7350美国人的价值观(中英文)

2021年1月22日发(作者：ugly是什么意思)
摘自：英语泛读教程


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.

以下节选自布拉德福德所著
《为什么我们的举止象美国人》
里的一篇文章。
据布拉德福德所
说，目标

为成功和物质享乐主义，构成美国人性格的内在因素。


When
visitors
from
abroad
undertake
to
describe
the
American
Character,
the
results
are
frequently puzzling to Americans.
says
one.

always
thinking
about
enjoying
themselves,
says
another.

spend
too
much time at work,
don't
know
what
work
is,

retorts
another.
Their
machines
do
it
all.

women
are
shameless
sirens.
－


prudes.

children
here
are
wonderful
－

outgoing
and
natural.
－


要是让国外来客描述美国人的性格，结果常常 令美国人感到奇怪。一个人说：
“
所有的美国
人都是清教徒；所以他们与众不同。”
另一个人说：
“
他们总是想方设法让自己开心。
”
一位
尊贵的客人告诉我们：
“
他们花在工作上的时间太多。
他们不懂如何玩乐。
”
另一个人反驳说：
“
他们不懂什么是工作。因为机器替他们做了一切。
”“
美国女人是不知廉耻的，妖艳而危险
的女人。
”
--
“
不， 她们假正经。
”“
这里的孩子真好－－外向，自然。
”
----
“< br>象小小的野兽一样
自然。他们没礼貌，不尊敬长辈。
”


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.

当然，
世上既没有单一模 式的美国人性格，
也没有单一的英国人性格或土耳其人性格或是中
国人性格。
个性的定 义在美国变得更为复杂，
因为我们有不同的种族和文化背景，
因为来自
世界各地连续不 断的移民浪潮，
因为我们区域的多样性。
个性的定义变得复杂，
因为几百种
不 同的宗教信仰及其对各自的信奉者的影响不同。
个性的定义也由于每个人所处的年代不同
而趋多 样化

－－第一代是移民，第二代是移民的孩子，一直照此延续下去。


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.

强大的吸引力把众多的美国人聚集在了一起。
然而那些想再了解深入一点的人弄不懂 美国人
生活中各种似乎自相矛盾的东西。的确，
美国人总体上工作努力。
但他们也拼命 地玩。
他们
去旅游、露营、打猎、看体育比赛、喝酒、抽烟、看电影电视、读报纸杂志，花的时 间和金
钱比世界任何地方的人都多。
而他们还把更多的时间花在教会、
社会服务、医院和各种各样
的慈善活动上。他们总是忙来忙去，又总是花更多的时间休闲。他们十分在乎个人的 权利，
又习惯于墨守陈规。他们崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化

，不论他是和大商人形成对照的
小商人，还是和大权在握的人形成对照的平民百姓。


Success as a Goal
成功作为目标


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.
包括美国人在内几乎每一个人都会赞同的一点是，
美国人极为看重成功 。
成功不一定是物质
上的回报，而是得到某种认可，

最好是可以衡量的那种 。如果一个男孩后来没有从商，而
是做了布道的教士，
那也没什么。但是他的教堂规模越大，教 堂会众越多，
别人就认为他越
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.

好多事情都说明，
成功是美国人生活的重点。
清教徒相信工作带来的好处，
既有工作本身的
乐趣 ，
还因为工作的回报是上帝之爱的体现。
一片富饶的土地到处都是机遇，
等待着人们到
来。
在一个不固守陈规的社会，
没有严格的等级和阶级，
这样人就一定能通过 成功提升自己
的社会地位。


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.

凡是旧的世界拒绝给的，
移民 决心都要在新的世界得到。
对于他的后代而言，
要摆脱作为移
民的负担，
只有 在一个灵活自由的无阶级社会里取得更多的成功，
升至更高的地位。
他们的
兄弟之间不 象欧洲人那样为获得父母的欢心而相互

倾轧，
他们都在外面的世界

沿着各自选
择的道路为成功而奋力拚搏。


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.

英国的人类学家杰弗里
·
戈罗尔用弗罗伊德的说法来解释这一切。欧洲是被所有的移民抛弃
的父亲，
移民为了在美国过 上新生活，
背离了自己的文化。
移民为了要成功从未停止过奋斗，
因为目标

的内容没有限制。同样，第二代移民拒绝接受移民过来的父母，因为后者无法适
应美国标准。他 能减轻压力的唯一方式

，
就是取得更大的成功。在整个美国，有意大利人、
爱尔兰人、
德国人或波兰人名字的律师、
医生、教授和政治家，都能证明这种成功欲望的强烈。



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.

要是不奋斗，
不利用这个世界 的各种机会去成功而不能成功
---
这些无疑都是对国家的一种犯
罪。
开发一 个新国家的各种资源，
需要精力充沛的人不遗余力地发挥他们的充沛精力
---
不仅< br>仅是为了他们会得到的回报，
更重要的是给社会带来的回报。
所以在美国，
没有 人把物质上
的成功看成是自私的。成功的果实被看作具有全民共享的价值

。


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，都为自己创造了极 大的财富。但他们也建立起一种经济，既可以
带来许多物质上的幸福，
更高的健康水平，
也可以给上千万的美国人创造更好地受教育的机
会。无论怎样，这就是成功的内涵。


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.

一个如此注重竞争的社会必定是攻击性的社 会，
尽管法律严格限制各种攻击形式。
这种对攻
击的严格限制对

完 善经济的肌体有益，但对某些个人却过于严格。在拓荒时代，这种攻击
性是生存所必需的，
但现 在可能是一种对社会的威胁。
走投无路、
常年被同一工作所困的工
人可能会将这样的攻 击性用于种族仇恨或反对管理，或

开始酗酒、滋事、神经质、和自己
过不去。


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，
回报也就很高。
在美国，
人 们很少看重金钱本身，
它更多的是一种标志，
一种工具。
当一个人的地位提高，
人们对他的要求也相应提高。
成百上千各种各样的志愿者
协会有益于社会并服务于社会，人们 期望他能慷慨捐钱给这些协会。你去看看《名人录》
，
随便找一个知名商人的条目，就会发现他 参加的公益性委员会和协会多得令人吃惊。


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.

这种为成功和名望而奋斗的心理，
按心理学家的说法，
是一种克服恐惧和内心空虚感的 方式。
在一个时刻变化着的社会，
一个有进取精神的人难免会拿自己与别人相比，
知道 自己能达到
的目标是什么。


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.

这种思维方式对于那些本来就这样想的人是有利的。
但对不求上进的人 却没什么好处。
害怕
失败，
害怕竞争对手，
丧失自尊
---
都导致了一些人无力应付的紧张情绪。然后，这种紧张情
绪就产生了对爱的极度渴望。因此爱和成功是密 不可分的。戈罗尔认为

，许多美国人在少
年时期就被两个问题困扰：
成功就 是要得到爱，
要得到爱就要成功。
母亲们把这个模式成功
地灌输给孩子：
孩子 们在学校里表现好，
她们就对他们显示出无限的疼爱和喜爱；
孩子们要
是做得不好，她 们就拒绝给予关爱。


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.
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.

既然没有阶级限制、世袭职业或教育来阻碍孩子的发展，
所以从理论上说，
他所能取得的成
就也没有限 制。如果他说：
“
哦，我已经做到了。从现在起我要做的就是继续保持，
”
这 样的
话毫无意义。因为，理论上，任何孩子都可以做总统，奋斗是一种道德上的义务。评价人的
标准是成功而不是阶级。
不论出身豪门还是出身显赫，
都没有什么可炫耀的；
真正的考 验就
是：从你的起点你能爬多高。


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