六級(jí)閱讀：個(gè)人主義的典范美國(guó)人 精講

　　六級(jí)閱讀：個(gè)人主義的典范美國(guó)人 精講：The Amer ican Character 1

　　What do Americans believe in2? What is the American character? These questions are hard to answer, because there are so many Americans and they believe in so many different things. However, the history of the United States does provide some understanding of certain basic characteristics that many Americans share .

　　One of the main reasons why the early settlers came to America was to escape the controls they had experienced in Europe. 3 There , small groups of wealthy people prevented them from moving into a higher social position or becoming wealthy, and governmentsupported churches controlled their religious practices and beliefs. Because these early settlers wanted to be free from such controls, they brought to America the view that the individual was supremely important. The settlers were against the efforts of the church, the society, and particularly the government, to control their actions. These controls came to be viewed as "un-American"4 .

　　This strong American belief in individualism has both positive and negative sides5 . On the positive side, it has strengthened Americans’inventiveness and their belief in hard work. On the negative side, the belief in individualism has sometimes prevented Americans from using their government to solve their common problems. Americans prefer not to have government solutions to social problems.

　　The belief in individualism is a basic part of the American character. This belief has at least two separate parts — idealism and materialism6. Although these two beliefs are quite different, most Americans try to live with them both at the same time, and idealism and materialism are both very much a part of the American character.

　　American idealism comes largely from the nation’s Protestant7 religious heritage . Early Americans did not have to belong to any particular church to have this belief. It influenced all Americans so strongly that idealism came to mean that each individual should possess a high moral character, and should live by his or her own beliefs. This is what American idealism means today.

　　Americans also have a strong belief in materialism, that is, that each individual should gain as much wealth as possible. The American belief in materialism is partly a result of the nation’s great material abundance. The early settlers found a continent with great forests, rivers, and fertile farmland in abundance. It is not surprising that many viewed America as the land of opportunity. 8

　　As the United States grew and developed, the supply of natural resources seemed endless, and so did the opportunities for personal economic advancement. Each generation had a chance to become wealthier than their parents had been. Generation after generation of new immigrants had the same opportunity. Americans eventually developed the belief that it was almost a duty to get rich.

　　閱讀自測(cè)

　?、? Here a re some new sports words that people often use in daily life . Guess their Chinese meanings:

　　All-star Game———

　　Most Valuable Player ( MVP) ———

　　Rookie of the Year———

　　X-Games / Extreme Sports———

　　Bungee jumping———

　　Rock-climbing / Freeclimbing———

　　Bicycle Motocross ( BMX) ———

　　treadmill———

　　aerobics———

　?、? When is a h ouse n ot just a house ? Guess the meanings of various houses:

　　playhouse———

　　Wendy house / dollhouse———

　　fun house———

　　lodging house———

　　Opera house ———

　　tea house———

　　Full House ———

　　Meeting House ———

　　Upper House and Lower House———

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. 全明星賽最有價(jià)值球員年度最佳新秀極限運(yùn)動(dòng)蹦極跳 攀巖自行車越野跑步機(jī)有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)

　?、? 戲院、兒童游戲室兒童玩具房游樂(lè)場(chǎng)宿舍歌劇院茶館 客滿, 座無(wú)虛席禮拜堂、教堂上議院與下議院

　　參考譯文

　　個(gè)人主義的典范——美國(guó)人

　　國(guó)人的信念是什么? 美國(guó)人什么性格? 這些問(wèn)題都難以回答, 因?yàn)槊绹?guó)人太多了,他 們有太多不同的信條。即便如此, 美國(guó)的歷史的確有助于我們理解許多美國(guó)人所擁有的 一些基本特征。

　　早期定居者來(lái)美國(guó)的主要原因之一是為了逃避在歐洲所受的管制。在歐洲, 由富人組 成的各種小圈子阻止他們步入上層社會(huì)或過(guò)富裕生活, 政府扶持的教會(huì)約束他們的宗教活 動(dòng)和信仰。這些早期定居者力圖擺脫控制, 所以他們就帶著這樣一種信念來(lái)到了美國(guó), 即 個(gè)人至關(guān)重要。那些居民反對(duì)教會(huì)、社會(huì)、特別是政府約束他們的行為。這些約束都被認(rèn) 為是“不合美國(guó)原則的”。

　　美國(guó)人這種強(qiáng)烈的個(gè)人主義信仰, 既有積極影響也有消極一面。積極影響是, 它強(qiáng)化 了美國(guó)人的創(chuàng)新意識(shí)和努力工作的信念。消極一面就是, 個(gè)人主義精神時(shí)常妨礙美國(guó)人利 用政府力量去解決公共問(wèn)題。美國(guó)人不愿請(qǐng)政府解決社會(huì)問(wèn)題。

　　信奉個(gè)人主義是美國(guó)人性格的基本組成部分。這種信奉至少可分為兩個(gè)獨(dú)立的部 分——— 理想主義和物質(zhì)主義。雖然二者截然不同, 但是大多數(shù)美國(guó)人卻都想同時(shí)擁有理想 和物質(zhì), 所以理想主義和物質(zhì)主義二者都是美國(guó)人性格的重要組成部分。

　　美國(guó)人的理想主義信念主要來(lái)自他們的新教傳統(tǒng)。早期美國(guó)人并非一定得屬于某個(gè) 教會(huì)才能有這種信念。理想主義意味著每個(gè)人都應(yīng)有高尚的道德品質(zhì), 并按自己的信仰生 活, 這深深地影響著所有的美國(guó)人。這也是今天美國(guó)人理想主義的內(nèi)涵所在。

　　美國(guó)人同樣十分崇尚物質(zhì)主義, 即每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該獲取盡可能多的財(cái)富。國(guó)家豐富的物 產(chǎn)在一定程度上促成了美國(guó)人形成這種信念。早期定居者發(fā)現(xiàn)這塊大陸有廣袤的森林、寬 闊的河流和肥沃的良田。不足為奇, 許多人都認(rèn)為美國(guó)是一片充滿機(jī)遇的土地。

　　在美國(guó)的發(fā)展與壯大的過(guò)程中, 自然資源似乎是取之不盡的, 而個(gè)人致富的機(jī)會(huì)也無(wú) 處不在。每一代都有機(jī)緣變得比父輩們更富裕。一代代的新移民擁有相同的機(jī)會(huì)變成富 人。最終, 美國(guó)人形成了這樣一種信念: 每個(gè)人都有義務(wù)成為富人。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)評(píng)

　　個(gè)人主義的人性論認(rèn)為, 對(duì)于一個(gè)正常的成年人來(lái)說(shuō), 最符合其利益的, 就是讓其有最大限 度的自由和責(zé)任去選擇目標(biāo)和達(dá)到這些目標(biāo)的手段, 并且付諸行動(dòng)。而美洲這塊新大陸恰好以 其廣袤的土地, 豐饒的資源為人們實(shí)現(xiàn)其夢(mèng)想提供了物質(zhì)基礎(chǔ)。人們懷著個(gè)人主義的信念為實(shí) 現(xiàn)其美國(guó)夢(mèng)而努力而斗。在這個(gè)尋夢(mèng)的過(guò)程中, 有的人夢(mèng)想成真, 有的人一枕黃粱, 但是個(gè)人主 義則在這一過(guò)程中變成了美國(guó)文化的顯著標(biāo)志和美國(guó)人最深刻的民族特征。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)釋

　　1. 美國(guó)著名學(xué)者羅伯特·貝拉( Robert N. Bellah) 在他的《心靈的習(xí)性》( Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life) 中指出: 個(gè)人主義是美國(guó)文化的核心。美國(guó) 人相信個(gè)人的尊嚴(yán), 乃至個(gè)人的神圣不可侵犯性。他們?yōu)樽约憾伎? 為自己而判斷, 為 自己決策, 按自己認(rèn)為適當(dāng)?shù)姆绞缴?。違背這些原則的任何事情都是道德上的錯(cuò)誤, 都是褻瀆神明的。這是美國(guó)文化的獨(dú)特之處, 也是這篇文章所要講述的問(wèn)題。

　　2. 這里需要注意believe in 和believe 的區(qū)別, believe 是“ 相信, 相信某人的話”, 如: Don’t believe him. ( 別相信他的話。) believe in 指“ 信仰, 信任, 信賴”, 如: Christians believe in Jesus. ( 基督教信仰耶穌。)

　　3.“ 早期定居者”指的就是以清教徒前輩移民( Pilgrim Fathers) 為首的英格蘭分離教派教 徒, 他們?yōu)樽非笞诮套杂珊透辉Ｉ? 在倫敦某公司的資助下, 搭乘“ 五月花”號(hào)( Mayflower) 赴美洲。

　　4. 這個(gè)詞語(yǔ)在這里的意思是“ 非美國(guó)的, 不合美國(guó)風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣或傳統(tǒng)、標(biāo)準(zhǔn)、原則、特色的”。

　　5. 這里的positive 和negative 剛好是一對(duì)反義詞。positive 是指“ 肯定的, 表示贊成的, 積極 的”, 如: a positive answer ( 肯定答復(fù)) ; a positive attitude toward the future ( 對(duì)未來(lái)的樂(lè)觀 態(tài)度) 。negative 的意思是“ 相反的, 反面的, 消極的”, 如: a negative role ( 反面人物) ; a negative outlook on life ( 消極的人生觀) 。

　　6. idealism 和materialism 是一對(duì)意思相對(duì)的詞。idealism 是“ 理想主義”, 哲學(xué)上的唯心主 義。materialism 是“物質(zhì)主義, 實(shí)利主義”, 哲學(xué)上的唯物主義。

　　7. 新教徒, 是不受天主教或東正教控制的其他基督教徒。新教是基督教的一大分支。

　　8. 這里我們可以看出, 美國(guó)被看作是一個(gè)充滿機(jī)會(huì)與希望的地方, 這種印象是后來(lái)的美國(guó) 夢(mèng)( American Dream) 思潮形成的原因之一。