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1、四级晨读主题美文 HowtheAmericansViewFriendship SteveandYaserfirstmetintheirchemistryclassatanAmericanuniversity.YaserwasaninternationalstudentfromJordon.HewantedtolearnmoreaboutAmericancultureandhopethatheandStevewouldbeegoodfriends.Atfirst,Steveseemedveryfriendly.HealwaysgreetedYaserwarmlybeforeclass.Somet
2、imesheofferedtostudywithYaser.HeeveninvitedYasertoeatlunchwithhim.Butafterthesemesterwasover,Steveseemedmoredistant.Thetwoformerclassmatesdidntseeeachotherverymuchatschool.OnedayYaserdecidedtocallSteve.Stevedidntseemveryinterestedintalkingtohim.YaserwashurtbySteveschangeofattitude.“Stevesaidwewerefr
3、iends.”Yaserplained,“andIthoughtfriendswerefriendsforever.”Yaserisalittleconfused.Asaforeigner,hedoesntunderstandthewayAmericansviewfriendship.Americansusetheword“friend”inaverygeneralway.Theymaycallbothcasualacquaintancesandclosepanions“friends”.Thesefriendshipsarebasedonmoninterests.Whentheshareda
4、ctivityends,thefriendshipmayfade.NowasSteveandYaserarenolongerclassmates,their“friendship”haschanged.Insomeculturesfriendshipmeansastronglife-longbondbetweentwopeople.Intheseculturesfriendshipsdevelopslowly,sincetheyarebuilttolast.Americansocietyisoneofrapidchange.StudiesshowthatoneoutoffiveAmerican
5、familiesmoveseveryyear.Americanfriendshipsdevelopquickly,andtheymaychangejustasquickly.PeoplefromtheUnitedStatesmayatfirstseemfriendly.Americansoftenchateasilywithstrangers.ButAmericanfriendlinessisnotalwaysanofferoftruefriendship.AfteranexperiencelikeYaserspeoplewhovebeeninthiscountryforonlyafewmon
6、thsmayconsiderAmericanstobefickle.LearninghowAmericansviewfriendshipcanhelpnon-Americansavoidmisunderstandings.ItcanalsomakethemmakefriendstheAmericanway.320words 美国人的友谊观 史蒂夫和亚瑟第一次见面是在美国一所大学的化学课上。亚瑟是来自约旦的外国留学生，他想更多地了解美国文化，并希望能和史蒂夫成为好友。起初，史蒂夫显得很友好，上课前他总是热情地与亚瑟打招呼。有时他主动提出与亚瑟一起学习，甚至还邀请亚瑟共进午餐。但学期结束后，史蒂夫
7、显得比较冷淡了。这两位先前的同班同学在学校不再经常见面。有一天，亚瑟决定给史蒂夫打个电话，可史蒂夫似乎不大愿意与其交谈。史蒂夫态度的改变让亚瑟感到受了伤害。“史蒂夫说过我们是好朋友，”亚瑟抱怨说，“我本来以为是朋友就永远是朋友。”亚瑟有些不解。作为一个外国人，他不理解美国人对友谊的看法。美国人对“朋友”一词的使用非常广泛。他们可能把偶然相识的人和亲密的伙伴都称之为“朋友”。这些友谊都是基于共同的兴趣。当这些原来共同从事的活动不复存在时，友谊也可能随之淡化。现在亚瑟和史蒂夫不再是同学，所以他们的“友谊”已经发生了变化。在有些文化中，友谊意味着维系两个人之间牢固的持续终生的纽带。在这些文化中，友谊
8、发展得很慢，因为人们是在建立持续终生的感情。而美国社会是个快速变化的社会。有研究显示，每年每五个美国家庭中就有一家迁移。美国人的友谊建立得非常快，其变化也同样快。从美国来的人给人的第一印象是很友好。美国人常随意与陌生人交谈。然而美国人的友好并不总是真正友情的表示。来到美国才几个月的外国人在经历了一次如同亚瑟这样的经历之后，可能会认为美国人易变。了解美国人对友谊的看法，有助于非美国人避免误解，还可以帮助他们学会以美国方式与美国人交朋友。 Competition Itisaplainfactthatweareinaworldwherepetitionisgoingoninallareasandat
9、alllevels.Thisisexciting.Yet,ontheotherhand,petitionbreezeapragmaticattitude.Peoplechoosetolearnthingsthatareuseful,anddothingsthatareprofitable.Todayscollegcationisalsoaffectedbythisgeneralsenseofutilitarianism.Manycollegestudentschoosebusinessnorputingprogrammingastheirmajorsconvincedthatthisprofe
10、ssionsarewherethebigmoneyis.Itisnotunusualtoseethecollegestudentstakingaparttimejobsasawarmingupfortherealbattle.IoftenseemyfriendstakingGREtests,workingonEnglishorputercertificatesandtakingthedrivinglicencetogetalicence.Well,Ihavenothingagainstbeingpractical.Asthepetitioninthejobmarketgetsmoreandmo
11、reintense,studentsdohavereasonstobepractical.However,weshouldneveretthatcollegcationismuchmorethanskilltraining.Justimagine,ifyourutilitarianismisprevailsoncampus,livingnospaceforthecultivationofstudentsminds,ornurturingoftheirsoul.Wewillseeuniversityistrainingoutwelltrainedspiritlessworkingmachines
12、.Ifutilitarianismprevailssociety,wewillseepeoplebondbymind-edmedicalslostinthemoney-makingventures;wewillseehumalitylossingtheirgraceanddignity,andthatwouldbedisastrous.Idliketothinksocietyasacourageandpeoplepersumedforprofitorfameasahoresethatpullsthecourage.Yetwithoutthedriverpickingdirectiontheco
13、uragewouldgostraightandmayevenendoutinaprecarioussituation.Acertificatemaygiveyousomeadvantage,butbroadhorizons,positiveattitudesandpersonalintegrities,theseareassetsyoucannotacquirethroughanyquickfixedway.Intodaysworld,whetherhighestlevelofpetitionisnotofskillsorexpertise,butvisionandstrategy.Youri
14、ntellectualqualitylargelydetermindshowfaryoucangoinyourcareer. ChineseUndergraduatesintheUS Eachyear,eliteAmericanuniversitiesandliberalartscolleges,suchasYale,Harvard,Columbia,AmherstandWellesley,offeranumberofscholarshipstoChinesehighschoolgraduatestostudyintheirundergraduateprograms.Fouryearsago,
15、IreceivedsuchascholarshipfromYale. WhataretheseChineseundergradslike?Mostefrommiddle-classfamiliesinthebigurbancentersofChina.Thegeographicaldistributionishighlyskewed,withShanghaiandBeijingheavilyover-represented.Outsidethemainpool,anumberofYalestudentsefromChangshaandNingbo,swhereseachyearAmerican
16、YalegraduatesaresenttoteachEnglish. TheoverwhelmingmajorityofChineseundergraduatesintheUSmajorinscience,engineeringoreconomics.Manywereacademicsuperstarsintheirhighschools-goldmedallistsininternationalacademicOlympiadsorprizewinnersinnationalacademiccontests.OnceonUScampuses,manyofthemdecidetomakeresearchalifelongmitment. Lifeoutsidetheclassroomconstitu
