The Linguistic Culture-2 (british media) (1157929), страница 36
Текст из файла (страница 36)
The need for selfreliance on the frontier encouraged a spirit of inventiveness. Frontier men and women notonly had to provide most of their daily essentials of living, but they were constantly facingnew problems and situations, which demanded new solutions. The willingness to experimentand invent led to another American trait, a “can-do” spirit, and a sense of optimism that“every problem has a solution”. Americans take pride in overcoming challenges andobstacles. As American historian Frederick Jackson Turner wrote, Americans see themselvesas ground - breakers in all areas of industry, science, and technology.
They consider it naturalthat they should constantly create new ways of life, new means of constructing houses, newappliances,. new cars,etc.The frontier provided conditions for strengthening the American ideals of individualfreedom, self-reliance and equality of opportunity. Later many of the frontier values becamenational values. Emphasis on individual personality rather than collective identity orresponsibility is one of the most important features of the American character.Another distinctive American characteristic is pragmatism. This means that emphasison achievement and success is understood first of all as material prosperity. Americans arefond of common sense; they are not particularly interested in theory, abstract reasoning, orphilosophy.
If something works, do it; if it does not, try to do something else.Generally speaking, Americans are open and friendly people. The public behavior ofAmericans is less reserved than that of English, e.g.. It is normal for Americans to speakloudly, joke and laugh in public. Americans tend to be informal and unceremonious in boththeir public or private lives, although they are not absolutely uniform in their outwardbehavior. It seems, that people from the Northeast are more reserved than Midwesterners,who are very direct and especially famous for their friendliness. The South has long beenrenowned for the value it places on hospitality, gentility, and manners.
Westerners areprobably more informal than all the rest. The rules, which parallel this informality aregenerally established and understood. There are topics –wages, income, religion, politics, –that many Americans try to avoid in casual conversation. Those who insist on formal addressor titles or take themselves too seriously are often targets for humor.Like the British, Americans have a love for the intricate practical joke, the pun, andthe understated quip (clever remark).
Newspapers headlines bear witness to the second, andthe very subtle humor of “The New Yorker” is an example of the third. There is also atradition of “slapstick”, the pie-in-the face, and the banana peel on the floor. A different typeof the American humor is called “kidding around”. It is part of the daily life of manyAmericans, and often serves as background to normal conversations.
In many cases ifsomething is conveyed indirectly, through joking or other “light” humor, face can be saved orarguments prevented.Marriage and DatingMarriage in the U.SA is considered a matter of individual responsibility anddecision. Marriage is preceded by dating – one of the most prominent cultural rituals inAmerica.
Casual dating usually begins in the early teens. It is quite respectable for a youngman to call up a young girl, introduce himself by telephone, and arrange a date. Usually theyhave a friend in common. It is equally acceptable for a friend to arrange a “blind date’ that is adate between two young people who have not met before. Steady dating is sometimesfollowed by marriage..After marriage the young couple is free to decide where to live. Most newlyweds tryto set up their own household immediately. The familiar structure in present-day America isthe so-called “nuclear family”.
It is unusual for members of the family other than thehusband, wife, and children to live together. But the forgotten term “extended family” iscoming back again.The marriage age is rising. A high divorce rate and a decliningremarriage rate are sending economically pressured young people to parental shelters. Forsome, the expense of an away-home college education has become too exorbitant and manystudents now prefer to attend local universities.
Even after graduation some young people find“their wings Clipped” by the housing costs. According to the US Census Bureau, today 59%of men and 47 % of women between 18 and 24 depend on their parents despite all traditionalpatterns of behavior, at least for housingThe lives of most Americans revolve around their homes and houses. Home ownershipis one of the definitions of success in the USA.
Generally people are judged by the house theylive in, not only by its size and architecture but also the type of neighborhood and the distancefrom different amenities. The percentage of Americans owning houses (and apartments) theylive in is the highest among western nations. Most Americans still live in “single-familydwellings”, that is houses that usually have a front and backyard. Contrary to a commonbelief, only about 5 % of all Americans live in mobile homes. For all practical purposes, mostof these homes are not actually mobile but function as prefabricated housing units instationary settings.Most of North America has a more or less four-season climate, and the rhythms of lifearound the house tend to follow the seasons.
There is always something that needs to be donearound the house, and most American homeowners do it by themselves. In many Americanfamilies children are expected to help around the house and perform the home “chores”.Americans have always been concerned with making the chores of everyday life lesstiresome and distasteful. Inventors, businessmen, designers, neighborhood initiatives andinterest groups, public officials and private citizens – all try to make things better, moreefficient, more readily available, more convenient. From mail order shopping to drive-inbanking, from durable-press materials for clothes to computerized services and take-out food,Americans have shown their preference for a convenient lifestyle.In the average American home, there is a great amount of activity, of coming andgoing, all happening at once.
For the parents, there are perhaps courses at the local eveningschool or college. There are bridge and bowling clubs and golf leagues. There are PTA(Parent Teacher Association) meetings. The church is having a bake sale, a car wash, or a“potluck” dinner (everyone contributes a dish). The social life of American children is oftenhectic as well. One child is off to a party, another to the music or sport classes.One of the features of American life is volunteer work. According to the statisticalGallup polls, about 84 million Americans both adults and teenagers donated part of their timeas volunteers.
Some of this work is done through volunteer organizations and clubs; some ison a personal basis. Teenagers, for example, often volunteer to work in hospitals – so-called“candy- stripers”, from their striped uniforms.At the same time, many American middle-class families expect their children to findpart-time jobs, especially as they enter their teens. This might be work in the localsupermarket or service station, mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, or babysitting. Theidea seems to be that the work experience is “good for the kids». One effect on Americansociety is that middle-class children can do menial work without losing face.
This also effectscustomer-employee relations: the kid who just packed your groceries or filled your tank couldbe your neighbor’s son or daughter. In general, Americans feel that young people shouldappreciate the value of work and learn how to stand on their own feet.It is necessary to mark that since the 1960s there has appeared a great and drastic shiftin seemingly ideal “puritan” moral behavior of the middle class young people in the USA.
the“new morality., characterized by violence, sexual permissiveness and cheating, drug andalcohol abuse. According to a federal finding of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse andAlcoholism a minimum of 10 million Americans has alcoholic-connected problems, morethan 1.1 million youths between the ages 12 and 17 have “serious drug-abuse problems”.According to the Police Foundation there are some 40 million handguns in America andaccording to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the chance of being victimized by violentcrime has increased 24% since 1980 and more than 50% during the last 10 years. One of thetrends of the “new morality” among ypoung Americans is close relationships and livingtogether before marriage.
A study by the National Foundation released in 1995 shows thatbetween 1970 and 1993 birth to mothers under 16 rose by 80%.A steady progression of life-changing landmarks: the automobile, the radio, cars,.” TV andmovie era” may result in even greater future changes in lives and attitudes of Americans.The Car in American LifeThe fact that the Americans can’t do without a car is well known to everybody. Oneprimary reason for having cars is that the public transportation in the USA is not so welldeveloped as in Europe.
Bus lines in the US suburbs are unprofitable, bus routes are scarceand the scheduling is very unstable. So, willy-nilly people have to use their own cars.The car is such an important part of American life that for many people it would beimpossible to manage without it. The car is inherently built into the tissue of American lifeToday only really poor families and those too old to drive do not own a motor vehicle. But forthe 87 % who do have cars, there is hardly any need to leave them..
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