名篇背诵：American Dream 美国梦

American Dream 美国梦

科琳·布朗(Corinne Brown)

To Americans, industriousness, thrift , and ambition are positive values. We encourage our children to be competitive, to get ahead, to make money, to acquire possession. In games and in business alike the aim is to win the game, the trophy, the contract. We go in for labor-saving devices, gadgets , speed, and shortcuts . We think every young couple should set up a home of their own, and we pity the couple who must share their home with a parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values, and those who do may hold other, and at times contradictory, values that affect their ways of behaving. In the main, however, the collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the individual, whatever his personal inclination , is under considerable pressure to conform.

- thrift [ˈθrɪft] n. 节俭

- positive [ˈpɒzətɪv] a. 积极的，确有助益的

- gadget [ˈɡædʒɪt] n. 诡计，圈套

- shortcut [ˈʃɔːtkʌt] n. 捷径

- inclination [ɪnklɪˈneɪʃn] n. 倾向，爱好

对美国人来说，勤劳、节俭和有抱负是受肯定的价值观念。我们鼓励孩子们竞争、进取、挣钱、获得财富。在游戏中和在生意场上一样，目标是要做赢家，要拿奖品，要赢得合同。我们致力于研制节省劳力的装置、小器件，提高速度，找到捷径。我们认为每个年轻夫妇都应该建立自己的家，我们可怜那些必须同父母同住的夫妻，更不用说寄居亲属家里的了。当然，实际上，不是所有的美国人都持这些价值观，而持这些价值观的人也可能持别的有时候相互矛盾的价值观，这会影响到他们的行为方式。但总的来说，我们社会的总体期望是达到这些理想的目标，不管个人意愿如何，他都不得不去遵守。

科琳·布朗(1948—　)，美国作家，著作有《泰坦尼克号上的无票乘客》(The Stowaway on the Titanic ,2003)，《咱们保密》(Let's Keep This Secret ,2004)，《灵性基础：26种加强精神生活的简单技巧》(ABCs of Spirituality: 26 Simple ABCs to a Spiritual Life ,2004)等。