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第一单元 Hello, America and American!
第八部分 AMERICAN VALUES
俗话说：“不撞南墙不回头。”——人一旦有一种想法，如果他本人的价值观不根本改变，就很难让他改变他的行为和语言。价值观直接影响人类的思维，而思维又是语言的灵魂，语言（包括肢体语言）是思维的载体，从这个意义上讲，学习一个民族的语言一定要了解并掌握该民族的价值观。美国人对自由的执着追求是众人皆知的，但他们究竟如何理解自由呢？我们用两个单元来向大家阐述这个问题。下面是一个在华居住若干年的普通美国人对自由价值观的看法及其在不同领域的表现
Individualism (a)
全文链接：http://dipan.kekenet.com/blog-911842-68039
What’s up? I’m Parsons. Nice to meet you (well sort of meet you). Anyway, I greet you with words and gifts and gifts of words. And the truth of American values! I’m going to give you the skinny on all aspects of American values, while also giving you the reasons straight up. Why so blunt? Cause hearing the truth is the best way to learn. In my humble individual opinion, the best students are the ones who feel free to ask any question to their instructor, no matter how embarrassing, foolish, or personal. The best teachers will have an answer to every question no matter how out-there or obscure. Well, at least the teacher should have a good enough imagination so they can make something up.
l skinny ['skini] n. 机密情报；内部消息；小道消息; adj. 皮的；皮包骨的；紧身的；小气的
l in my humble individual opinion 就我个人的一点浅薄的认识来说
First I would like to address where American values come from. From oppression comes the need for freedom. From inequality comes the need for equality. The forefathers of the US were all oppressed and abused. They were great men like Washington, Pane, Adams, Hancock and many more. Their families had fled Europe to seek religious freedom. Some fled to escape Europe’s class system. All were sick of being oppressed. Because of their poor situation, when they revolted and became free in 1776, they stood by their idealistic concepts. Our modern day values sprout from the dreams and hopes of our ancestors who had to fight to be free. They fought and died so we wouldn’t have to. Legally our values come from the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Socially American values come from the human feeling of what is best for the individual. Only if you first take care of yourself, can you then start to care for others. (Sort of like the instructions on an airplane). America’s original statement was a call to all the world, “Give us your weak and your weary,” the USA is still a nation of immigrants.
l Constitution and Bill of Rights 宪法和人权法
l American values come from the human feeling of what is best for the individual. 美国的价值观来自于什么样的状态是最有利于个人的
l Give us your weak and your weary 给予所有弱小势力以保护
Because of this, the USA was once called a melting pot, where all cultures come together and mutate into one. However, we have augmented that phrase. Now we say America is a “Tossed Salad of cultures,” because when you boil things together the individuality is corrupted, but the USA goes to extreme lengths so that its immigrants can keep as much from their old culture as they like. However, once you immigrate to the USA you are an American, with American values.
l a melting pot 大熔炉
l Tossed Salad of cultures 像混在一起的沙拉一样的文化
l However, once you immigrate to the USA you are an American, with American values. 尽管移民们的独特文化可以留存，但是，仍然会受到美国价值观的感染，最后变为美国的价值观。
Above all else, be yourself! All American values sprout from that one idea. Individualism is the first freedom as well as the most important American value. The American political system is based on being free to have individual ideals, individual religions, individual cultures, and the ever-important freedom to speak your individual opinion. American legal and social values are such that if there are 100 men in a room and 99 of them are guilty criminals, but we can’t figure out which one is the innocent one, our values dictate that we let them all go free. This is done to protect the rights of the one innocent individual. That is a pretty heavy concept. America is serious about the rights of the individual. Check out this case:
l be yourself 做自己，在美国是非常重要的
l 用100个人中99个是罪犯的例子，来说明individualism的重要性
l check out this case = for example
The individual’s right to vote as they like is so strong, that－get this: when you are voting for a leader or governor or even president, they leave a space on the official ballot form for people to write in other candidates names. You can write in your mom’s name if you like. If enough people write in the same name that person would win. (Mom for president!)
l 选举投票充分尊重个人的意愿
Not only does being a nation of individuals define the United States in legal terms, but it is a cool title we are proud of. In the US, being different is a great thing to be. People respect the person in a group who can be the most different and interesting. The importance of standing out is reinforced with several positive American idioms such as: “You are such an individual!” or “He is heads above the rest,” or “I noticed her from a mile away.” However, by far, my favorite idiom that is charged by being a true individual is one related to one of my hobbies －music. “He marches to the beat of his own drum.” This image really tells you a lot about a person. They don’t follow along to the weak pop music of the moment, which is famous for only a few days. Nor do they quickly follow trends; they make their own music and decisions. Writing this makes me want to be more of an individual, and go out and buy a drum to play!
l 与中国“中庸”的价值观所不同，美国更加强调一个人的个性和在群体中的与众不同
l 夸赞他人十分有个性的句子：
l You are such an individual!
l He is heads above the rest.
l I noticed her from a mile away.
l He marches to the beat of his own drum.
At the root of American individualism is a wanting, no, a yearning to be famous. Every American wants his or her “15 minutes of fame”. We all want to be recognized and praised, and being famous is like being praised for just being yourself. America gets its modern culture and most of its culture and values from TV and movies, so having a mega-star status is the best way to feel one has succeeded as an individual. All American guys secretly want to be Brad Pitt, I know that I do. And it is easy to see that all local gals openly hope to look like Jennifer Lopez. We love the movies so much that we say, “There is no business like show business.” Hollywood affects our culture, language and every other aspect of our lives.
