rewards it brought were regarded as signs of God's love.There was the richness of opportunity in a land waiting to be settled.There was the lack of a settled society with fixed ranks and classes, so that a man was certain to rise through achievement.好多事情都說(shuō)明，成功是美國(guó)人生活的重點(diǎn)。清教徒相信工作帶來(lái)的好處，既有工作本身的樂趣，還因?yàn)楣ぷ鞯幕貓?bào)是上帝之愛的體現(xiàn)。一片富饒的土地到處都是機(jī)遇，等待著人們到來(lái)。在一個(gè)不固守陳規(guī)的社會(huì)，沒有嚴(yán)格的等級(jí)和階級(jí)，這樣人就一定能通過(guò)成功提升自己的社會(huì)地位。

There was the determination of the immigrant to gain in the new world what had been denied to him in the old, and the part of his children an urge to throw off the immigrant onus by still more success and still more rise in a fluid, classless society.Brothers did not compete within the family for the favor of the parents as in Europe, but strove for success in the outer world, along paths of their own choosing.凡是舊的世界拒絕給的，移民決心都要在新的世界得到。對(duì)于他的后代而言，要擺脫作為移民的負(fù)擔(dān)，只有在一個(gè)靈活自由的無(wú)階級(jí)社會(huì)里取得更多的成功，升至更高的地位。他們的兄弟之間不象歐洲人那樣為獲得父母的歡心而相互傾軋，他們都在外面的世界沿著各自選擇的道路為成功而奮力拚搏。

The English anthropologist, Geoffrey Gorer, sees the whole situation in Freudian terms.Europe is the father rejected by every immigrant who turned his back on his own culture in order to make a new life in America.The immigrant's struggle for success never ends, because there is no limit to the possible goal.The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.The only way he can soften the blow is to achieve a still greater success.All over America the lawyers, doctors, professors and politicians with Italian, Irish, German or Polish names testify to the urgency of this drive.英國(guó)的人類學(xué)家杰弗里·戈羅爾用弗羅伊德的說(shuō)法來(lái)解釋這一切。歐洲是被所有的移民拋棄的父親，移民為了在美國(guó)過(guò)上新生活，背離了自己的文化。移民為了要成功從未停止過(guò)奮斗，因?yàn)槟繕?biāo) 的內(nèi)容沒有限制。同樣，第二代移民拒絕接受移民過(guò)來(lái)的父母，因?yàn)楹笳邿o(wú)法適應(yīng)美國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。他能減輕壓力的唯一方式，就是取得更大的成功。在整個(gè)美國(guó)，有意大利人、愛爾蘭人、德國(guó)人或波蘭人名字的律師、醫(yī)生、教授和政治家，都能證明這種成功欲望的強(qiáng)烈。

Not to strive, not to take advantage of the opportunities in such a world, not to succeed where success was so available － these things naturally became a sort of crime against the state.To develop the resources of a new country required energetic people, bent upon using their energies － not only for the rewards that would result to themselves, but even more important, to the community.So material success in the United States is not looked upon as selfish.Its results are seen to have communal value.要是不奮斗，不利用這個(gè)世界的各種機(jī)會(huì)去成功而不能成功---這些無(wú)疑都是對(duì)國(guó)家的一種犯罪。開發(fā)一個(gè)新國(guó)家的各種資源，需要精力充沛的人不遺余力地發(fā)揮他們的充沛精力---不僅僅是為了他們會(huì)得到的回報(bào)，更重要的是給社會(huì)帶來(lái)的回報(bào)。所以在美國(guó)，沒有人把物質(zhì)上的成功看成是自私的。成功的果實(shí)被看作具有全民共享的價(jià)值。

Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller built great fortunes for themselves.But they also built an economy which has brought a great deal of material well-being, higher health standards and better educational opportunities to millions of Americans.This is how it looks to us, anyway, from inside.福特、卡耐基、洛克菲勒，都為自己創(chuàng)造了極大的財(cái)富。但他們也建立起一種經(jīng)濟(jì)，既可以帶來(lái)許多物質(zhì)上的幸福，更高的健康水平，也可以給上千萬(wàn)的美國(guó)人創(chuàng)造更好地受教育的機(jī)會(huì)。無(wú)論怎樣，這就是成功的內(nèi)涵。

A society which values competition so highly is inevitably an aggressive one, even though the laws carefully limit the forms aggression may take.It has a toughness about it which is good for the muscle tone of the economy but hard on some individuals.In our pioneering days this aggressiveness was essential to survival.Now it can be a menace to society.The factory worker who reaches a dead end and sees himself stuck in the same job year after year may take out his aggressive feelings in race hatred or fighting management, or he may even turn it against himself by way of alcoholism, proneness to accident, or neurotic behavior.一個(gè)如此注重競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的社會(huì)必定是攻擊性的社會(huì)，盡管法律嚴(yán)格限制各種攻擊形式。這種對(duì)攻擊的嚴(yán)格限制對(duì) 完善經(jīng)濟(jì)的肌體有益，但對(duì)某些個(gè)人卻過(guò)于嚴(yán)格。在拓荒時(shí)代，這種攻擊性是生存所必需的，但現(xiàn)在可能是一種對(duì)社會(huì)的威脅。走投無(wú)路、常年被同一工作所困的工人可能會(huì)將這樣的攻擊性用于種族仇恨或反對(duì)管理，或開始酗酒、滋事、神經(jīng)質(zhì)、和自己過(guò)不去。

Since a high regard is felt for success, the rewards are high.Money is rarely cherished for itself in America;it is rather a symbol and a tool.As a man's status rises, the demands upon him also increase.He is expected to give liberally to the hundreds of voluntary associations which nourish and minister to the community.Look at the Who's Who entry for any prominent business man, and you are likely to find him involved in an amazing number of committees and associations organized for the public good.既然高度注重成功，回報(bào)也就很高。在美國(guó)，人們很少看重金錢本身，它更多的是一種標(biāo)志，一種工具。當(dāng)一個(gè)人的地位提高，人們對(duì)他的要求也相應(yīng)提高。成百上千各種各樣的志愿者協(xié)會(huì)有益于社會(huì)并服務(wù)于社會(huì)，人們期望他能慷慨捐錢給這些協(xié)會(huì)。你去看看《名人錄》，隨便找一個(gè)知名商人的條目，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)他參加的公益性委員會(huì)和協(xié)會(huì)多得令人吃驚。

This striving for success and prestige, according to psychologists, is a way of overcoming fears and a sense of inner emptiness.In a mobile society an energetic person can hardly help matching himself against others and seeing how far he can go.這種為成功和名望而奮斗的心理，按心理學(xué)家的說(shuō)法，是一種克服恐懼和內(nèi)心空虛感的方式。在一個(gè)時(shí)刻變化著的社會(huì)，一個(gè)有進(jìn)取精神的人難免會(huì)拿自己與別人相比，知道自己能達(dá)到的目標(biāo)是什么。

Such a system is fine for those who have it in them to succeed.It is not so good for the mediocre.The fear of failure, the fear of competitors, the loss of self esteem － these arouse tensions that some people cannot handle.In their turn they produce an excessive craving for love.So love and success are linked.Gorer believes that most Americans by the time they are adolescents have confused two ideas: to be successful is to be loved, and to be loved is to be successful.Mothers help to impose the pattern by showing affection and admiration when their children do well at school and by withholding affection when they fail.這種思維方式對(duì)于那些本來(lái)就這樣想的人是有利的。但對(duì)不求上進(jìn)的人卻沒什么好處。害怕失敗，害怕競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，喪失自尊---都導(dǎo)致了一些人無(wú)力應(yīng)付的緊張情緒。然后，這種緊張情緒就產(chǎn)生了對(duì)愛的極度渴望。因此愛和成功是密不可分的。戈羅爾認(rèn)為，許多美國(guó)人在少年時(shí)期就被兩個(gè)問題困擾：成功就是要得到愛，要得到愛就要成功。母親們把這個(gè)模式成功地灌輸給孩子：孩子們?cè)趯W(xué)校里表現(xiàn)好，她們就對(duì)他們顯示出無(wú)限的疼愛和喜愛；孩子們要是做得不好，她們就拒絕給予關(guān)愛。

Since there are no limits of class, inherited occupation or education to hold a child back, there are, in theory, no limits to what he can achieve.Consequently there is no point at which he can say: “ There, I've done it.From now on all I have to do is to hold on.” Since any boy can, in theory, become President, striving is a moral obligation.Achievement, not class, is the standard by which men are judged.There is little or no glory attached to being born wealthy or privileged;the real test is how far you climb from where you started.既然沒有階級(jí)限制、世襲職業(yè)或教育來(lái)阻礙孩子的發(fā)展，所以從理論上說(shuō)，他所能取得的成就也沒有限制。如果他說(shuō)：“哦，我已經(jīng)做到了。從現(xiàn)在起我要做的就是繼續(xù)保持，”這樣的話毫無(wú)意義。因?yàn)?，理論上，任何孩子都可以做總統(tǒng)，奮斗是一種道德上的義務(wù)。評(píng)價(jià)人的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是成功而不是階級(jí)。不論出身豪門還是出身顯赫，都沒有什么可炫耀的；真正的考驗(yàn)就是：從你的起點(diǎn)你能爬多高。

Americans love work.It is meat and drink to them.In recent years they have learned how to play, but they make work of that too.If it's skiing, they throw themselves at it with an effort that would kill a horse.If it's a vacation, they travel five or six hundred miles a day, take in the sights at sixty miles an hour, pause only long enough to snap pictures, and then discover what it was they went to see when they get home and look at the photographs.美國(guó)人熱愛工作。工作就是他們的命根子。近年來(lái)他們已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)玩，但是將玩也當(dāng)成了工作。要是去滑雪，他們就在雪地上猛沖，那樣子連馬都會(huì)累死。如果去度假，他們就每天開車五六百公里，以每小時(shí)60英里的速度觀光，沿途只停下來(lái)拍些快照。然后，發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己要看的東西是怎么一回事，就打道回府，回去看照片。

Until very recently there has always been a great deal of work to do in this country, a great deal that needed doing.At the beginning men of all sorts and conditions had to pitch in.The preacher had to fell trees and plough fields.The teacher, the doctor and the magistrate had to shoulder guns for the common defense.The farmer made his own tools, harness, household equipment.He was blacksmith, carpenter, tinsmith, brewer and veterinary all rolled into one, as his wife was spinster, weaver and doctor.直到最近，這個(gè)國(guó)家還總是有許多事要做，還有許多事情必須要做。以前不管什么人都工作得很辛苦。傳教士要伐樹、犁田。教師、醫(yī)生，還有地方法官得扛著槍當(dāng)民兵。農(nóng)場(chǎng)主自己動(dòng)手做工具、馬鞍和家用器具。他集鐵匠、木匠、白鐵匠、啤酒釀造者和獸醫(yī)于一身。他的妻子既是紡紗工、織布工，又是醫(yī)生。

Americans still like to be handy at all things.College professors go in for making furniture or remodeling an old house in the country.Bankers don aprons and become expert barbecue chefs.Nearly everyone knows how to use tools, make simple repairs to plumbing or electrical fixtures, refinish furniture or paint a wall.Far from being thought a disgrace if he performs these “menial” tasks, a man is thought ridiculous if he does not know how to perform them.美國(guó)人仍然喜歡什么都學(xué)著做。大學(xué)教授喜歡做家具或是改造鄉(xiāng)下的老房子。銀行家穿上圍裙，就成了專業(yè)的燒烤廚師。幾乎每一個(gè)人都懂得使用工具，懂得簡(jiǎn)單的下水道或電力裝置的修理，還會(huì)修家具，刷墻。做這些“粗活”絕不會(huì)讓人認(rèn)為不體面，不會(huì)做才是讓人覺得不可思議呢。

Along with this urge to be jack-of-all-trades goes a willingness to change from one occupation to another.It surprises no one in America when the banker's son becomes a farmer or vice versa.Or when a college professor shifts into industry, or a young man who starts out with a truck purchased on credit ends up running an enterprise with fleets of trucks spanning several states.President Truman was a farmer, an operator of a haberdashery and an army officer before he turned to law and politics.James Bryant Conant, first a chemist, then President of Harvard University, resigned this highest post in the academic world to become High Commissioner and then Ambassador to Germany.與這種成為萬(wàn)事通愿望并存的是變換職業(yè)的愿望。在美國(guó)，不管是銀行家的兒子當(dāng)了農(nóng)場(chǎng)主還是農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的兒子做了銀行家，都不會(huì)讓人吃驚。更不用說(shuō)大學(xué)教授轉(zhuǎn)行干上了實(shí)業(yè)。一個(gè)年輕人靠一輛貸款買來(lái)的卡車起家，后來(lái)當(dāng)上了公司的老板，擁有卡車車隊(duì)，行駛在好幾個(gè)州。杜魯門總統(tǒng)經(jīng)營(yíng)過(guò)農(nóng)場(chǎng)，開過(guò)男裝店，當(dāng)過(guò)陸軍軍官，后來(lái)才轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)法律和政治。詹姆斯·布萊恩特·克蘭特原先是化學(xué)家，后來(lái)?yè)?dān)任哈佛大學(xué)的校長(zhǎng)，辭去了這個(gè)學(xué)術(shù)界的最高職位后擔(dān)任了高級(jí)公共事務(wù)官員，后被任命為駐德大使。

“For a European,” writes Andre Maurois, “l(fā)ife is a career;for an American, it is a succession of hazards.” 安德魯·莫里斯寫道“對(duì)于歐洲人來(lái)說(shuō)，生活是生命的歷程，而對(duì)于美國(guó)人，生活就是一個(gè)接一個(gè)的危險(xiǎn)。”

A single individual can be at once an intellectual, a Boy Scout leader, a business man, a sportsman, a dabbler in music or painting, a nature-lover, and one who does many of his own household chores.An employer, he may go hunting with his own or someone else's employees.A shopkeeper, he may run for local office and be on familiar terms with professional men and government officials.He will live on several levels which in other countries might be separated by class distinctions.一個(gè)人可以同時(shí)是知識(shí)分子，童子軍首領(lǐng)，商人，運(yùn)動(dòng)健將，音樂繪畫的愛好者，熱愛大自然的人，做大部分家務(wù)的人。當(dāng)老板的也許會(huì)和自己的或別人的雇員一起打獵。經(jīng)營(yíng)商店的可能會(huì)競(jìng)選當(dāng)?shù)氐恼毼?，熟悉專業(yè)人士和政府官員。他可以同時(shí)位于別的國(guó)家也許會(huì)用等級(jí)的概念來(lái)劃分的不同社會(huì)階層。

The emphasis on success and achievement, coupled as it is with a desire to be loved and admired, leads to a critical dilemma of personality.To succeed one must be aggressive;to be liked, one must be easy-going and friendly.強(qiáng)調(diào)成功和成就，再加上要得到愛和贊賞的強(qiáng)烈愿望，會(huì)導(dǎo)致個(gè)性發(fā)展的兩難境地：要成功，人就必須好斗；要?jiǎng)e人喜歡自己，人就得寬容、友好。

One way out of the difficulty is to acquire groups of friends － lodge brothers, members of the same church, a veteran's organization － towards whom you are pledged in friendship.Having thus acquired assured friends, you can practice your aggression on those who don't belong.This pattern explains to some extent the suspicion or hostility towards those of other races or religions.走出困境的一個(gè)辦法就是有成群的朋友---會(huì)社支部的會(huì)員，同一教堂的成員，退伍軍人組織---他們一定會(huì)給你友誼。有了這些可以信賴的朋友，你就可以對(duì)那些不在朋友之列的人表現(xiàn)出你的攻擊力。這種模式也或多或少地解釋了，為什么會(huì)對(duì)其他的種族或教會(huì)的人持懷疑敵視的態(tài)度。

Materialism 物質(zhì)享樂主義

The men and women who staked everything on America were for the most part poor.They struggled hard, went without, and saved in order to build up a business or buy a farm of their own.The freedom to own rather than the freedom to vote was the magnet that drew the majority of them across oceans.Naturally enough they put a high value upon the land or the business they acquired through their own efforts.把賭注都押在美國(guó)的男男女女絕大多數(shù)是窮人。他們努力掙扎，忍氣吞聲，努力存錢，目的就是做點(diǎn)買賣，買個(gè)屬于自己的農(nóng)場(chǎng)。像磁鐵一般吸引著他們大多數(shù)人遠(yuǎn)涉重洋的，是擁有財(cái)產(chǎn)的自由而不是投票的自由。所以他們很看重靠自己的努力得來(lái)的土地和做的買賣。

In contrast with this natural acquisitiveness of the new arrivals, the American attitude toward money is quite different.As the German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg observed, the American “prizes the gold he gets primarily as an indication of his ability....It is, therefore, fundamentally false to stigmatize the American as a materialist, and to deny his idealism....The American merchant works for money in exactly the sense that a great painter works for money －” as a mark of appreciation for his work.和初來(lái)者自然的獲取思想相比，美國(guó)人對(duì)錢的態(tài)度是很不一樣的。就象德國(guó)心理學(xué)家休格·愛斯特伯格所指出的，美國(guó)人“很看重他挖到的金子，主要是因?yàn)榻鹱邮撬哪芰Φ捏w現(xiàn)……因此把美國(guó)人定義為物質(zhì)享樂主義者而否認(rèn)他的理想主義，從根本上就是錯(cuò)誤的……美國(guó)的商人為錢工作，偉大的畫家為錢繪畫，意義是完全一樣的——”，都是是對(duì)自己的工作欣賞的標(biāo)志。

The acquisition of money is important as the clearest proof of success, though there are other acceptable proofs － prominence, public notice, good works, fame.But the retention of money is not important at all.Indeed, it may be frowned upon if it keeps the owner from living well, subscribing generously to a long list of charities, and providing for members of the family who may have been less fortunate.獲得金錢是重要的，因?yàn)殄X最能證明成功。當(dāng)然還有人們可以接受的其他的證明---卓越，公眾矚目，工作優(yōu)秀，名聲，等等。但是存錢并不重要。事實(shí)上，錢的主人留著錢，不過(guò)好日子，不慷慨地捐款給大串的慈善機(jī)構(gòu)，不接濟(jì)家里沒錢的人，人們也會(huì)不喜歡。

So the materialism that strikes a visitor to America is not that of loving and hoarding wealth;it is a love of making and consuming wealth.It is probably a middle-class rather than a distinctively American phenomenon, for most Americans are middle-class.所以，到美國(guó)的人感到震驚的不是物質(zhì)享樂主義的愛財(cái)和守財(cái)，而是美國(guó)人的既喜歡賺錢又喜歡花錢。這可能不是美國(guó)人特有的性格，而是中產(chǎn)階級(jí)才有的現(xiàn)象，因?yàn)榇蠖鄶?shù)美國(guó)人都是中產(chǎn)階級(jí)。

America has been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.It learned during the depression that even a rich country can become impoverished if it fails to use its wealth to benefit the majority.And it does not propose to make that error again.A sizable portion of what it produces goes overseas, including agricultural and industrial machinery sent with the hope that standards of production and consumption can be raised in other parts of the world too.上天賦予美國(guó)豐富的自然資源。但在大蕭條時(shí)期美國(guó)人懂得了，如果一個(gè)國(guó)家不把財(cái)富造福社會(huì)，再富有也會(huì)遭受貧困。它再也不會(huì)重蹈覆轍。美國(guó)生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品相當(dāng)一部分到了國(guó)外，其中有工農(nóng)業(yè)用的機(jī)械設(shè)備，就是希望世界其他地方的生產(chǎn)水平和消費(fèi)水平能得到提高。

There is no denying the fact that the high level of production does lead to a high level of material comfort, and that Americans are mighty fond of having things that are new, shine, softly padded, conveniently arranged, efficient, and so far as may be, effortless.The bread comes already sliced so that the housewife need not exert herself to slice it.It used to be that when she put the bread in the toaster, she had to turn it once to toast both sides.Then came the toaster which did both sides at once, then the toaster which popped the toast out when it was done, so that she did not have to turn a handle to raise it.Soon, no doubt, there will be a toaster which butters the toast, cuts it in quarters, and puts it on a plate.Perhaps there is one even now.無(wú)法否認(rèn)這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)：高水平的生產(chǎn)一定會(huì)帶來(lái)高水平的物質(zhì)享受，所以美國(guó)人非常喜歡把東西做得新穎、光亮，有柔軟的襯墊，使用起來(lái)方便，這樣就可以不費(fèi)氣力。買回來(lái)的面包已經(jīng)切好片，主婦就省得再切。以前她把面包放進(jìn)烤面包機(jī)，還要翻轉(zhuǎn)一次面包，才能烤另一面。于是就有了可以同時(shí)烤兩面的烤面包機(jī)，烤完了還會(huì)把烤的面包送出來(lái)。所以她不必轉(zhuǎn)手柄就能拿到烤面包。過(guò)不久，肯定會(huì)有更新的烤面包機(jī)，可以把烤面包涂上黃油，切成四分之一塊，然后放到盤子上。說(shuō)不定現(xiàn)在就已經(jīng)有這樣的烤面包機(jī)了。

Food comes ready-cooked and frozen, vegetables already washed.Floor wax must be self-polishing, pens write for years without having to be filled.Storm windows change to summer screens at a touch.Heat is thoroughly automatic, and air conditioning keeps the house equally comfortable in summer.Automation now promises to put a final end to all drudgery, even to building in the controls which will keep the machines from making mistakes.食物買的時(shí)候是煮熟的、冰凍的，蔬菜是已經(jīng)洗干凈的。地板蠟肯定是自動(dòng)上光的，鋼筆寫上幾年都不用上墨水。輕輕一按，防暴風(fēng)雪的窗子就變成了夏天的屏幕。暖氣是自動(dòng)的，冷氣使房子即使在夏天也一樣舒適。自動(dòng)化現(xiàn)在可以讓人再也不用做單調(diào)乏味的工作，自動(dòng)裝置用在控制器中，機(jī)器再也不會(huì)出錯(cuò)。

Why is it that, having created a world in which he could live without raising a hand or taking a step, the American habitually seeks ways of letting off steam? His towns are full of bowling alleys, golf clubs, tennis courts, clubs, lodges, churches and associations into which he pours energy both physical and mental.The labor-saving gadgets, the love of comfort turn out to be ways of saving his time and energy for something else.美國(guó)人創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)不用舉手投足就能過(guò)得舒舒服服的世界，為什么還是習(xí)慣于用各種方式放松自己呢？他們住的地方到處都是保齡球館，高爾夫俱樂部，網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)，俱樂部，房子，教堂，以及各種可以讓他們?nèi)硇耐度氲膮f(xié)會(huì)。他們制造省時(shí)省力的小器具，喜歡舒適，就是為了節(jié)約時(shí)間和精力做其他的事情。

(2476 words)Culture notes: 1)Materialism: It is a general view about what actually exists.Put bluntly, the view is just this: Everything that actually exists is material, or physical.Many philosophers and scientists now use the terms `material' and `physical' interchangeably.Characterized in this way, as a doctrine about what exists, materialism is an ontological, or a metaphysical view;it is not just an epistemological view about how we know or just a semantic view about the meaning of terms.2)Puritan: It was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church;they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England.Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.Most of American puritans held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought.In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience.During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America.In the 19th century its influence was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations.3)Boy Scout of America(BSA): It was incorporated on February 8, 1910, and charted by Congress in 1916.Its purpose is to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness.4)Sigmund Freud:(1856-1939), The inventor of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, changed the way we all think about ourselves, our language, and our culture.Drawing upon both nineteenth-century science and nineteenth-century Romanticism, Freud created a description of the mind that emphasizes the major role played by unconscious drives, particularly those of sexuality.His theories, which struck many contemporaries as sordid and threatening, represents the most recent democratization or leveling of the old hierarchical conception of mind.5)Andre Maurois: Biographer, novelist, essayist, children's writer.Maurois is best known for his vivid, romantic style biographies of such authors as Shelley, Byron, Balzac, Proust and others.The Quest for Proust is considered by many his finest biography.

第二篇：The_American_Character_美國(guó)人的性格

The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格(Bradford Smith 布拉德福德·史密斯)摘自：英語(yǔ)泛讀教程

When visitors from abroad undertake to describe the American Character, the results are frequently puzzling to Americans.“All Americans are Puritans;that's what's wrong with them,” says one.“They're always thinking about enjoying themselves,” says another.“They spend too much time at work,” a distinguished visitor tells us.“They don't know how to play.” “Americans don't know what work is, ” retorts another.“ Their machines do it all.” “American women are shameless sirens.” － “No, they're prudes.” “The children here are wonderful － outgoing and natural.” － “Natural as little beasts.They have no manners, no respect for their elders.” 要是讓國(guó)外來(lái)客描述美國(guó)人的性格，結(jié)果常常令美國(guó)人感到奇怪。一個(gè)人說(shuō)：“所有的美國(guó)人都是清教徒；所以他們與眾不同?！绷硪粋€(gè)人說(shuō)：“他們總是想方設(shè)法讓自己開心?！币晃蛔鹳F的客人告訴我們：“他們花在工作上的時(shí)間太多。他們不懂如何玩樂?！绷硪粋€(gè)人反駁說(shuō)：“他們不懂什么是工作。因?yàn)闄C(jī)器替他們做了一切?！薄懊绹?guó)女人是不知廉恥的，妖艷而危險(xiǎn)的女人?！?-“不，她們假正經(jīng)?！薄斑@里的孩子真好－－外向，自然。”----“象小小的野獸一樣自然。他們沒禮貌，不尊敬長(zhǎng)輩?！?/p>

The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Yet those who look a little deeper are puzzled by the seeming contradictions in American life.It is true that Americans as a whole work hard.But they also play hard.They spend more time and money in traveling, camping, hunting, watching sports, drinking, smoking, going to movies, watching television and reading newspapers and magazines than any other people in the world.Yet they also spend more money on churches, social services, hospitals and all kinds of charities.They are always in a hurry, yet they spend more time relaxing.They are at the same time sensitive to the rights of the individual and habitual conformist.They worship 1 bigness yet idealize the little man, whether he be the small business man as opposed to the big one or the plain citizen as opposed to the big wheel.強(qiáng)大的吸引力把眾多的美國(guó)人聚集在了一起。然而那些想再了解深入一點(diǎn)的人弄不懂美國(guó)人生活中各種似乎自相矛盾的東西。的確，美國(guó)人總體上工作努力。但他們也拼命地玩。他們?nèi)ヂ糜巍⒙稜I(yíng)、打獵、看體育比賽、喝酒、抽煙、看電影電視、讀報(bào)紙雜志，花的時(shí)間和金錢比世界任何地方的人都多。而他們還把更多的時(shí)間花在教會(huì)、社會(huì)服務(wù)、醫(yī)院和各種各樣的慈善活動(dòng)上。他們總是忙來(lái)忙去，又總是花更多的時(shí)間休閑。他們十分在乎個(gè)人的權(quán)利，又習(xí)慣于墨守陳規(guī)。他們崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化，不論他是和大商人形成對(duì)照的小商人，還是和大權(quán)在握的人形成對(duì)照的平民百姓。

Success as a Goal 成功作為目標(biāo)

The English anthropologist, Geoffrey Gorer, sees the whole situation in Freudian terms.Europe is the father rejected by every immigrant who turned his back on his own culture in order to make a new life in America.The immigrant's struggle for success never ends, because there is no limit to the possible goal.The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.The only way he can soften the blow is to achieve a still greater success.All over America the lawyers, 2 doctors, professors and politicians with Italian, Irish, German or Polish names testify to the urgency of this drive.英國(guó)的人類學(xué)家杰弗里·戈羅爾用弗羅伊德的說(shuō)法來(lái)解釋這一切。歐洲是被所有的移民拋棄的父親，移民為了在美國(guó)過(guò)上新生活，背離了自己的文化。移民為了要成功從未停止過(guò)奮斗，因?yàn)槟繕?biāo) 的內(nèi)容沒有限制。同樣，第二代移民拒絕接受移民過(guò)來(lái)的父母，因?yàn)楹笳邿o(wú)法適應(yīng)美國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。他能減輕壓力的唯一方式，就是取得更大的成功。在整個(gè)美國(guó)，有意大利人、愛爾蘭人、德國(guó)人或波蘭人名字的律師、醫(yī)生、教授和政治家，都能證明這種成功欲望的強(qiáng)烈。

Since a high regard is felt for success, the rewards are high.Money is rarely cherished for itself in America;it is rather a symbol and a tool.As a man's status rises, the demands upon him also increase.He is expected to give liberally to the hundreds of voluntary associations which nourish and minister to the community.Look at the Who's Who entry for 3 any prominent business man, and you are likely to find him involved in an amazing number of committees and associations organized for the public good.既然高度注重成功，回報(bào)也就很高。在美國(guó)，人們很少看重金錢本身，它更多的是一種標(biāo)志，一種工具。當(dāng)一個(gè)人的地位提高，人們對(duì)他的要求也相應(yīng)提高。成百上千各種各樣的志愿者協(xié)會(huì)有益于社會(huì)并服務(wù)于社會(huì)，人們期望他能慷慨捐錢給這些協(xié)會(huì)。你去看看《名人錄》，隨便找一個(gè)知名商人的條目，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)他參加的公益性委員會(huì)和協(xié)會(huì)多得令人吃驚。

Since there are no limits of class, inherited occupation or education to hold a child back, there are, in theory, no limits to what he can achieve.Consequently there is no point at which he can say: “There, I've done it.From now on all I have to do is to hold on.” Since any boy can, in theory, become President, striving is a moral obligation.Achievement, not class, is the standard by which men are judged.There is little or no glory attached to being born wealthy or privileged;the real test is how far you climb from where you started.既然沒有階級(jí)限制、世襲職業(yè)或教育來(lái)阻礙孩子的發(fā)展，所以從理論上說(shuō)，他所能取得的成就也沒有限制。如果他說(shuō)：“哦，我已經(jīng)做到了。從現(xiàn)在起我要做的就是繼續(xù)保持，”這樣的話毫無(wú)意義。因?yàn)椋碚撋?，任何孩子都可以做總統(tǒng)，奮斗是一種道德上的義務(wù)。評(píng)價(jià)人的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是成功而不是階級(jí)。不論出身豪門還是出身顯赫，都沒有什么可炫耀的；真正的考驗(yàn)就是：從你的起點(diǎn)你能爬多高。

Americans love work.It is meat and drink to them.In recent years they have learned how to play, but they make work of that too.If it's skiing, they throw themselves at it with an effort that would kill a horse.If it's a vacation, they travel five or six hundred miles a day, take in the sights at sixty miles an hour, pause only long enough to snap pictures, and then discover what it was they went to see when they get home and look at the photographs.美國(guó)人熱愛工作。工作就是他們的命根子。近年來(lái)他們已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)玩，但是將玩也當(dāng)成了工作。要是去滑 4 雪，他們就在雪地上猛沖，那樣子連馬都會(huì)累死。如果去度假，他們就每天開車五六百公里，以每小時(shí)60英里的速度觀光，沿途只停下來(lái)拍些快照。然后，發(fā)現(xiàn)了自己要看的東西是怎么一回事，就打道回府，回去看照片。

A single individual can be at once an intellectual, a Boy Scout leader, a business man, a 5 sportsman, a dabbler in music or painting, a nature-lover, and one who does many of his own household chores.An employer, he may go hunting with his own or someone else's employees.A shopkeeper, he may run for local office and be on familiar terms with professional men and government officials.He will live on several levels which in other countries might be separated by class distinctions.一個(gè)人可以同時(shí)是知識(shí)分子，童子軍首領(lǐng)，商人，運(yùn)動(dòng)健將，音樂繪畫的愛好者，熱愛大自然的人，做大部分家務(wù)的人。當(dāng)老板的也許會(huì)和自己的或別人的雇員一起打獵。經(jīng)營(yíng)商店的可能會(huì)競(jìng)選當(dāng)?shù)氐恼毼?，熟悉專業(yè)人士和政府官員。他可以同時(shí)位于別的國(guó)家也許會(huì)用等級(jí)的概念來(lái)劃分的不同社會(huì)階層。

Materialism 物質(zhì)享樂主義

In contrast with this natural acquisitiveness of the new arrivals, the American attitude toward money is quite different.As the German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg observed, the American “prizes the gold he gets primarily as an indication of his ability....It is, therefore, fundamentally false to stigmatize the American as a materialist, and to deny his idealism....The American merchant works for money in exactly the sense that a great painter works for money －” as a mark of appreciation for his work.和初來(lái)者自然的獲取思想相比，美國(guó)人對(duì)錢的態(tài)度是很不一樣的。就象德國(guó)心理學(xué)家休格·愛斯特伯格所指出的，美國(guó)人“很看重他挖到的金子，主要是因?yàn)榻鹱邮撬哪芰Φ捏w現(xiàn)……因此把美國(guó)人定義為物質(zhì)享樂主義者而否認(rèn)他的理想主義，從根本上就是錯(cuò)誤的……美國(guó)的商人為錢工作，偉大的畫家為錢繪 6 畫，意義是完全一樣的——”，都是是對(duì)自己的工作欣賞的標(biāo)志。

Food comes ready-cooked and frozen, vegetables already washed.Floor wax must be 7 self-polishing, pens write for years without having to be filled.Storm windows change to summer screens at a touch.Heat is thoroughly automatic, and air conditioning keeps the house equally comfortable in summer.Automation now promises to put a final end to all drudgery, even to building in the controls which will keep the machines from making mistakes.食物買的時(shí)候是煮熟的、冰凍的，蔬菜是已經(jīng)洗干凈的。地板蠟肯定是自動(dòng)上光的，鋼筆寫上幾年都不用上墨水。輕輕一按，防暴風(fēng)雪的窗子就變成了夏天的屏幕。暖氣是自動(dòng)的，冷氣使房子即使在夏天也一樣舒適。自動(dòng)化現(xiàn)在可以讓人再也不用做單調(diào)乏味的工作，自動(dòng)裝置用在控制器中，機(jī)器再也不會(huì)出錯(cuò)。

(2476 words)The Influence of the Frontier 邊疆的影響

The special quality of American culture arises from what the American land and climate did to men who brought with them the glories and the burdens of European culture.Released from the feudal restraints which still clung to ownership even in the seventeenth century, they were driven by long hunger to possess land of their own.The hazards of settling that land － taking it from the Indian by treaty or battle, struggling through trackless forests to find it, hewing out homes and raising crops with nothing but a few simple tools, dying sometimes in battle or from weather or hunger － these hazards quickly changed into Americans the Europeans who survived.It was struggle that shaped the American spirit.美國(guó)文化的特殊性質(zhì)來(lái)自美國(guó)的土地和氣候?qū)θ说挠绊?，而這些人帶到美國(guó)的，既有歐洲文化輝煌的一面和也有其落后的一面。從十七世紀(jì)封建所有制桎梏中解脫出來(lái)后，他們渴望擁有自己的土地。他們要得到那片夢(mèng)想的土地就要冒各種各樣的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)--通過(guò)協(xié)商或戰(zhàn)斗的方式從印地安人那里得到土地；或者跋涉人跡罕至的森林找到土地；用簡(jiǎn)陋的工具砍樹蓋房開荒種地；有時(shí)會(huì)死在戰(zhàn)斗中，有時(shí)死于天災(zāi)或饑餓---這些危險(xiǎn)很快地把活下來(lái)的歐洲人改變成美國(guó)人。正是努力拚搏造就了美國(guó)精神。

The frontier experience, so strong in its impact, so harsh a teacher, brought new traits to the fore.The hard conditions of the daily life made for crudeness in manners.The competition for favorable land(or later for gold), the need to kill in order to stay alive, the absence of law and order made men touch, brutal sometimes, and quick to resort to brute strength.This violence has continued in such aspects of our life as gangsterism, race riots, corrupt politics, union racketeering and the violent political attack.邊疆的經(jīng)驗(yàn)影響很大，象一位非常嚴(yán)厲的教師，突出了一些新的特點(diǎn)。日常生活的艱苦使人的態(tài)度也粗魯起來(lái)。而他們?yōu)榱艘粔K好土地爭(zhēng)得你死我活（后來(lái)爭(zhēng)的是金子），必須殺人才能活下來(lái)，沒有法律和秩序，人變得粗暴殘忍，動(dòng)不動(dòng)就使用暴力。這種暴力還繼續(xù)存在于我們生活中的各個(gè)方面，比如盜匪、種族騷亂、政治腐敗、有組織的敲詐勒索、暴力性政治攻擊。

Hard as the life was, it also offered great riches, sometimes for a small return.Hence the “get rich quick” philosophy － the belief that hard work and a little luck would turn all things into gold.Traders got rich furs from the Indians for mere trinkets.Out of the earth came gold, silver, oil －other than the shower of gold Zeus rained down upon Danae.Then came the robber barons to make vast fortunes by manipulating railroads, and finally the gambling in stocks which affected everyone until the Wall Street collapse in 1929.盡管生活曾如此艱難，還是提供了大量的財(cái)富，有時(shí)只要付出很少的代價(jià)。于是有了“快速致富”的人生哲學(xué)---相信努力工作加上一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)運(yùn)氣就能把一切都變成金子。做買賣的人用廉價(jià)的小首飾從印地安人那兒買到了值錢的毛皮。地里可以挖出金子，銀子，石油---而不是宙斯在達(dá)那厄下的金雨。搶劫頭目靠著操縱鐵路發(fā)了橫財(cái)，再有就是在股票上的賭博，影響了所有的人，直到1929年華爾街股市崩潰。

But the frontier fostered positive traits too.It encouraged energetic activity and dignified labor with the hands.It made of the independent, self-reliant farmer a symbol which still influences our national life.It produced a resourceful, inquisitive, practical-minded type, able to turn his hand to any sort of work, preferring to govern himself in small, easily adaptable to a new environment, relatively free of class distinctions, full of optimism and faith in the country which had rewarded him so well.但是邊疆也培養(yǎng)了好的品質(zhì)。它鼓勵(lì)積極行動(dòng)，尊重用雙手勞動(dòng)。它使獨(dú)立自主、自力更生的農(nóng)場(chǎng)主成為一個(gè)象征，至今仍影響著我們國(guó)家的生活。它造就了隨機(jī)應(yīng)變、愛鉆研、想法實(shí)際的性格，能做任何工作，喜歡從小事做起，容易適應(yīng)新的環(huán)境，相對(duì)不受階級(jí)劃分的影響，對(duì)讓他得到好的回報(bào)的國(guó)家充滿樂觀主義和信心。

All these traits live on, one way or another, in the contemporary American.The frontier has not disappeared with the spanning of the continent, or the end of homesteading.As a matter of fact, the government still has lands for homesteading which it disposes of at the rate of forty thousand to fifty thousand acres a year.More important, the pioneer spirit is deeply embedded in the American's concept of himself.所有這些品質(zhì)還以這樣或那樣的形式存在于當(dāng)代美國(guó)人身上。邊疆沒有隨著大陸的聯(lián)合或自耕農(nóng)場(chǎng)的消失而消失。實(shí)際上，政府仍有土地用于自耕農(nóng)場(chǎng)，每年大約賣掉四五萬(wàn)英畝。更為重要的是，開拓精神已經(jīng)深深地根植于美國(guó)人的自我概念中。

The American Creed 美國(guó)人的信條

What then are the ideas or beliefs that shape American character? 那么是什么樣的思想或信念塑造了美國(guó)人的性格呢？

Says George Satayana: “This national faith and morality are vague in idea, but inexorable in spirit;they are the gospel of work and the belief in progress.” 喬治·沙塔亞納說(shuō)：“民族的信仰和道德在觀念上是含糊的，但在精神上有不可阻擋的力量；它們是工作的原則，是對(duì)進(jìn)步的信念?！?/p>

Clyde Kluckhohn finds implicit in the American creed a faith in the rational, a need for moralistic rationalization, an optimistic conviction that rational effort counts, faith in the individual and his rights, the cult of the common man(not only as to his rights, but as to his massed political wisdom), the high valuation put on change and progress, and on pleasure consciously pursued as a good.克萊德·克魯克恩認(rèn)為，美國(guó)人的信條中含有堅(jiān)信理性，對(duì)道德合理化的需要，對(duì)理性的努力重要這一點(diǎn)抱樂觀態(tài)度和深信不疑，堅(jiān)信個(gè)人及其權(quán)利，崇拜普通人（不僅崇拜他的權(quán)利，也崇拜他積累的政治智慧），高度評(píng)價(jià)改革和進(jìn)步，有意識(shí)地把善作為一種快樂來(lái)追求。

Equally strong is the American's faith in his institutions.The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution lay down the fundamental principles of self-government with such clarity and finality that we are prone to regard them as an American invention, or at any rate as principles and rights which are peculiarly ours.These hallowed documents provide us with basic principles which, thanks to their deistic background, are presented as coeval with creation and incapable of being questioned or upset.Therefore we do not have to agonize over basic principles;they are given us, once for all.同樣，美國(guó)人篤信自己的制度。《獨(dú)立宣言》和《憲法》用明確和結(jié)論式的語(yǔ)言記載下自治政府的基本原則，所以我們就很容易把它們當(dāng)成是美國(guó)人的發(fā)明，至少是看成我們獨(dú)有的原則和權(quán)利。這些被視為神圣的文獻(xiàn)能給我們提供基本的原則，由于它們的自然神論的背景，所以人們認(rèn)為它們和創(chuàng)造性處于同一時(shí)代，不會(huì)受到質(zhì)疑，也不會(huì)被推翻。因此我們無(wú)需為基本原則感到痛苦；這些原則被賜給我們，能伴我們到永遠(yuǎn)。

The lack of reflectiveness which observers find in us arises partly from this conviction that our goals are set and do not need to be debated;we have only to work hard in order to reach them.To create, to build － to clear a new field, sink a new mine, start a new civic organization, develop a new business － this is what Americans admire.This is what they dream of.Like all creators, they are suspicious of critics.觀察者們發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們?nèi)狈λ伎?，而這部分原因是認(rèn)為我們的目標(biāo)是既定的，無(wú)須再討論；我們只要努力達(dá)到目標(biāo)即可。創(chuàng)造，建設(shè)---開辟一個(gè)新領(lǐng)域，挖掘新礦，建立新的市民組織，發(fā)展一項(xiàng)新的事業(yè)---這才是美國(guó)人崇拜的。也是他們夢(mèng)寐以求的。與所有的創(chuàng)造者一樣，他們不信任批評(píng)家。

For this reason, and because they are active participants rather than passive observers, they feel obliged to defend the country against any outside censures, no matter how bitterly they attack its shortcomings themselves.De Tocqueville, much as he admired the United States, found this patriotism irritating.If you stop praising them, he complains, the Americans fall to praising themselves.What he observed, of course, was part of the love and be loved pattern which in spite of its naivete has obvious advantages over the hate and be hated regimen which has determined so much of human history.基于這個(gè)原因，也因?yàn)樗麄兪欠e極的參與者而不是消極的觀察家，他們覺得有義務(wù)使國(guó)家不受外界責(zé)難，盡管他們自己抨擊起國(guó)家毫不留情。德托奎葉爾雖然十分崇拜美國(guó)，但覺得美國(guó)人的愛國(guó)主義讓人難以忍受。他抱怨說(shuō)，如果你停止對(duì)他們的贊美，美國(guó)人就會(huì)自己夸自己。他所看到的當(dāng)然就是愛與被愛模式的部分表現(xiàn)，雖然這個(gè)模式缺乏智慧，但比對(duì)人類歷史產(chǎn)生重大影響的恨與被恨的制度有顯而易見的長(zhǎng)處。

Humor 幽默

The sense of humor is often the most revealing aspect of a culture.Surely humor has never been valued more highly in any civilization than in this one.Will Rogers is venerated as a national hero for his pungent, earthy comment on the American scene － for his gift of making Americans see what is ridiculous in themselves.Mark Twain, in many ways our most representative writer, is admired not so much because of his skill at picturing American life as for his humor.It is part of the optimism of our outlook that we prefer comedy to tragedy, and that the funny men get top billing and top salaries on television.幽默感常常最能體現(xiàn)一種文化真正的一面。無(wú)疑，幽默從來(lái)沒有象在美國(guó)文化中這樣重要。維爾·羅杰斯被尊為民族英雄就是因?yàn)樗杂哪姆绞綄?duì)美國(guó)社會(huì)生活尖銳而且樸實(shí)的批評(píng)---因?yàn)樗奶觳庞哪屆绹?guó)人看到了自己的荒唐可笑之處。馬克·吐溫，從各個(gè)方面來(lái)說(shuō)都是最能代表美國(guó)的作家，人們欽佩他善于描繪美國(guó)人生活的技巧，但更佩服他的幽默。我們喜歡喜劇甚于悲劇，搞笑演員上演節(jié)目最多，在電視臺(tái)的工資最高，這能部分地說(shuō)明我們的樂觀的處世態(tài)度。

Humor is the great reliever of tension, the counterbalance to the dash and roar of our fastpaced industrialized life with its whirring machines, traffic snarls and frayed tempers.Humor shows these very things to us in such a way that we can laugh about them.幽默能很好地消除緊張，調(diào)節(jié)我們繁忙的工業(yè)化生活的快節(jié)奏。這種工業(yè)化的生活中，機(jī)器飛轉(zhuǎn)，車輛轟鳴，人心浮躁。幽默讓我們以笑的方式看待生活中這些不開心的事。

Nothing is too sacred for the comic transformation;in fact, the more sacred the topic, the stronger the impact.Jokes about the minister are legion.Says the parishioner to the minister who explains that while shaving he was thinking about his sermon and cut his chin: “You should have been thinking about you chin and cut the sermon.” 沒有什么東西過(guò)于神圣，因而不能改編成喜?。粚?shí)際上，越是神圣的話題，給人的影響也越大。關(guān)于牧師的笑話數(shù)不勝數(shù)。牧師說(shuō)刮胡子的時(shí)候他想著布道所以劃破了下巴，于是教區(qū)的居民說(shuō)：“你應(yīng)該想著自己的下巴，劃掉布道辭?！?/p>

That tensions exist in the home life, however, the humorist loves to point out.No joke has the changes rung on it more frequently than that of the woman driver who is usually pictured sitting in the midst of a wrecked car.(“Didn't you see me signal that I'd changed my mind?”)Men probably wreck far more cars than women, but it satisfies the male ego to think that women have not yet mastered the machine.家庭生活中存在的矛盾，幽默者最喜歡指出這些。最違背常理的笑話，是一位女司機(jī)坐在一輛撞得一塌糊涂的汽車?yán)?。（“難道你沒看見我發(fā)信號(hào) 表示我已經(jīng)改變主意了嗎？”）男人可能撞壞的汽車比女人撞壞得多得多，但是想到女人連車都不會(huì)開，就能滿足男性的自尊。

The shop which advertised that it would “Oil sewing machines and adjust tension in the home for $1” had already relieved the tension through humor once the unintentional double-entendre was recognized.商店的廣告上寫“縫紉機(jī)上油，調(diào)節(jié)家中的緊張氣氛，收費(fèi)一美元”，一旦看出廣告中不經(jīng)意中造成的雙關(guān)語(yǔ)，這個(gè)商店已經(jīng)用幽默緩解了緊張。

A popular variant of the dominant female is the mother-in-law.Year after year the jokes about her continue － evidence not so much of any serious tension as of the Freudian implications －projection of marital friction onto an associated but less immediate object, seeing in the wife's mother the inevitable approach of the mate's old age and hence one's own.悍婦的一種流行變體是丈母娘。年復(fù)一年，關(guān)于她的笑話層出不窮——與其說(shuō)是證明有什么矛盾，不如說(shuō)是證明弗洛伊德的觀點(diǎn)——婚姻矛盾在相關(guān)的但不那么直接的對(duì)象上的反映，在妻子的母親身上看到了配偶以及自身老年的到來(lái)的不可避免。

Humor reveals our attitude toward children － our love of their innocently wise comments on life, our delight in the evidences they give of being fully formed individuals with rights and spunk of their own, even to the point of talking back to their parents.(Says the little girl at the table, urged by her mother to eat up her broccol: “I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.”)幽默顯示我們對(duì)孩子的態(tài)度——我們喜歡他們對(duì)生活天真睿智的評(píng)價(jià)，我們喜歡他們是全面發(fā)展的個(gè)體，有自己的權(quán)利意識(shí)和勇氣，甚至能反駁自己的父母。（小女孩坐在飯桌邊，媽媽強(qiáng)迫她吃完花椰菜，她說(shuō)：“我說(shuō)它是菠菜，我恨死它了。”）

Can psychiatry help to overcome the frustrations of life? “There's nothing wrong with the average person that a good psychiatrist can't exaggerate,” said the comedian, thus confirming our suspicions and making it a little easier for us to put up with ourselves.精神療法能有助于克服生活中不稱心的事嗎？“普通人的一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)小問題到了負(fù)責(zé)任的精神病醫(yī)生那里，就被夸大。”滑稽演員說(shuō)的話證實(shí)了我們的懷疑，使我們寬容自己容易了一些。

The thirst for humor drives advertisers to resort to it, in the hope of catching an audience long since jaded by all the other appeals.“You die － we do the rest,” an undertaker advertises.What welcome relief from the usual unctuousness of his kind!

人們渴望幽默，促使廣告商利用這一點(diǎn)，以期長(zhǎng)時(shí)間吸引觀眾，而對(duì)其他廣告都不感興趣?！澳闳ニ馈Ｏ碌慕唤o我們”，是殯儀館的廣告。平常這類廣告虛情假意，現(xiàn)在多么受人歡迎，令人輕松！

American humor, in short, confirms the importance of mating and the family, the high status of women and children, the pace and tension of life, and above all the love of humor itself as an approach to life more to be prized than riches, a gift to be cherished and applauded.The minister uses it in his sermons, the doctor in his healing, the lawyer in his pleading, the teacher in his teaching.About the worst thing we can say of a man is that he has no sense of humor.For humor is regarded as an essential part of “the American way.” 總之，美國(guó)人的幽默強(qiáng)調(diào)婚姻和家庭的重要性，婦女兒童的地位，生活的節(jié)奏和緊張，并且首要的是強(qiáng)調(diào)熱愛幽默本身，將其看成一種生活態(tài)度，比財(cái)富更珍貴；看成一種天賦，值得珍視和為之喝彩。牧師布道，醫(yī)生治病，律師辯護(hù)，教師講課，都離不開幽默。我們對(duì)一個(gè)人最差的評(píng)語(yǔ)，就是他沒有幽默感。因?yàn)橛哪徽J(rèn)為“美國(guó)方式”最重要的方面。

It helps to equalize, and we believe in equality.It is often a symbol of freedom, for it permits the common man to speak freely of his leaders;it helps him cut them down to size.It deflates stuffed shirts.It allows us to look at ourselves in perspective, for when we laugh 12 at ourselves we have surmounted our shortcomings.And in a land where new contacts are always being made, humor provides a quickly available emotional unity － not subtle or regional but universal, one which lets us feel immediately at home anywhere.It is the grammar of confidence, the rhetoric of optimism, the music of brotherhood.幽默可以讓大家平等，而我們相信平等。幽默常常是自由的象征，因?yàn)樗梢允估习傩諢o(wú)所顧忌地跟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)說(shuō)話；幽默使他能把領(lǐng)導(dǎo)降低到與自己平等的地位。幽默讓自命不凡的人無(wú)地自容。幽默讓我們能透視自己，因?yàn)樽猿熬褪强朔约旱娜秉c(diǎn)。我們總是要和新人打交道，幽默就提供了快速有效的情感上的和諧——不是微妙的，也不是地域性的，而是普遍的，讓我們很快在任何地方都無(wú)拘無(wú)束。幽默是自信的法則，是樂觀主義的修辭，是友誼的音樂。

What is an American? 美國(guó)人是什么？

“I can't make you out,” Henry James has Mrs.Tristram say to the American, “whether you are very simple or very deep.” This is a dilemma which has often confronted Europeans.Usually they conclude that Americans are childish.But one cannot accurately call one society mature, another immature.Each has its own logic.亨利·詹姆斯讓特里斯瑞姆太太對(duì)美國(guó)人說(shuō)，“我真搞不懂你，是太幼稚還是太深沉?！边@是歐洲人經(jīng)常碰到的難題。通常他們的結(jié)論就是美國(guó)人很孩子氣?？墒菦]人能說(shuō)準(zhǔn)確地說(shuō)一個(gè)社會(huì)成熟，另一個(gè)社會(huì)不成熟。每一個(gè)社會(huì)都有自己的邏輯。

What is it then that makes Americans recognizable wherever they go? It is not, we hope, the noisy, boasting, critical, money-scattering impression made by one class of tourists.The only thing to be said in their defense is that, released from the social restraints which would make them act very differently at home, they are bent on making the most of this freedom.那么是什么東西使得美國(guó)人無(wú)論走到哪里都能被人認(rèn)出來(lái)呢？我們希望，不是一種美國(guó)游客給人留下的印象，吵吵嚷嚷，自吹自擂，挑三拈四，揮金如土。唯一可以為他們開脫的說(shuō)法是：一旦脫離了使他們?cè)趪?guó)內(nèi)以非常不同的方式行事的種種社會(huì)約束，他們就下定決心充分享受這種自由。

Americans carry with them an appearance which is more a result of attitude than of clothing.This attitude combines a lack of class consciousness, a somewhat jaunty optimism and an inquisitiveness which in combination look to the European like naivete.Also a liking for facts and figures, an alertness more muscular and ocular than intellectual, and above all a desire to be friendly.(Let us, for the moment, leave out of the picture such stigmata as gum chewing, too much smoking, and an urge to compare everything with Kansas City or Keokuk.)

美國(guó)人有一種外觀，與其說(shuō)是衣著的結(jié)果，不如說(shuō)是態(tài)度的結(jié)果。這種態(tài)度中，有對(duì)階級(jí)的不屑，有洋洋得意的樂觀主義，還有一種求知欲，加在一起就被歐洲人認(rèn)為是幼稚淺薄的人。還有，他們喜歡用事實(shí)和數(shù)字說(shuō)話，雖然身手敏捷，但頭腦相對(duì)遲鈍，最重要的是他們喜歡結(jié)交朋友。（讓我們暫時(shí)不去想他們嚼口香糖，抽香煙太多的樣子，還有他們總是把每一樣?xùn)|西都和美國(guó)的堪薩斯城比一比的欲望。）

To boil it down to the briefest summary, American characteristics are the product of response to an unusually competitive situation combined with unusual opportunity.歸根結(jié)底，最簡(jiǎn)潔地說(shuō)，美國(guó)人的性格，就是對(duì)具有非常機(jī)遇的非常競(jìng)爭(zhēng)環(huán)境作出反應(yīng)的結(jié)果。

Americans are a peculiar people.They work like mad, then give away much of what they earn.They play until they are exhausted, and call this a vacation.They live to think of themselves as tough-minded business men, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story.They have the biggest of nearly everything including government, motor cars and debts, yet they are afraid of bigness.They are always trying to chip away at big government, big business, big unions, big influence.They like to think of themselves as little people, average men, and they would like to cut everything down to their own size.Yet they boast of their tall buildings, high mountains, long rivers, big state, the best country, the best world, the best heaven.They also have the most traffic deaths, the most waste, the most racketeering.美國(guó)人是一個(gè)與眾不同的民族。他們拼命地工作，然后花掉了大量辛苦賺來(lái)的錢。他們玩得筋疲力盡，并稱之為度假。他們向來(lái)把自己想成硬心腸的商人，可是任何不幸的故事都會(huì)使他們受騙。幾乎所有最大的東西他們都有：政府，汽車和債務(wù)，可他們害怕龐大。所以他們總是要想辦法除去大的政府，大的買賣，大的團(tuán)體，大的影響力。他們?cè)敢獍炎约嚎闯墒切∪宋铮狡匠３５娜?，喜歡一切都是平等的。他們吹噓自己的高樓大廈，高山，大河，吹噓自己是大國(guó)，是最好的國(guó)家，是最好的世界，最好的天堂。同時(shí)，他們的車禍最多，浪費(fèi)最多，騙子也最多。

When they meet, they are always telling each other, “Take it easy,” then they rush off like crazy in opposite directions.They play games as if they were fighting a war, and fight wars as if playing a game.They marry more, go broke more often, and make more money than any other people.They love children, animals, gadgets, mother, work, excitement, noise, nature, television shows, comedy, installment buying, fast motion, spectator sports, the underdog, the flag, Christmas, jazz, shapely women and muscular men, classical recordings, crowds, comics, cigarettes, warm houses in winter and cool ones in summer, thick beefsteaks, coffee, ice cream, informal dress, plenty of running water, do-it-yourself, and a working week trimmed to forty hours or less.美國(guó)人一見面就對(duì)彼此說(shuō)：“放輕松點(diǎn)，”然后就向相反的方向狂奔。他們做游戲象打仗一樣，打起仗來(lái)象做游戲。跟任何人相比，他們結(jié)婚次數(shù)更多，離婚的頻率更高，賺的錢更多。他們愛孩子，愛動(dòng)物，愛小玩藝，愛母親，愛工作，愛激動(dòng)，愛吵吵嚷嚷，愛大自然，愛看電視節(jié)目，愛看喜劇，買東西喜歡分期付款，喜歡快節(jié)奏，愛買票看體育比賽，同情弱者，熱愛國(guó)旗，愛過(guò)圣誕節(jié)，聽爵士樂，愛看身材好的女子和肌肉發(fā)達(dá)的男人，愛收藏經(jīng)典唱片，愛湊熱鬧，看連環(huán)畫，抽煙，喜歡房子冬暖夏涼，愛吃切得厚厚的牛排，愛喝咖啡，吃冰淇淋，穿著隨便，喜歡自來(lái)水一直淌著，一切自己動(dòng)手，一周工作時(shí)間限制在40小時(shí)以內(nèi)。

They crowd their highways with cars while complaining about the traffic, flock to movies and television while griping about the quality and the commercials, go to church but don't care much for sermons, and drink too much in the hope of relaxing － only to find themselves stimulated to even bigger dreams.他們一邊抱怨交通擁擠，一邊把車都擠到高速公路上；一邊抱怨影視質(zhì)量不好，商業(yè)化氣息太濃，卻成群結(jié)隊(duì)地去看電影電視；常去教堂卻不大關(guān)心布道，酒喝得太多，為的是要放松——結(jié)果卻發(fā)現(xiàn)酒精使他們更想入非非。

There is of course, no typical American.But if you added them all together and then divided 14 by 226 000 000 they would look something like what this chapter has tried to portray.當(dāng)然沒有典型的美國(guó)人。但是如果你把他們加在一起，然后用226 000 000來(lái)除，他們的樣子就象這一章要描述的。

(1816 words)

Information Related to the Text

1)Culture notes:

1)Materialism: It is a general view about what actually exists.Put bluntly, the view is just this: Everything that actually exists is material, or physical.Many philosophers and scientists now use the terms `material' and `physical' interchangeably.Characterized in this way, as a doctrine about what exists, materialism is an ontological, or a metaphysical view;it is not just an epistemological view about how we know or just a semantic view about the meaning of terms.2)Puritan: It was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church;they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England.Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.Most of American puritans held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought.In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience.During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America.In the 19th century its influence was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations.3)Boy Scout of America(BSA): It was incorporated on February 8, 1910, and charted by Congress in 1916.Its purpose is to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness.15 4)Sigmund Freud:(1856-1939), The inventor of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, changed the way we all think about ourselves, our language, and our culture.Drawing upon both nineteenth-century science and nineteenth-century Romanticism, Freud created a description of the mind that emphasizes the major role played by unconscious drives, particularly those of sexuality.His theories, which struck many contemporaries as sordid and threatening, represents the most recent democratization or leveling of the old hierarchical conception of mind.5)Andre Maurois: Biographer, novelist, essayist, children's writer.Maurois is best known for his vivid, romantic style biographies of such authors as Shelley, Byron, Balzac, Proust and others.The Quest for Proust is considered by many his finest biography.2)Language notes:

1)The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Lump sb./sth.（together）: put or consider people or things together.e.g.We've lumped all the advanced students into a single class.2)A good many things contributed to this accent on success.Contribute to sth.: increase sth., add to sth.;help to cause sth.e.g.Her work has contributed enormously to our understanding of this difficult subject.Does smoking contribute to lung cancer?

3)The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.Measure up（to sth.）: reach the standard required or expected.e.g.The discussion didn't measure up to my expectations.4）America has been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.Be blessed with sth/sb: be fortunate in having sth/sb.e.g.He is blessed with excellent health.Information Related to the Text 1)Culture notes:

1)The Declaration of Independence: Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument.Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people.The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new;16 its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers.What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in “self-evident truths” and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.2)Alexis de Tocqueville:(1805-1859)An aristocratic Frenchman.He studied law in Paris and worked as a substitute judge in Versailles before coming to the U.S.In 1839 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a representative of Valognes and later to the Constituent Assembly and Legislative Assembly.He briefly served as minister of foreign affairs.He came to the U.S.in 1831--when he was only 25 years old--and later wrote Democracy in America, a two-volume study of the American people and their political institutions.The book is frequently quoted by journalists and politicians.The book deals with issues like religion, the press, money, class structure, racism, the role of government, the judicial system, etc.--issues that are just as relevant today as they were then.Democracy in America has undergone several periods of popularity throughout the century, but it's never been as popular as it is now.Scores of colleges around the country use the text in political science and history courses, and historians consider it one of the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written about the U.S.3)Mark Twain:(Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910)An American icon.Books like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn define two sides of an imagined American childhood while Huckleberry Finn and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson continue to expose the wounds of racism in American society.Although he first began to wear his famous white suit in public in 1906, just a few years before his death, that is the most familiar image of Mark Twain for people throughout the world.He was--still is--the cigar-smoking humorist-sage whose very name inspires smiles: “As Mark Twain said....” But Mark Twain's life and career were more varied and complex than most people realize.He was a printer and journalist, steamboat pilot, gold and silver miner, a newspaper editor, author, and publisher.He was also deeply involved in American political and cultural issues, and an active participant in several anti-imperialist movements.4)Henry James: Like Howells and Clemens, James was also a prolific American writer.Apart from writing fiction, James made important contributions to the genre of literary theories, especially through his famous essay, “The Art of Fiction,” 1884.In his treatment of subject matter, James felt that no aspect of life should be excluded.James's style of writing is magnificent and his canvas is broadthe violence which is the least pleasant aspects of American society.Americans are beginning to realize that this terrible problem of poverty is their problem and not just their government's.It has been said that an individual American is generous, but that American nation is mean.The US is reputed to be a classless society.There is certainly not much social snobbery and job snobbery.The manual worker is usually quite at ease in any company.This is partly explained by the fact that all income groups go together to the same schools.Americans are far more race conscious than they are class conscious.美國(guó)人的性格

大部分美國(guó)人精力充沛，充滿熱情．他們寧愿自律，而不愿受制于人．他們以獨(dú)立行事和有權(quán)做出自己的決定而自豪。他們做事采取主動(dòng)，即使這樣做存在風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也在所不惜．他們有勇氣，不會(huì)輕易屈服．他們寧愿在任何地方干任何工作，而不愿失業(yè)．他們不愿受政府的救助.普通美國(guó)人一生中換九到十次工作.美國(guó)人熱情友好, 其程度并非外國(guó)人想得那樣表面化.人們認(rèn)為美國(guó)人易動(dòng)感情.當(dāng)在典禮上看見國(guó)旗,當(dāng)參加慶祝美國(guó)光榮歷史的游行時(shí),他們可能會(huì)熱淚盈眶.與家人團(tuán)圓,與朋友相聚,也會(huì)讓他們十分激動(dòng).他們喜歡穿著得體，即使這種“得體”無(wú)異于奢華炫耀.他們喜歡自吹自擂,盡管多數(shù)情況下只是說(shuō)說(shuō)而已.他們有時(shí)會(huì)嘲笑自己,會(huì)嘲笑自己的國(guó)家,甚至有時(shí)候會(huì)自責(zé),但是始終有著強(qiáng)烈的愛國(guó)之心.他們對(duì)日常事情所知甚廣,對(duì)他們所在的城市和州深為關(guān)切。然而,有時(shí)候外國(guó)人會(huì)抱怨說(shuō),美國(guó)人對(duì)外面的世界漠不關(guān)心,一無(wú)所知.美國(guó)人酷愛豪華的氣派.他們的摩天大廈,橋梁和水壩往往十分雄壯宏偉,這與美國(guó)的自然奇觀之壯美和恢弘相得益彰.賺錢和擁有稱得上過(guò)多的奢侈品,是不是美國(guó)人唯一的目標(biāo)呢?大部分美國(guó)人肯定會(huì)予以否認(rèn),盡管他們將通過(guò)辛勤勞動(dòng)而積攢的錢財(cái)而自豪.在美國(guó),90%的人生活富足,期待更美好的未來(lái).美國(guó)的生活水平依然在世界上名列前茅,盡管現(xiàn)在還有10%的美國(guó)人生活在政府劃定的“貧困線”以下.這些貧困雖然得到政府的救助,但是他們對(duì)未來(lái)不抱太多希望。正是這些“社會(huì)下層階級(jí)”和利用他們的人引發(fā)了大部分的**,而這成為了美國(guó)社會(huì)最另人不快的一面.美國(guó)人開始意思到，這個(gè)嚴(yán)重的問題是他們自身的問題,而不僅僅是政府的問題。據(jù)說(shuō),美國(guó)人作為個(gè)體是慷慨的,但是美國(guó)作為一個(gè)民族則是吝嗇的.人們普遍認(rèn)為,美國(guó)是一個(gè)不分階級(jí)的國(guó)家.的確,美國(guó)對(duì)人們的社會(huì)地位和不同工作不帶任何勢(shì)利的看法.體力勞動(dòng)者在任何場(chǎng)合都很自在.不同收入檔次的群體可以在同一所學(xué)校上課,這個(gè)事實(shí)多少可以說(shuō)明這一點(diǎn).與其說(shuō)美國(guó)人具有階級(jí)意識(shí),還不如說(shuō)他們具有種族意識(shí).

第三篇：美國(guó)人的性格分析與交往經(jīng)驗(yàn)總結(jié)

美國(guó)人的性格分析與交往經(jīng)驗(yàn)總結(jié)

Iowa State University

Major： statistics

現(xiàn)在就開始吧。對(duì)我個(gè)人來(lái)說(shuō)，我一直贊成的觀點(diǎn)就是，在美國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)，生活，最關(guān)鍵之一是要做到和很多美國(guó)人成為朋友。然而據(jù)我觀察，咱們大部分中國(guó)人似乎不怎么熱衷于和美國(guó)人交朋友。理由嘛，無(wú)非是什么沒什么共同話題，沒什么生活交集等等，我個(gè)人認(rèn)為這些理由只對(duì)那些整天呆在寢室里頭玩游戲或是瘋狂學(xué)習(xí)的宅男宅女們適用，如果你不是那類人，那對(duì)不起，這只能說(shuō)明你沒有那膽量去結(jié)識(shí)新環(huán)境里的朋友。

其實(shí)，美國(guó)人遠(yuǎn)比很多中國(guó)人想象得好處得多。我來(lái)分析分析他們的性格吧。

美國(guó)人是很熱情友好的一類人，學(xué)校里，不少情況下，我們不搭理他們美國(guó)人，他們卻會(huì)主動(dòng)和你打招呼，向你問好，甚至找你說(shuō)話。如果你真心想和他們交往的話，在這個(gè)時(shí)候，你可以隨便和他們多說(shuō)兩句話，不用去留心說(shuō)錯(cuò)話問錯(cuò)問題，因?yàn)樗麄冃睦锩婷靼?，畢竟?duì)于他們來(lái)說(shuō)，我們是外國(guó)人，語(yǔ)言上的誤解是小問題。如果你初次和美國(guó)人交往問錯(cuò)了話，只用陪個(gè)笑便了事！繼續(xù)后面的話題。如果談得來(lái)的話，臨別之際就主動(dòng)找他/她要個(gè)聯(lián)系方式。和美國(guó)人交往，body language 很重要，當(dāng)然也得有些許技巧（尤其是初次交往），最主要的是讓他們看得起你。要想真正達(dá)到效果，首先應(yīng)該是，坐的端行得正，尤其是對(duì)于咱們亞洲男生，相比而言體格上本來(lái)就顯得不夠健壯，所以更需要讓自己顯得像個(gè)紳士。說(shuō)話時(shí)眼睛要注視著對(duì)方，一是表現(xiàn)自己對(duì)他人的尊重，二是表現(xiàn)自己的自信，當(dāng)然，也別刻意把自己弄得得像個(gè)當(dāng)兵的或是注視他人的時(shí)候只是不停得注視，因?yàn)槟菢右矔?huì)讓他們覺得你太死板。總之，自然點(diǎn)總是非常好，從美國(guó)電視劇上面學(xué)學(xué)也會(huì)有幫助的（這里面有些東西是只可意會(huì)不可言傳的）。第二重要的是，說(shuō)話口氣可以沒有美國(guó)人那么好，但說(shuō)話聲音要盡量顯得洪亮，才能顯示你的優(yōu)雅的氣質(zhì)（我說(shuō)的第二點(diǎn)對(duì)于男女都適用?。?/p>

美國(guó)人性格張揚(yáng)，喜歡說(shuō)話，喜歡讓很多人知道自己的想法。還有就是大部分人還是很喜歡了解些緋聞的，憑我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來(lái)判斷，一些小秘密別和美國(guó)人交流地太多，因?yàn)檎f(shuō)不準(zhǔn)哪天他不注意就全說(shuō)出去了哈哈。

很大一部分美國(guó)人非常樂于助人，這不止是很多美國(guó)基督教徒的性格，準(zhǔn)確地說(shuō)應(yīng)該是美國(guó)人民的性格。

很大一部分美國(guó)人膽大心細(xì)，不是像國(guó)內(nèi)很多人想象的那樣笨。

美國(guó)人直爽，他們喜歡把自己的想法說(shuō)出來(lái)，不喜歡佯裝對(duì)某一事物的喜好。

大部分美國(guó)人性格都很溫和，他們沒有像很多亞洲人那樣有聚眾打架的習(xí)慣。美國(guó)人在“人不犯我我不犯人”這點(diǎn)做得挺好。因?yàn)榇蚣芊甘略诿绹?guó)可不是什么簡(jiǎn)單的批評(píng)警告，而是坐牢和開除學(xué)籍。

美國(guó)人生性固執(zhí)，有些觀點(diǎn)一旦形成，很難改變他/她的觀點(diǎn)，所以就算你和他/她關(guān)系比較，也要避免和他/她去爭(zhēng)執(zhí)一些大道理。如果真遇到這樣的尷尬，答案是很容易解決。你只用和他/她說(shuō)讓他/她看看某些著作，歷史資料或教科書啥就行了。

美國(guó)人以自我為中心--這個(gè)不能片面理解成為自私，最正確的理解應(yīng)該是：他想讓別人知道自己能解決什么別人解決不了的問題。當(dāng)你有什么問題難以解決而去咨詢一個(gè)和你交往不怎么太深的美國(guó)朋友，他也會(huì)給你提供幫助，因?yàn)樵谒麄冃闹?，他們覺得幫助別人是一個(gè)表現(xiàn)自我的大好機(jī)會(huì)。如果從另一方面理解，你可以說(shuō)，美國(guó)人很自負(fù)，他們總認(rèn)為別人比不上他或是不該超過(guò)他。有些美國(guó)人甚至?xí)羞@樣奇怪的想法：我有能力當(dāng)教授，只是不想去做那個(gè)職業(yè)。。

美國(guó)人喜歡熱鬧；他們喜歡性格開朗，愛說(shuō)話的人。當(dāng)你和好幾個(gè)美國(guó)人一起學(xué)習(xí)交流的時(shí)候，如果不主動(dòng)制造點(diǎn)“噪音”，就很有可能會(huì)被他們誤人為膽小鬼。對(duì)于咱們來(lái)說(shuō)，和他們交往多說(shuō)話，沒有壞處，磨刀不誤砍柴工嘛，煉了英語(yǔ)又增進(jìn)了友情，而且不會(huì)太耽誤事的，何樂而不為呢？

美國(guó)人有很強(qiáng)“領(lǐng)地意識(shí)”，也許是因?yàn)闆]發(fā)育好有狼性吧（just kidding lol），當(dāng)你把一個(gè)美國(guó)人請(qǐng)到家玩，你和你的室友們不必有這些擔(dān)心：1.乘你不注意到處亂看，到處亂翻你的東西；2.對(duì)家里面的他們認(rèn)為稀奇古怪的東西有無(wú)限的好奇心；有親身經(jīng)驗(yàn)告訴過(guò)我：有一次我把一個(gè)和我玩得不錯(cuò)的美國(guó)人叫到我家里面吃飯，客廳里面擺滿了很多奇怪的東西，正準(zhǔn)備吃飯的時(shí)候，突然來(lái)了個(gè)電話：是我的另一個(gè)朋友來(lái)我這還書的，于是出去了5分鐘，當(dāng)我回來(lái)的時(shí)候，驚奇得發(fā)現(xiàn)，那個(gè)“傻大個(gè)”還是站在廚房里面什么都沒做。。就連客廳里面那么多奇奇怪怪的屬于我室友的東西問都不問一句。

美國(guó)人的記性很好，他們中大多數(shù)人能記住你對(duì)他做過(guò)的每一個(gè)好事或他對(duì)你做過(guò)的每一個(gè)好事，當(dāng)然也能記得住你做過(guò)的一些他認(rèn)為不合適的事情，他對(duì)你做的一些不合適的事情等等。

和美國(guó)女生交往，不管交情怎樣，千萬(wàn)別問她體重——我的一個(gè)美國(guó)朋友對(duì)我說(shuō)過(guò)，他從來(lái)都沒問過(guò)他女朋友的體重，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)女生對(duì)這個(gè)很敏感。年長(zhǎng)的女性，對(duì)年齡比較敏感，莫問（大家小學(xué)就該學(xué)過(guò)了）。

很多美國(guó)學(xué)生邏輯思維比較縝密，數(shù)學(xué)能力不見得比亞洲人差。尤其是學(xué)理科的美國(guó)人。數(shù)字是有活力，有激情的，真正熱愛理科的美國(guó)學(xué)生，比學(xué)文科的美國(guó)更顯得外向，并且更有音樂天賦。而缺點(diǎn)是生活上面可能不夠檢點(diǎn)。

學(xué)純文科的美國(guó)人是比較內(nèi)向的，他們相對(duì)學(xué)理科的來(lái)說(shuō)缺少音樂音樂天賦，與人交往能力上明顯不如學(xué)理科的。不過(guò)優(yōu)點(diǎn)心地更顯善良外加沒有很多不良嗜好（以上為親自觀察分析總結(jié)）。

如果你想在校園里結(jié)識(shí)些非常優(yōu)秀的美國(guó)人，請(qǐng)你選擇那些讀雙學(xué)位的20歲以上的美國(guó)學(xué)生（我刻意提到年齡，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)很重要），最好是一文一理。他們不僅學(xué)習(xí)好，而且有很強(qiáng)的交往能力外加非常優(yōu)秀的音樂體育細(xì)胞。當(dāng)然，生活習(xí)慣也很好（相對(duì)固定的起居時(shí)間外加整潔的室內(nèi)環(huán)境布局）。

美國(guó)人不見得會(huì)偏科，他們中不少有很多特長(zhǎng)。在美國(guó)，光一個(gè)學(xué)習(xí)好不能代表的什么。尺有所短寸有所長(zhǎng)。只要有點(diǎn)特長(zhǎng)，都會(huì)有展現(xiàn)自我能力的機(jī)會(huì)

美國(guó)人喜歡表?yè)P(yáng)，當(dāng)你和美國(guó)朋友交往時(shí)，很多情況下，你只要稍微向他們提到點(diǎn)表?yè)P(yáng)的詞句都能讓他們倍感高興。這一點(diǎn)我還真想告訴那些準(zhǔn)備赴美讀研的朋友們，如果你們當(dāng)了助教，你們會(huì)接觸到很多美國(guó)學(xué)生，當(dāng)你遇到美國(guó)學(xué)生做不好題目的時(shí)候，你得鼓勵(lì)他，而不是批評(píng)他們做得不好。如果你那樣做的話，你最終可能會(huì)吃不好兜著走（不做過(guò)多解釋）.說(shuō)幾個(gè)本人了解到的幾個(gè)文化上不一樣的地方吧： 1.美國(guó)人和亞洲人（棒子除外）相比來(lái)說(shuō)，更顯高傲。他們不知道什么叫客氣，如果你邀請(qǐng)其中一位美國(guó)佬到你家做客吃飯，別按中國(guó)人一貫的作法：端茶遞水外加盛菜盛飯。飯做好了后你唯一需要做的就是，宣布開飯。剩下的全是他自己做。你的那些中國(guó)人的作法會(huì)讓那些習(xí)慣了自己的事情自己做的美國(guó)人感到別扭，甚至誤解自己的好意。還有就是當(dāng)美國(guó)人拒絕了什么東西的時(shí)候，別以為他是在和你客氣，千萬(wàn)別學(xué)很多中國(guó)人的傳統(tǒng)作法——硬塞給他（that may cause a big trouble）。2.子曰：“其恕乎，己所不欲勿施于人”這句話可是咱們中國(guó)人乃至很多中國(guó)以外的東亞人都知道的名言，這話是在教導(dǎo)我們，自己不想要的，不喜歡的東西，別和別人“分享”。偏偏這么簡(jiǎn)單易懂的道理，在美國(guó)就不靈了。。我遇到過(guò)很多次了。我和幾個(gè)美國(guó)哥們每周都有課題要聚到一起完成，于是我們就決定了大家聚一起，輪流或一起做飯。有一次輪到吃中西合璧的美味了，我于是做了點(diǎn)拿手的炒飯，帶到了我朋友那。吃飽后，我看大家都一致夸我的炒飯好吃，于是就對(duì)他們說(shuō)： “你們?nèi)绻氲脑?，就再帶點(diǎn)回去吧”?？善渲幸粋€(gè)人的話問得讓我很無(wú)語(yǔ)：“你是不是不想要這些了呢？如果不想要的話我就帶點(diǎn)回去把”。第一次聽到這個(gè)感到的是吃驚。。（在中國(guó)，能問出這樣的問題的人除了一些不會(huì)說(shuō)話的成年人和一些不懂事的小孩子外，沒有別人了。。說(shuō)出那樣的話會(huì)受到嚴(yán)重鄙視的）。類似的事情發(fā)生過(guò)好幾次，我一直用孔夫子的那句話告訴咱們中國(guó)人的看法。后來(lái)，和他們的交流了幾次我才知道，他們那樣說(shuō)沒有任何看不起你的意思，而是出于其他考慮：1.真的喜歡你給他的東西，2.不希望自己喜歡的東西浪費(fèi)。

3.不能隨便問美國(guó)朋友的收入（越年長(zhǎng)越不能問）。不過(guò)咱們中國(guó)人計(jì)算能力好，如果你真想知道的話，可以問你的美國(guó)朋友每周多少小時(shí)工作，工作地點(diǎn)每小時(shí)的 payment如何。大致計(jì)算下就行了（大部分美國(guó)人在說(shuō)話技巧方面不精，你那樣婉轉(zhuǎn)得問，他們不會(huì)明白你的真實(shí)用意的）。4.“謙虛使人進(jìn)步，驕傲使人失敗”這句名言在美國(guó)也不生效了。因?yàn)樵诿绹?guó)人眼里，悶頭悶?zāi)X埋頭苦干的人會(huì)受到他們的尊重，但不是器重。美國(guó)人更器重那些有表現(xiàn)力的人，比如好口才或有很強(qiáng)的音樂體驗(yàn)才能的人。就算你沒什么特長(zhǎng)加上學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)也不夠超群，只要你能經(jīng)?！袄p著”帶你課的老師或?qū)煟咸喜唤^地說(shuō)自己努力方向，自己的所謂“成果”，照樣能留給老師很好的印象。

5.和美國(guó)人交往千萬(wàn)別把自己弄得八面玲瓏，兩面三刀，因?yàn)檫@是絕對(duì)吃不開的。八面玲瓏是會(huì)給美國(guó)人留下個(gè)不靠譜的不好的形象，兩面三刀則會(huì)讓你陷入更多的麻煩。6.在沒有調(diào)查清楚前，別把那些有過(guò)不良記錄的美國(guó)人當(dāng)成壞茬，因?yàn)樵诿绹?guó)，法律是非常嚴(yán)格的。過(guò)分嚴(yán)格的法律，偶爾也會(huì)適得其反。比如說(shuō)，我認(rèn)識(shí)的美國(guó)人中，就有一個(gè)蹲過(guò)牢的，大家也許會(huì)問，他因?yàn)槭裁炊琢舜罄?？要知道他可是朋友們公認(rèn)的很遵紀(jì)守法的人！蹲大牢的原因很簡(jiǎn)單：在不知情的情況下來(lái)到一個(gè)湖邊沙灘上躺了一會(huì)（那片沙灘屬于私人領(lǐng)地，但沒有任何標(biāo)示）。如果你和一些美國(guó)人交往深了，如果你問他們不良記錄方面怎么樣，他們中肯定會(huì)有不少人會(huì)抱怨式地回答你，并且那些回答往往是讓你感到無(wú)比吃驚的！說(shuō)到這，我還是得說(shuō)，在美國(guó)還是得注意了，不要對(duì)那些未知區(qū)域太過(guò)好奇并跑進(jìn)去玩耍，那樣不僅不安全，而且還有可能不明不白地被cops抓了。。當(dāng)然，更不能隨便進(jìn)入那些不認(rèn)識(shí)的人的房間。

7.亞洲人學(xué)生里面有很多人對(duì)作弊不持否定態(tài)度，而美國(guó)人很鄙視作弊的人，美國(guó)學(xué)生中有很多都是很遵紀(jì)守法的，勸大家別和美國(guó)學(xué)生討論作弊這個(gè)話題（作弊被逮在美國(guó)學(xué)校里面輕則掛科加信譽(yù)記錄扣分，重則開除學(xué)籍，該回哪回哪去?。?！

8.當(dāng)今的絕大多數(shù)美國(guó)人絕對(duì)不是馬克.吐溫的小說(shuō)《百萬(wàn)富翁》中的那群崇拜金錢的勢(shì)利小人，而是一群看重勞動(dòng)致富，艱苦樸素（這里面主要說(shuō)的是不追求奢靡與過(guò)分的浪費(fèi)）的實(shí)實(shí)在在的本分人，我問過(guò)很多美國(guó)人，對(duì)那些開著豪華跑車的中國(guó)人什么看法，他們大部分很冷淡的回答：“他們花的是他們父母的錢”，那一聽就是鄙夷的口吻。所以現(xiàn)在新來(lái)美國(guó)的年輕本科生們，我真心勸誡你們別在美國(guó)炫富，你越炫越會(huì)受到更多美國(guó)人的鄙夷。亞洲的富二代炫富的比例明顯高于歐美，這就是差別。這是一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)上差距問題，但我個(gè)人覺得這更是個(gè)文化問題吧！

9.有一個(gè)誤區(qū)需要和大家說(shuō)明：“美國(guó)人是守時(shí)的”這個(gè)說(shuō)法不對(duì)。準(zhǔn)確的說(shuō)法應(yīng)該是，他們很少會(huì)上課遲到（美國(guó)學(xué)校里面的學(xué)生中有那么一部分，他們一看時(shí)間發(fā)現(xiàn)要遲到了就直接翹課，干干脆脆），錯(cuò)過(guò)重要會(huì)議或和很重要人物見面（導(dǎo)師，醫(yī)生/護(hù)士等）時(shí)間。而和美國(guó)朋友交往的時(shí)候，他們對(duì)時(shí)間的把握并不好，這是美國(guó)人（主要是大學(xué)生）的通病。他們很多太過(guò)自信，總是容易高估自己的實(shí)力——本來(lái)安排好的計(jì)劃總是會(huì)出現(xiàn)很多閃失。各位中國(guó)朋友們，當(dāng)你收到美國(guó)人的短信說(shuō)什么“in a bit(等一會(huì))”，那就意味著他還有別的事，再給他一個(gè)小時(shí)時(shí)間吧！

好了，這些是本人親自實(shí)踐思考總結(jié)的，希望能對(duì)已經(jīng)在美國(guó)，或準(zhǔn)備赴美的留學(xué)的朋友有所幫助，相信自己，有時(shí)最好的朋友只不過(guò)是因?yàn)橐淮纹胀ǖ恼勗捳J(rèn)識(shí)的。加油！

第四篇：美國(guó)人演講稿

汽車文化篇：

關(guān)鍵詞：美國(guó)汽車工業(yè)發(fā)展史、汽車外形設(shè)計(jì)文化、汽車對(duì)于美國(guó)家庭的意義、汽車文化及北美車展、汽車與好萊塢

尊敬的各位嘉賓下午好，今天很高興在這里與大家見面，誠(chéng)摯的感謝武漢中央文化區(qū)的邀請(qǐng)?jiān)谶@里與大家一起分享美國(guó)的汽車文化。從社會(huì)學(xué)、文學(xué)、還是美國(guó)200年的歷史來(lái)看，汽車包含了一種永不改變內(nèi)涵:不斷追求美好生活并為之奮斗，不達(dá)目的絕不罷休!對(duì)美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)汽車就像一個(gè)無(wú)法離開的朋友、伙伴、家人或者是自己最鐘愛的情人。加拿大哲學(xué)家馬歇爾·麥克盧漢就這樣評(píng)說(shuō)美國(guó)的汽車文化“”美國(guó)是一個(gè)坐在汽車上的國(guó)家”汽車更像人生成長(zhǎng)的標(biāo)志。在這里希望可以帶給讓大家一個(gè)最真實(shí)，最美國(guó)的汽車公路文化。

OK！讓我們先來(lái)了解一下美國(guó)的汽車工業(yè)發(fā)展史。美國(guó)汽車工業(yè)發(fā)展史

19世紀(jì)末，美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)已經(jīng)達(dá)到了比較高的水平，工業(yè)生產(chǎn)開始處于世界前列，鋼鐵和石油化工等工業(yè)的發(fā)展為汽車工業(yè)的創(chuàng)造了條件。1908年，福特汽車推出了著名的T型車，這種售價(jià)不足500美元的汽車使得美國(guó)一個(gè)普通工人用一年工資就可以購(gòu)買到。福特的T型車戰(zhàn)略使汽車成為真正意義上的大眾交通工具。1913年，福特公司首先在生產(chǎn)中使用流水線裝配汽車，這給汽車工業(yè)帶來(lái)革命性變化，美國(guó)隨即出現(xiàn)了普及汽車的高潮。

汽車外形設(shè)計(jì)文化

傳統(tǒng)的美國(guó)本土品牌汽車都是又高又大，個(gè)性張揚(yáng)，極盡奢華，彪悍如悍馬，狂野如JEEP，奢華如凱迪拉克，氣派如林肯，這些鮮明風(fēng)格的形成，代表著來(lái)自于最純正的美國(guó)汽車設(shè)計(jì)理念。美國(guó)汽車的設(shè)計(jì)理念不僅體現(xiàn)了美國(guó)的民族精神、社會(huì)文化，反映了美國(guó)人的價(jià)值觀、生活態(tài)度和行為方式，主要體現(xiàn)在以下幾個(gè)方面：

美國(guó)廣闊而富饒的國(guó)土，造就了美國(guó)人豪邁、自由和奔放的性格。美國(guó)人歷來(lái)認(rèn)為，美國(guó)的歷史就是一部不斷遷徙和移居的歷史，美國(guó)歷史發(fā)展進(jìn)程重要的原動(dòng)力就是來(lái) 自于大規(guī)模的墾荒和流動(dòng)，從最早東岸的定居點(diǎn)到后來(lái)西部大開發(fā)，概莫如此。不難想象，對(duì)于粗獷張揚(yáng)、崇尚自由的西部牛仔來(lái)說(shuō)，高大張揚(yáng)的汽車自然成為他門的最愛。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)后，美國(guó)汽車工業(yè)迅速恢復(fù)生產(chǎn)，大車身、大發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)、多附件、高車速都是典型的美國(guó)車標(biāo)志性符號(hào)。拿它們?cè)谂笥衙媲帮@擺也是一種功能—炫耀財(cái)富。石油危機(jī)后，美國(guó)消費(fèi)者的本性又恢復(fù)如前，依然迷戀那些大氣缸車和豪華車。隨著時(shí)代的進(jìn)步現(xiàn)在的美國(guó)汽車越來(lái)越重視汽車的設(shè)計(jì)和制造理念上更要重視環(huán)保、節(jié)能方向的發(fā)展。汽車對(duì)于美國(guó)家庭的意義

汽車幾乎與美國(guó)人的一生相伴，從十幾歲起，大多數(shù)的美國(guó)人就學(xué)會(huì)了駕車。在美國(guó)，一本駕照、一張信用卡，記錄了個(gè)人的詳細(xì)信息。人們每天駕車去上班，周末驅(qū)車去旅行、度假；年輕人的談情說(shuō)愛也要借助汽車空間，有的美國(guó)人就是在汽車后座上呱呱落地，降臨到人間的。對(duì)美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，汽車就是朋友、伙伴、家人，或者就是情人。許多人更新的汽車是一輛比一輛大，動(dòng)力也是一輛比一輛強(qiáng)?？纯疵绹?guó)的停車位，比歐洲最大的這位還要大上一號(hào)。許多人家的住宅，往往最大的地方都是讓給汽車的。因此在美國(guó)到處都是大型車。而且，美國(guó)人還特別喜歡開車，在火車、飛機(jī)、汽車三種交通工具中，汽車通常是外出旅行的首選。因此每到夏天，就是美國(guó)人開始開著汽車周游美國(guó)享受夏季假期的美好時(shí)光。在美國(guó)平均每個(gè)家庭的汽車保有量已達(dá)到2.96輛，加州的汽車數(shù)量甚至超過(guò)了該州人口總數(shù)。

汽車文化及北美車展

美國(guó)著名車展北美車展至今已經(jīng)有近百年的歷史，是當(dāng)今國(guó)際五大車展之一，也是美國(guó)創(chuàng)辦歷史最長(zhǎng)的車展之一。由底特律汽車經(jīng)銷商協(xié)會(huì)主辦。創(chuàng)辦于1907 年，起先叫做“ 底特律車展”，是世界最早的汽車展覽之一，1957年，歐洲車廠加入車展，首次出現(xiàn)了沃爾沃、奔馳、保時(shí)捷的身影，獲得了美國(guó)民眾的高度重視，底特律車展的“王旗”正式樹起。從1965年起，展覽轉(zhuǎn)到Cobo會(huì)議展覽中心。1989年底特律車展更名為“北美國(guó)際汽車展”，簡(jiǎn)稱北美車展，每年一月辦展。北美車展上所展產(chǎn)品大都是各種新穎、離奇、古怪的概念車。概念車體現(xiàn)的是廠家的設(shè)計(jì)能力和創(chuàng)新意識(shí)，因此，成了廠家理念和意識(shí)的“風(fēng)向標(biāo)”。

汽車與好萊塢

汽車在人們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪械牡匚皇侨绱酥匾?，以至于如果在一部美?guó)出品的電影中沒有汽車出現(xiàn)，就失去了起碼的真實(shí)性。汽車在美國(guó)電影中成為一種不可或缺的元素。好萊塢商業(yè)電影中，外形俊朗的男主角身邊總有一輛與之相配的愛車，就美國(guó)的類型片而言，以汽車本身作為題材的電影并不少，其中不乏精品，如史泰隆的《生死極速》和近來(lái)風(fēng)頭正勁的《汽車總動(dòng)員》、《瘋狂金龜車》等，它們的主題包含著叛逆、成長(zhǎng)和傳承。當(dāng)然其中最為人知的當(dāng)屬《速度與激情》系列，這部典型的汽車題材電影街頭風(fēng)格十足，充滿了張揚(yáng)的個(gè)性，純凈的雄性魅力、強(qiáng)勁的引擎轟鳴，肆無(wú)忌憚地宣泄著男性對(duì)機(jī)械力量的頂禮膜拜，無(wú)不刺激著人們的腎上腺素不斷分泌。與非主流的汽車題材相比，汽車更適合做配角，尤其是在警匪片中，只是主題中去掉了許多說(shuō)教。在這些弘揚(yáng)英雄主義的影片中，汽車是決不可或缺的元素，沒有汽車，我們的英雄如何救美？如何凸顯他們正義凜然的寬廣胸懷，讓美女死心塌地？與當(dāng)今日趨精致、小品般的香港警匪片相比，沒有宏大的汽車追逐場(chǎng)面就構(gòu)不成美國(guó)的警匪片。《絕地戰(zhàn)警》中驚世駭俗的汽車追逐場(chǎng)面的壯觀，《偷天換日》中的minicooper在下水道中躲閃騰挪的精巧，讓人懷疑美國(guó)每年生產(chǎn)幾百萬(wàn)部汽車的目的就是為了毀壞它們，男主角只要坐進(jìn)汽車就變成了“破壞之王”。汽車在影像中往往成為男性的圖騰，在警匪片中能夠從滿是彈孔、傷痕累累的汽車中走下的才是真正的百戰(zhàn)英雄。這也說(shuō)明美國(guó)制造是值得大家信賴的。

人文地理篇：

關(guān)鍵詞：66號(hào)公路、汽車與文學(xué)

66號(hào)公路

說(shuō)到美國(guó)的汽車文化，那么66號(hào)公路則是最具有代表性的。66號(hào)公路橫穿三個(gè)時(shí)區(qū)、八州是美國(guó)第一條串聯(lián)起美國(guó)東西海岸的公路。1926年開始建設(shè)，直到1938年才宣告完工，1985年消失在公路地圖上，宣布退役。1990年以歷史66號(hào)公路的名義回歸地圖。見證著美國(guó)西部開拓歷史。其歷史價(jià)值不只是段公路史，也成為美國(guó)現(xiàn)代化的縮影。擁有濃厚美國(guó)文化氣息的66號(hào)公路有著無(wú)數(shù)的傳奇故事。66號(hào)公路的起點(diǎn)是芝加哥終點(diǎn)至洛杉磯。沿途有很多美麗的特色景點(diǎn)，如圣路易斯西進(jìn)之門，黃石國(guó)家地理公園、俄克拉荷馬紅土地、石華林公園、新墨西哥州的特色印第安小店、參觀66號(hào)公路博物館領(lǐng)略美國(guó)西部自由、奔放、剛毅的牛仔文化。

汽車與文學(xué)

在約翰·斯坦貝克的小說(shuō)《憤怒的葡萄》中，這條公路被稱作“母親路”。于是這個(gè)名字就被沿用了。最后，66號(hào)公路在1952年又被美國(guó)66號(hào)公路組織非正式地命名為The Will Rogers Highway。向這位幽默作家致敬的牌子至今還豎立在在加州的圣莫尼卡。

由迪士尼動(dòng)畫公司的動(dòng)畫片「汽車總動(dòng)員」，描述在一個(gè)擬人化的世界里，所有汽車都會(huì)說(shuō)話、思考，有喜怒哀樂，主角「閃電麥坤」是個(gè)賽車界的新秀，想要在即將到來(lái)、于加州舉行的匹斯托杯大賽中一展身手，不料因?yàn)橐粓?chǎng)意外，誤打誤撞地來(lái)到位在「66號(hào)公路」上的沒落小鎮(zhèn)「油車水」(Radiator Springs)，開啟了「閃電麥坤」奇異的生命旅程。汽車總動(dòng)員發(fā)揮了寓教于樂的功能，不僅讓觀眾思考繁忙生活中的生命意義，也因這部電影的上映，再度喚醒了世界對(duì)于66號(hào)公路的向往。

第五篇：美國(guó)人的生活習(xí)慣

美國(guó)人的生活習(xí)俗

■美國(guó)人性格外向，直爽熱情，美國(guó)人不拘小節(jié)，在絕大多數(shù)情況下，不論男女老幼、地位高低，即使是與人首次見面通常都直呼對(duì)方的名字，與人見面時(shí)，常常不握手，只說(shuō)一聲“Hello”而已。

■美國(guó)的政府、企業(yè)均是5天工作制（five days a week），星期六（Saturday）、星期日（Sunday）休息。公定假日有元旦、華盛頓誕辰紀(jì)念日、陣亡將士紀(jì)念日、獨(dú)立紀(jì)念日、勞動(dòng)節(jié)、哥倫布日、退伍軍人節(jié)、感恩節(jié)和圣誕節(jié)。

■美國(guó)人的時(shí)間觀念很強(qiáng)，各種活動(dòng)通常都是正點(diǎn)開始，約會(huì)遲到被認(rèn)為是不禮貌的（impolite），一般情況下，美國(guó)人談話不談?wù)搨€(gè)人問題，如婚姻、收入、職業(yè)等。

■在美國(guó)，家庭成員、朋友間傳統(tǒng)上都要在圣誕節(jié)互送禮物。美國(guó)人在接受禮物時(shí)，通常都會(huì)當(dāng)場(chǎng)打開禮物，贊揚(yáng)一番，在美國(guó)人看來(lái)，接受禮物后放在一邊，就是不禮貌的，是對(duì)禮品的不屑一顧。美國(guó)人不注重禮物的價(jià)值，但卻十分講究禮物的包裝。

■在美國(guó)，幾乎所有的場(chǎng)合，只要有服務(wù)性項(xiàng)目就必須準(zhǔn)備好小費(fèi)（fee）。即使是請(qǐng)人幫忙開一下門、叫一輛出租車，也需要付小費(fèi)。在大城市里，給旅館看門人、服務(wù)員和衣帽寄存處的服務(wù)員的小費(fèi)，一般不低于一美元（one dollar）。在餐館用餐，付飯錢的15%作小費(fèi)，是全美共同遵守的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

■美國(guó)人大多喜愛鮮艷的顏色，即明朗、活潑、亮麗的色彩，對(duì)紅（red）、藍(lán)（blue）、白（white）三色特別有好感，美國(guó)國(guó)旗即由這三色組成。美國(guó)人不喜歡黑色（black），它是喪葬、失望和晦氣的象征。美國(guó)中學(xué)生的課余活動(dòng)（After-school Activities 在美國(guó)，中學(xué)生放學(xué)后通常有半小時(shí)左右的時(shí)間完成作業(yè)。除此之外，老師會(huì)要求學(xué)生定期寫讀書報(bào)告（report），例如：傳記（biography）、動(dòng)物故事（animal stories）、科幻小說(shuō)（science fiction）、推理小說(shuō)（mystery fiction）、歷史事件（historic events）、家族史（family history）等。老師只是給讀書報(bào)告搭個(gè)框架（outline），具體選題（topic）由學(xué)生自己來(lái)定。比如寫“傳記”，學(xué)生可以根據(jù)自己的愛好，或?qū)懥挚峡偨y(tǒng)（President Lincoln），或?qū)懙谝晃坏窃掠詈絾T（astronaut）、科學(xué)家（scientist）、體育明星（sports star）、歌手（singer）等一些有影響的人物。學(xué)生確定了選題后，通常需要到圖書館（library）閱讀書籍收集資料。

雖然沒有過(guò)多的家庭作業(yè)，但孩子也不是“放鴨子”。有組織的課外活動(dòng)是十分豐富的，如游泳（swimming）、球類（ball games）、體操（gymnastics）、溜冰（roller-skating）等體育活動(dòng)；鋼琴（piano）、小提琴（violin）等樂器；芭蕾（ballet）、踢踏舞（tap dance）、繪畫（painting）、唱歌（singing）、棋類（chess）以及男女童子軍（boy scouts, girl scouts）等活動(dòng)。每個(gè)社區(qū)（community）都有這樣的青少年活動(dòng)中心（youth center）。家長(zhǎng)可以根據(jù)孩子的特點(diǎn)（character）和愛好（hobby），有選擇地讓他們參加某項(xiàng)活動(dòng)。

美國(guó)孩子從12歲到法定工作年齡之前，會(huì)在課余、周末或假期里干些零活（odd jobs），掙些小錢。女孩子幫助親朋或鄰里照看小孩（babysitting）、打掃衛(wèi)生（cleaning）等；男孩子則會(huì)每天清晨把當(dāng)天報(bào)紙送到各家各戶門口（delivering the newspapers），也會(huì)幫助街坊割草（mowing the lawn）、修飾庭院（renovating the yard）。這不僅讓他們學(xué)會(huì)自己掙零用錢（pocket money），更能培養(yǎng)他們獨(dú)立自主（independent）和社交的能力（social skills）。兒童節(jié)由來(lái)

每當(dāng)“六一”國(guó)際兒童節(jié)的時(shí)候，孩子們都興高采烈地歡度著自己的節(jié)日。那一張張笑臉，一陣陣歌聲，都充滿了幸福和快樂。但是你是否知道這“六一”節(jié)的來(lái)歷？是否知道當(dāng)年確定兒童節(jié)的時(shí)候，是因?yàn)槭澜缟嫌袩o(wú)數(shù)的少年兒童在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中被奪去了幼小的生命。

那是在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，1942年6月，德國(guó)法西斯槍殺了捷克利迪策村16歲以上的男性公民140余人和全部嬰兒，并把婦女和90名兒童押往集中營(yíng)。村里的房舍、建筑物均被燒毀，好端端的一個(gè)村莊就這樣被德國(guó)法西斯給毀了

為了悼念利迪策村和全世界所有在法西斯侵略戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中死難的兒童，反對(duì)帝國(guó)主義戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)販子虐殺和毒害兒童，保障兒童權(quán)利，1949年11月國(guó)際民主婦女聯(lián)合會(huì)在莫斯科召開執(zhí)委會(huì)，正式?jīng)Q定每年6月1日為全世界少年兒童的節(jié)日，即國(guó)際兒童節(jié)。

新中國(guó)成立后，中央人民政府政務(wù)院于1949年12月23日作出決定，規(guī)定6月1日為新中國(guó)的兒童節(jié)，同時(shí)宣布廢除舊中國(guó)國(guó)民黨政府1931起實(shí)行的4月4日為兒童節(jié)的規(guī)定。

目前，各國(guó)政府普遍關(guān)注兒童的未來(lái)，保護(hù)兒童的權(quán)益。聯(lián)合國(guó)1990年通過(guò)的《兒童權(quán)利公約》，我國(guó)是參與制定國(guó)和簽約國(guó)之一。在批準(zhǔn)《兒童權(quán)利公約》的同一年，我國(guó)頒布了《中華人民共和國(guó)未成年人保護(hù)法》，這對(duì)維護(hù)少年兒童的權(quán)益起到了積極的作用。

為切實(shí)保障兒童健康成長(zhǎng)，中國(guó)立法、司法、政府各有關(guān)部門以及社會(huì)團(tuán)體都建立了相應(yīng)的機(jī)構(gòu)。在全國(guó)人民代表大會(huì)和中國(guó)人民政治協(xié)商會(huì)議內(nèi)分別設(shè)有負(fù)責(zé)婦女兒童保障的立法和監(jiān)督機(jī)構(gòu)。國(guó)務(wù)院下設(shè)的婦女兒童工作委員會(huì)，負(fù)責(zé)協(xié)調(diào)和推動(dòng)政府有關(guān)部門做好維護(hù)兒童權(quán)益的保障工作，為兒童辦實(shí)事。

日本：一年三次兒童節(jié)

日本是世界上慶祝兒童節(jié)次數(shù)最多的國(guó)家，他們一年要慶祝三次兒童節(jié)，而且慶祝方式十分有意思，充滿了濃濃的日本風(fēng)情。

3月3日女孩節(jié)

這個(gè)節(jié)日是專門為日本的小女孩設(shè)立的，每到這一天，家中有女兒的父母會(huì)在家里設(shè)置一個(gè)陳列臺(tái)，臺(tái)上放上穿著日本和服的漂亮女娃娃玩偶，作為給自己女兒的節(jié)日禮物。

5月5日男孩節(jié)

為了祝福家中的男孩健康、快樂，這一天日本家家戶戶都會(huì)用紙或布做成色彩鮮艷、形狀像鯉魚的彩帶，然后把這些彩帶串在竹竿上，并和金色的風(fēng)車綁在一起，掛在屋頂上。之所以這樣做，是因?yàn)槿毡救讼嘈捧庺~最有精神和活力，希望家中的男孩都像鯉魚那樣，因此這一天又稱為“鯉魚日”。

同時(shí)，日本的父母這一天也會(huì)在家里放置玩偶，但卻都是武士裝扮，樣子很可怕。11月15日“七五三”兒童節(jié)

在日本習(xí)俗里，三歲、五歲和七歲是小朋友特別幸運(yùn)的三個(gè)年紀(jì)，所以每年的這一天，會(huì)專門為這三個(gè)年紀(jì)的孩子熱鬧地慶祝一番。

這一天，小朋友會(huì)穿上最好的傳統(tǒng)和服，還會(huì)背上一個(gè)畫了松樹、烏龜或鶴等圖案的小紙袋，紙袋里裝滿了父母買的糖果和玩具。穿戴整齊后，父母會(huì)帶小朋友上日本神社，祈求并感謝神明給小朋友帶來(lái)健康和快樂。

母親節(jié)（Mother's Day）

母親節(jié)是一個(gè)感謝母親的節(jié)日。在美國(guó)、加拿大和一些其他國(guó)家，每年5月的第二個(gè)星期天就是母親節(jié)。在其他一些國(guó)家的日期并不一樣。母親們?cè)谶@一天通常會(huì)收到禮物?？的塑氨灰暈楂I(xiàn)給母親的花。父親節(jié)(Father's Day)朔源

當(dāng)我們小的時(shí)候，是父親用自行車馱著我們兜風(fēng)，是父親陪著我們?cè)诠珗@里玩耍，是父親幫助我們解決了第一個(gè)數(shù)學(xué)難題，又是父親教會(huì)我們區(qū)分對(duì)與錯(cuò)。

那么在父親節(jié)，我們是不是應(yīng)該為自己的父親做點(diǎn)什么，感謝他這些年來(lái)對(duì)我們的鼓勵(lì)和支持呢？父親節(jié)的想法是一位叫Sonora Smart Dodd 的女士在1909年提出來(lái)的。她想以一個(gè)特殊的日子來(lái)紀(jì)念自己的父親。因?yàn)楫?dāng)年母親在生第六個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候去世了，是父親含辛茹苦地把六個(gè)孩子撫養(yǎng)長(zhǎng)大。所以，Dodd 認(rèn)為應(yīng)該選一天來(lái)紀(jì)念勇敢、無(wú)私和愛意融融的父親們。由于她的父親生于6月19日，所以她就選1910年的6月19日作為第一個(gè)日子，紀(jì)念自己的父親。直到1924年，美國(guó)總統(tǒng)Calvin Coolidge 萌生了在國(guó)家范圍內(nèi)慶祝父親節(jié)的想法。最后，在1966年，每年6月份的第三個(gè)星期天終于被定為父親節(jié)。

而我國(guó)的父親節(jié)起源，要追溯到國(guó)民時(shí)代。民國(guó)三十四年的八月八日，上海聞人所發(fā)起了慶祝父親節(jié)的活動(dòng)，市民立即響應(yīng)，熱烈舉行慶?；顒?dòng)?？谷諔?zhàn)爭(zhēng)勝利后，上海市各界名流仕紳，聯(lián)名請(qǐng)上海市政府轉(zhuǎn)呈中央政府，定“爸爸”諧音的八月八日為全國(guó)性的父親節(jié)。

有許多方式可以用來(lái)表達(dá)我們對(duì)父親的愛戴和感激?？梢运徒o他一張問候的賀卡，也可以送給美麗的花朵?? 南瓜燈的傳說(shuō)

至于南瓜燈，Jack-o'-lantern，也有一個(gè)傳說(shuō)，吝嗇的愛爾蘭酒鬼Jack騙魔鬼爬進(jìn)了蘋果樹的樹洞，然后迅速在樹干上刻了一個(gè)神圣的十字，困住了魔鬼。Jack逼著魔鬼起誓永遠(yuǎn)不再追索、或以任何其他方式謀取他的靈魂，這才把魔鬼放了出來(lái)。然而這卻擋不住死亡的來(lái)臨。Jack死后，由于酗酒、吝嗇和欺詐，他未被允許進(jìn)入天堂。而由于魔鬼的誓言，Jack也不能進(jìn)入地獄?！澳敲次胰ツ睦锬?？” Jack不知所措地問?！澳膬簛?lái)的回哪兒去！”魔鬼惡狠狠地回答?；厝サ穆防滹L(fēng)四起，黑暗無(wú)邊。魔鬼從地獄之火揀了一塊燒得通紅的火炭扔給他。為了照路又不被風(fēng)吹滅，Jack將火炭放進(jìn)了他手里拿著的大頭菜中。Jack就這樣舉著他的“燈籠”尋找自己在地球上的存身之處。后來(lái)蘇格蘭人模仿他，挖空大頭菜，放入蠟燭做燈籠；愛爾蘭人用大頭菜或用土豆做燈籠；英格蘭人則用甜菜。后來(lái)他們移民到美國(guó)，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)更好用的燈籠──南瓜燈！這個(gè)故事其實(shí)是在告誡人們，無(wú)論什么情形，都不要和魔鬼做交易。

Halloween costumes 萬(wàn)圣節(jié)服裝（Halloween costumes）同樣是萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的一個(gè)關(guān)鍵詞。人們會(huì)穿著精心準(zhǔn)備的服裝參加萬(wàn)圣節(jié)舞會(huì)。傳統(tǒng)的萬(wàn)圣節(jié)服裝是惡魔（devils）、吸血鬼（vampires）、骷髏（skeletons）、幽靈（ghosts）、女巫（witches）。近幾年，服裝也出現(xiàn)科幻色彩，如外星人（aliens）和超人（superheroes）。同時(shí)流行文化也在萬(wàn)圣節(jié)服裝上有所呈現(xiàn)，出現(xiàn)了在萬(wàn)圣節(jié)穿得像總統(tǒng)，運(yùn)動(dòng)員等。

Halloween Parade 萬(wàn)圣節(jié)大游行（Halloween Parade）源于1973年，剛開始只是一位面具制作家兼木偶操作師Ralph Lee的簡(jiǎn)單想法。當(dāng)時(shí)他帶著幾個(gè)小孩在社區(qū)內(nèi)辦了一次小型的萬(wàn)圣節(jié)游行。第二年，紐約劇院邀請(qǐng)他將此構(gòu)想帶上大街，開始了一年一度的大游行。

現(xiàn)在，紐約市的萬(wàn)圣節(jié)大游行堪稱是紐約格林威治村的盛事。每年大約有三萬(wàn)名化裝的游行者和近二百萬(wàn)人前來(lái)觀賞。陣容龐大的游行隊(duì)伍里，隨處可見各式各樣的奇異裝扮。大游行每年都會(huì)搭配不同的主題，比如環(huán)保、艾滋病等。

Apple bobbing

咬蘋果（Apple bobbing）是萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)游戲。在游戲中，人們把盆子或桶盛滿水，并把蘋果放在水中。因?yàn)樘O果的密度比水小，所以會(huì)漂浮在水面上。然后，參加游戲的人在不用手的情況下去咬蘋果，誰(shuí)先咬到，誰(shuí)就是優(yōu)勝者。在玩游戲的過(guò)程中，為了防止人們用手接觸蘋果，通常會(huì)把雙手綁在背后。

Jack-o'-lantern “杰克燈”（Jack-o'-lantern）也叫南瓜燈，是萬(wàn)圣節(jié)的重要道具。人們制作的南瓜燈通常都有一雙邪惡的眼睛和一張大嘴，并且從中透出飄忽不定的燭光。它的做法也極為簡(jiǎn)單。將南瓜（pumpkin）掏空，然后在外面刻上笑瞇瞇的眼睛和大嘴巴，再在瓜中插上一支蠟燭（candle），把它點(diǎn)燃。為了歡迎萬(wàn)圣節(jié)，當(dāng)夜幕降臨后，孩子們就會(huì)穿上五顏六色的化妝服（costume），戴上千奇百怪的面具（mask），提上一盞“杰克燈”跑出去玩。感恩節(jié)

感恩節(jié)（Thanksgiving Day）是美國(guó)和加拿大共有的節(jié)日，原意是為了感謝印第安人，后來(lái)人們常在這一天感謝他人。自1941年起，感恩節(jié)是在每年11月的第四個(gè)星期四在這一天起將休假兩天，都要和自己的家人團(tuán)聚，不管多忙都是如此。感恩節(jié)在每年11月22－28日之間，感恩節(jié)是美國(guó)國(guó)定假日中最地道、最美國(guó)式的節(jié)日（holiday），加拿大的感恩節(jié)則起始于1879年，是在每年11月第二個(gè)星期一，與美國(guó)的哥倫布日相同。

感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)主菜

每逢感恩節(jié)，美國(guó)人必有肥嫩的雞可吃。火雞是感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)主菜。它原是棲息于北美洲的野禽，后經(jīng)人們大批飼養(yǎng)，成為美味家禽，每只可重達(dá)四五十磅。現(xiàn)在仍有些地方設(shè)有獵場(chǎng)，專供人們?cè)诟卸鞴?jié)前射獵，有興趣的人到獵場(chǎng)花些錢，就能親自打上幾只野火雞回家。使節(jié)日更富有情趣。

火雞的吃法也有一定講究。它需要整只烤出，雞皮烤成深棕色，肚子里還要塞上許多拌好的食物，如碎面包等。端上桌后，由男主人用刀切成薄片分給大家。然后由各人自己澆上鹵汁，灑上鹽，味道十分鮮美。

感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)菜譜

感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)菜譜包括：Cornbread（玉米面包）、English Cheese Pie（英國(guó)奶酪派）、Venison（鹿肉）、Ducks & Geese（鴨和鵝）、Wild Turkey（野生火雞）、Garlic and Onions（大蒜和洋蔥）、Pumpkin Pudding（南瓜布?。?、Indian Pudding（印地安布丁）?？偨y(tǒng)放生火雞儀式

每年一度的總統(tǒng)放生火雞儀式始于1947年杜魯門總統(tǒng)當(dāng)政時(shí)期，但實(shí)際上這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)儀式可以追溯到美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)林肯總統(tǒng)當(dāng)政的時(shí)期。1863年的一天，林肯的兒子泰德突然闖入內(nèi)閣會(huì)議請(qǐng)求赦免一只名叫杰克的寵物火雞，因?yàn)檫@只被送進(jìn)白宮的火雞，即將成為人們的圣誕節(jié)大餐。感恩節(jié)購(gòu)物與黑色星期五

感恩節(jié)購(gòu)物已經(jīng)成為了美國(guó)人的習(xí)俗。從感恩節(jié)到圣誕節(jié)這一個(gè)月，美國(guó)零售業(yè)總銷售額能占到全年的1/3強(qiáng)，是各個(gè)商家傳統(tǒng)的打折促銷旺季。瘋狂的購(gòu)物月從感恩節(jié)的次日（星期五）開始，這一天即被稱為Black Friday（黑色星期五）。之所以叫這個(gè)名字，據(jù)說(shuō)是因?yàn)橹芪暹@天一大早，所有人都要摸著黑沖到商場(chǎng)排隊(duì)買便宜貨，這種行為有個(gè)非常形象的說(shuō)法，叫Bird of getting up early.（早起的鳥兒）。在外國(guó)“感恩節(jié)”和中國(guó)的春節(jié)一樣重要！Babel, Tower of 巴別塔

The Tower of Babel, described in the Old Testament(Genesis 11: 1-9), was started by descendants of Noah on the plain of Shinar in Babylonia.The builders intended the tower to reach into heaven and make a name for them.God, however, was not pleased with the people, because they were disobeying the command given to Noah to fill the earth.The people's pride was leading them into rebellion against God, just as those people whom God had just destroyed by the Flood in Noah's time.To keep them from bringing greater punishment on themselves in 5 the near future, God stopped the building by confusing the language of the people, causing them to be scattered throughout the earth.The place where people built the tower is called Babel, so the tower is referred as the Tower of Babel.Today, the word “babel” in English means a scene of confusion, disorder, or noise from many different voices.巴別塔（Tower of Babel），也稱通天塔。據(jù)《圣經(jīng)·舊約·創(chuàng)世紀(jì)》第十一章中記載：諾亞方舟之后的幸存者繁衍了眾多的后代，他們來(lái)到了巴比倫尼亞的示拿（Shinar）平原，準(zhǔn)備在這個(gè)地方為自己建造一座通天塔。上帝覺得他們狂妄自大，十分不滿，于是施法弄亂了人類的語(yǔ)言，讓他們說(shuō)不同的語(yǔ)言。這樣一來(lái)，由于語(yǔ)言不通，人與人之間感情無(wú)法交流，思想難以統(tǒng)一，猜疑與爭(zhēng)吵就此出現(xiàn)，通天塔也就未能建成。人們離開了巴比倫尼亞，到世界不同的地方生活。因此此處的城市名叫巴別（Babel），因而塔名取作巴別塔?，F(xiàn)在babel一詞用來(lái)指喧鬧、混亂的場(chǎng)面?！癮pple of(one's)eye, the ” 掌上明珠

“The apple of one's eye” means someone's favorite or beloved person or thing, for example “His youngest son was the apple of his eye.” This idea comes from the ancient view that eyes are a very precious part of the body, and the pupil of the eye is shaped like an apple.The phrase is used several times in the English translation of the Bible from the early 1600s, often talking about God's love for the nation of Israel: “He that touches you touches the apple of his eye.”(Zechariah 2:8)

The apple of one's eye比喻最鐘愛的人或物。例如，His youngest son was the apple of his eye（他的小兒子是他的掌上明珠）。這個(gè)說(shuō)法來(lái)自古人的觀念，由于眼睛是人身體中非常珍貴的部分，而瞳孔的形狀像蘋果，人們遂以the apple of one's eye這個(gè)詞組來(lái)表示特別寶貴的人或物。這個(gè)短語(yǔ)在17世紀(jì)初英文翻譯版的《圣經(jīng)》中出現(xiàn)過(guò)幾次，常用來(lái)形容上帝對(duì)以色列的鐘愛。apple pie 蘋果餡餅

Apple pie is made from pastry filled in the center with pieces of apple.The traditional shape is usually as big and round as a large plate, and about two to three centimeters high.Apple pie is usually considered to be a symbol of American culture.“As American as apple pie” is a saying meaning that something is typically American.For example, “Football and baseball are as American as apple pie” means that they were invented by Americans and played and watched everywhere in this country.The phrase “apple pie” is often part of other phrases such as “apple-pie order” which means well-arranged, perfect order.蘋果餡餅就是以蘋果為主要餡料的圓形餡餅，上下都有皮，烤成焦黃色。蘋果餡餅是美國(guó)家喻戶曉的糕餅，因此有人說(shuō)蘋果餡餅是美國(guó)的標(biāo)志，人們常用它來(lái)表示典型或者純粹的美國(guó)傳統(tǒng)。英語(yǔ)中有些詞組就顯示了apple pie在美國(guó)人生活中的重要角色和文化特征。比如人們常說(shuō)：as American as apple pie，這個(gè)詞組的意思是像蘋果餡餅一樣具有美國(guó)特色；再比如apple-pie order是整齊、井然有序的意思，因?yàn)閾?jù)說(shuō)在每周開始的時(shí)候，有的美國(guó)家庭主婦習(xí)慣烤制七個(gè)蘋果餡餅，整齊地放在食品架子上面，每天吃一個(gè)，有條不紊，因此apple-pie order 就有了整齊而有秩序的意思。

“All roads lead to Rome” 條條大路通羅

The saying “All roads lead to Rome” means simply that all paths or activities lead to the center of things.This saying comes from the days of the Roman Empire, when Rome ruled over most of the known world.The roads built at that time were for military use, so all the empire's roads started from the capital city, Rome, and spread out to cover the whole empire.The long highways were important for maintaining both the stability and the expansion of the empire.The Romans became famous for, among other things, their 80,000 kilometers of hard-surface highways.The saying “All roads lead to Rome” came into use in the 1100s as a metaphor, with the meaning that all different methods will still produce the same result.公元前3世紀(jì)，羅馬帝國(guó)統(tǒng)一了整個(gè)亞平寧半島。公元前1世紀(jì)，羅馬城成為地跨亞、非、歐三洲，羅馬帝國(guó)的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)和文化中心。羅馬帝國(guó)為了加強(qiáng)其統(tǒng)治，修建了以羅馬城為中心，通向四面八方的大道。這些大道為鞏固羅馬帝國(guó)的統(tǒng)治和其擴(kuò)張發(fā)揮了巨大作用。道路系統(tǒng)是以羅馬城為中心向四周放射的，所以走任何一條大路都能到達(dá)羅馬城?，F(xiàn)在，這個(gè)成語(yǔ)比喻的是，通過(guò)不同方法可以得到同一個(gè)結(jié)果。

Aladdin's lamp 阿拉丁神燈

Aladdin's lamp is a famous lamp in one of the stories in The Thousand and One Nights.The story is about a poor young man named Aladdin, who helps a magician get a wonderful oil lamp from a dangerous magic cave.The magician tries to cheat Aladdin, so Aladdin keeps the lamp himself.He soon finds that a bad-tempered genie lives inside the lamp and must obey whoever holds the lamp.With the genie's help, Aladdin becomes a rich and powerful man and is able to marry the beautiful Princess Badroulbadour.The magician finally gets the lamp back by tricking the princess, who does not know how important the lamp is.Aladdin discovers that a ring left by the magician when he was cheating Aladdin controls a less powerful but more polite genie.With the help of this genie, Aladdin is able to get his wife and the lamp back.阿拉丁和神燈的故事取自童話集《一千零一夜》（又稱《天方夜譚》）。

阿拉丁是一個(gè)貧窮的少年。有一天，一個(gè)魔法師雇用阿拉丁到一個(gè)山洞去取一盞油燈，那實(shí)際上一盞神燈，一旦擁有了它，就會(huì)要什么有什么。在這個(gè)過(guò)程中，魔法師欺騙了阿拉丁，并企圖置他于死地，阿拉丁成功地死里逃生，并得到了神燈。借助于神燈的魔力，阿拉丁戰(zhàn)勝了艱險(xiǎn)，和美麗的公主白狄奴·卜多魯結(jié)了婚。魔法師得知阿拉丁還活著，就從不知道神燈秘密的卜多魯公主手里把神燈騙走。后來(lái)，經(jīng)過(guò)曲折的過(guò)程，阿拉丁又把神燈收回，并從此和妻子一起過(guò)上了幸福的生活。

Air Jordan 飛人喬丹（1963—）

Air Jordan is a nickname for Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time.Michael Jordan was born in 1963 in Brooklyn, New York.In 1984, he went to play for the Chicago Bulls.He went on to win six 7 championships during his time with the team(1991-1993, 1996-1998).His height of 6 feet 6 inches(198 centimeters)led to his nickname “Air Jordan” because he often seemed to be flying through the air when he leaped up to make a basket.He retired twice from the Chicago Bulls, first in 1993 and then in 1999.He came out of retirement again for a short time to play for the Washington Wizards, but retired from basketball for the third and final time in 2003.His popularity with fans has helped basketball become one of the world's most popular spectator sports.Today the name “Air Jordan” is also often used to refer to the popular brand of basketball shoes named after Jordan.飛人喬丹是球迷們對(duì)邁克爾·喬丹的昵稱。邁克爾·喬丹是美國(guó)杰出的籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員。他1963年出生在紐約市。從他1984年加入芝加哥公牛隊(duì)到1998年為止，喬丹率領(lǐng)該隊(duì)六次贏得NBA總冠軍，11次被評(píng)為NBA最佳球員，10次榮獲“得分王”稱號(hào)。雖然他曾在1993年和1999年兩次宣布退役，但其后又重返賽場(chǎng)。在2003年他正式宣布退役。他身高1.98米，當(dāng)他躍起扣籃時(shí)身體就像在空中飛行，極具彈跳能力，球藝出眾，因而被稱為“飛人喬丹”。如今Air Jordan也是一個(gè)以喬丹名字命名的球鞋的品牌名。

AIDS 艾滋病

AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is a human viral disease.It damages the body's immune system, and gradually takes away its ability to defend itself against infection and disease.AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV).People infected with HIV are open to infections that are harmless in healthy people, but can prove fatal in them as their immune systems are greatly weakened.HIV transmission can come through sex, blood transfusion, childbirth or breastfeeding.There is no cure for AIDS, but new drugs have been invented to help lengthen and improve the quality of life for people with AIDS.艾滋病的全稱為獲得性免疫缺陷綜合征（Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome），是一種致命的傳染病。它是人類免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）造成的人體免疫系統(tǒng)的病變。在多數(shù)情況下，HIV緩慢地攻擊并破壞人體抵抗病疫的系統(tǒng)（即免疫系統(tǒng)），使得受感染的人容易得病、并最終死亡。AIDS是HIV感染的最后階段。艾滋病通過(guò)性接觸、血液接觸或母嬰途徑傳染。目前，對(duì)于艾滋病還沒有有效的治療藥物或免疫的疫苗，但是通過(guò)服藥治療可延長(zhǎng)艾滋病人生命并可改善他們的生命質(zhì)量。Aesop 伊索

Aesop is said to be a slave who lived in Greece in the 6th century BC.He has been remembered for his wonderful stories, called fables.He used animal characters to show human behavior and to teach a lesson, or a moral, about that behavior.One of his most popular tales, for example, is “The Tortoise and the Hare,” with the moral “It is not just speed that wins the race.”

Aesop's fables spread throughout the world by word of mouth, retold for hundreds of years.Eventually they were written down and have been translated into many languages.相傳伊索是生活在公元前6世紀(jì)的一個(gè)希臘奴隸，擅長(zhǎng)講故事?，F(xiàn)在的《伊索寓言》是后人根據(jù)口頭流傳的寓言以及陸續(xù)發(fā)現(xiàn)的古希臘寓言傳抄本編訂的。《伊索寓言》大多是動(dòng)物故事，其中的《狼與小羊》《獅子與野驢》等用豺狼、獅子等兇惡的動(dòng)物比喻人間的權(quán)貴，揭露他們的專橫和殘暴，反映了平民或奴隸的思想感情；《烏龜與兔》《牧人與野山羊》等總結(jié)了人們的生活經(jīng)驗(yàn)，教人處世和做人的道理。伊索寓言形式短小精悍，比喻恰當(dāng)，形象生動(dòng)，對(duì)許多歐洲文學(xué)大師的創(chuàng)作產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。Achilles' heel 阿喀琉斯之踵

An Achilles' heel is a fatal weakness in overall strength that can lead to one's downfall or death.In Greek mythology, Achilles was the greatest Greek warrior in the Trojan War.He was the son of Peleus, king of Thessaly and the goddess Thetis.When he was a baby, his mother submerged him in the River Styx to make him immortal, all except for the heel that she held to dip him into the waters.Achilles fought many battles during the 10-year Trojan War and finally killed Memnon, the king of the Ethiopians.As Achilles led the Greeks to the walls of Troy, he died from a heel wound caused by an arrow shot by Paris, the prince of Troy.阿喀琉斯之踵比喻致命的弱點(diǎn)。在希臘神話中，阿喀琉斯是色薩利密爾彌東人的國(guó)王珀琉斯和海中仙女忒提斯的兒子。在特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中，他是阿伽門農(nóng)的軍隊(duì)中最偉大、最勇猛的戰(zhàn)士。阿喀琉斯一出生，她母親就捏著他的腳后跟，把他全身都浸入冥河水中，傳說(shuō)冥河水可以讓人永生，故而阿喀琉斯周身獲得了保護(hù)，造就了一副刀槍不入的鋼鐵之軀，只有腳后跟除外。阿喀琉斯出征特洛伊，為希臘軍隊(duì)立下了巨大的功勛。后來(lái)特洛伊王子帕里斯得到神示，用毒箭射中阿喀琉斯的腳后跟，才使他喪命。

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The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格（大全5篇）

第一篇：The American Character 美國(guó)人的性格

第二篇：The_American_Character_美國(guó)人的性格

第三篇：美國(guó)人的性格分析與交往經(jīng)驗(yàn)總結(jié)

第四篇：美國(guó)人演講稿

第五篇：美國(guó)人的生活習(xí)慣

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