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38. 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.
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Ⅰ. 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———
Ⅱ. 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———
