USA (798448), страница 15
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The frontier provided conditions for strengthening the American ideals of individual freedom, self-reliance and equality of opportunity. Later many of the frontier values became national values. Emphasis on individual personality rather than collective identity or responsibility is one of the most important features of the American character.
Another distinctive American characteristic is pragmatism. This means that emphasis on achievement and success is understood first of all as material prosperity. Americans are fond of common sense; they are not particularly interested in theory, abstract reasoning, or philosophy. 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 of Americans is less reserved than that of English, e.g. It is normal for Americans to speak loudly, joke and laugh in public. Americans tend to be informal and unceremonious in both their public or private lives, although they are not absolutely uniform in their outward behavior. 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 been renowned for the value it places on hospitality, gentility, and manners. Westerners are probably more informal than all the rest. The rules, which parallel this informality are generally established and understood. There are topics –wages, income, religion, politics, – which many Americans try to avoid in casual conversation. Those who insist on formal address or titles or take themselves too seriously are often targets for humor.
Like the British, Americans have love for the intricate practical joke, the pun, and the understated quip (clever remark). Newspapers headlines bear witness to the second, and the very subtle humor of “The New Yorker” is an example of the third. There is also a tradition of “slapstick”, the pie-in-the face, and the banana peel on the floor. A different type of the American humor is called “kidding around”. It is part of the daily life of many Americans, and often serves as background to normal conversations. In many cases if something is conveyed indirectly, through joking or other “light” humor, face can be saved or arguments prevented.
Marriage and Dating
Marriage in the U.SA is considered a matter of individual responsibility and decision. Marriage is preceded by dating – one of the most prominent cultural rituals in America. Casual dating usually begins in the early teens. It is quite respectable for a young man to call up a young girl, introduce himself by telephone, and arrange a date. Usually they have a friend in common. It is equally acceptable for a friend to arrange a “blind date’ that is a date between two young people who have not met before. Steady dating is sometimes followed by marriage.
.After marriage the young couple is free to decide where to live. Most newlyweds try to set up their own household immediately. The familiar structure in present-day America is the so-called “nuclear family”. It is unusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife, and children to live together. But the forgotten term “extended family” is coming back again. The marriage age is rising. A high divorce rate and a declining remarriage rate are sending economically pressured young people to parental shelters. For some, the expense of an away-home college education has become too exorbitant and many students 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 traditional patterns of behavior, at least for housing
The lives of most Americans revolve around their homes and houses. Home ownership is one of the definitions of success in the USA. Generally people are judged by the house they live in, not only by its size and architecture but also the type of neighborhood and the distance from different amenities. The percentage of Americans owning houses (and apartments) they live in is the highest among western nations. Most Americans still live in “single-family dwellings”, that is houses that usually have a front and backyard. Contrary to a common belief, only about 5 % of all Americans live in mobile homes. For all practical purposes, most of these homes are not actually mobile but function as prefabricated housing units in stationary settings.
Most of North America has a more or less four-season climate, and the rhythms of life around the house tend to follow the seasons. There is always something that needs to be done around the house, and most American homeowners do it by themselves. In many American families 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 less tiresome and distasteful. Inventors, businessmen, designers, neighborhood initiatives and interest groups, public officials and private citizens – all try to make things better, more efficient, more readily available, more convenient. From mail order shopping to drive-in banking, 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 and going, all happening at once. For the parents, there are perhaps courses at the local evening school 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 often hectic 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 statistical Gallup polls, about 84 million Americans both adults and teenagers donated part of their time as volunteers. Some of this work is done through volunteer organizations and clubs; some is on 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 find part-time jobs, especially as they enter their teens. This might be work in the local supermarket or service station, mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, or babysitting. The idea seems to be that the work experience is “good for the kids». One effect on American society is that middle-class children can do menial work without losing face. This also effects customer-employee relations: the kid who just packed your groceries or filled your tank could be your neighbor’s son or daughter. In general, Americans feel that young people should appreciate 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 shift in seemingly ideal “puritan” moral behavior of the middle class young people in the USA, the “new moral” characterized by violence, sexual permissiveness and cheating, drug and alcohol abuse. According to a federal finding of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism a minimum of 10 million Americans have alcoholic-connected problems, more than 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 and according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the chance of being victimized by violent crime has increased 24% since 1980 and more than 50% during the last 10 years. One of the trends of the “new morality” among young Americans is close relationships and living together before marriage. A study by the National Foundation released in 1995 shows that between 1970 and 1993 birth to mothers under 16 rose by 80%.
A Car in American Life
The fact that the Americans can’t do without a car is well known to everybody. One primary reason for having cars is that the public transportation in the USA is not so well developed as in Europe. Bus lines in the US suburbs are unprofitable, bus routes are scarce and 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 be impossible to manage without it. The car is inherently built into the tissue of American life. Today only really poor families and those too old to drive do not own a motor vehicle. But for the 87 % who do have cars, there is hardly any need to leave them. There are banks, fast-food restaurants, and movie theaters, where you can withdraw money, eat a meal, or see a film without ever getting out of your car. There are even drive-in churches. It’s surprising that some people remember how to walk at all. Taking a job or entering a college leads to an immediate follow-up of buying a car. The car is also an absolute necessity for the rural or suburban parent, often the mother, who goes shopping for the family and takes the children to after-school activities. Some people wind up driving many miles a day doing errands and taking their children from one place to another. When it comes to vacation time, many American families prefer to drive, sometimes very long distances. Even if they go by plane, when they arrive, they often rent a car (fly-drive).
American society’s dependence on automobiles creates a lot of serious problems, such as air-pollution, the growing accident rates, traffic jams. Cities, towns and states spend tremendous resources constantly repairing and expanding their streets, roads, and highways. As some roads have been expanded to their limit, there is nowhere to go but up, so in some places “double-decker” appeared, that is, two-tiered highways.
As the automobile plays such a large part in American life, it has a great impact on American economy. Now the manufacture of automobiles in America is becoming more and more international. Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota do not just sell cars in America; they have their own plants where they build them. The major American automobile companies, such as Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler have also formed various kinds of partnerships with Japanese and German manufacturers. In addition to the traditional sedans, station wagons, and sports cars, different kinds of jeeps and vans have become especially popular in recent years. Some Americans take special pride in their cars. They give them special names (John, Marietta, etc.), wash and wax them regularly. Others constantly trade and buy them.
National Symbols
One feature of American life that some European observers often comment on is the frequent display of flags and other national symbols in the U.S. The pride of Americans of their country is perhaps not much different from that in other nations, but it seems more apparent. The ‘Star-Spangled Banner” and the flags of the states are found in many places and displayed on many occasions, including even demonstrations against the government. Advertisements, too, sometimes cater to a shared sense of national pride. To Americans, patriotism is largely a natural response to the nation’s history and its ideas. Immigrants who apply after five years of residence to be naturalized and become American citizens must prove that they know the national symbols and support the Constitution of the USA.
1. Answer the questions.
1 .Why is it so difficult to make generalizations about American character?
2. What is the main idea of the “Melting pot”?
3. What are the most distinctive American characteristics from your point of view?
4. What can you say about American social life?
5. Why are Americans so much involved in volunteer work?
6. Why do so many American parents think that part-time jobs are “good for their kids”?
7. What is the impact of cars on the US economics?
8. What are the main demands for an immigrant to be naturalized and become an American citizen?
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