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1、 Unit 1Time-Conscious AmericansAmericans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully, the other being
2、 labor. We are slaves to nothing but the clock, it has been said. Time is treated as if it were something almost real. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it; we also charge for it. It is a precious resource. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness
3、of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a persons hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We want every minute to count. A foreigners first impression of the US is likely to be that everyone is in a rushoften under pressure. City people always appear to be hurrying to get where they are going,
4、restlessly seeking attention in a store, or elbowing others as they try to complete their shopping. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. Working time is considered precious. Others in public eating-places are waiting for you to finish so they, too, can be served
5、and get back to work within the time allowed. You also find drivers will be abrupt and people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief conversations, and small exchanges with strangers. Dont take it personally. This is because people value time highly, and they resent someone else wasting it
6、beyond a certain appropriate point. Many new arrivals in the States will miss the opening exchanges of a business call, for example. They will miss the ritual interaction that goes with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee that may be a convention in their own country. They may miss leisurely business c
7、hats in a restaurant or coffee house. Normally, Americans do not assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over extended small talk; much less do they take them out for dinner, or around on the golf course while they develop a sense of trust. Since we generally assess and probe professional
8、ly rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly. Time is, therefore, always ticking in our inner ear. Consequently, we work hard at the task of saving time. We produce a steady flow of labor-saving devices; we communicate rapidly through faxes, phone calls or emails rather than throu
9、gh personal contacts, which though pleasant, take longerespecially given our traffic-filled streets. We, therefore, save most personal visiting for after-work hours or for social weekend gatherings. To us the impersonality of electronic communication has little or no relation to the significance of
10、the matter at hand. In some countries no major business is conducted without eye contact, requiring face-to-face conversation. In America, too, a final agreement will normally be signed in person. However, people are meeting increasingly on television screens, conducting teleconferences to settle pr
11、oblems not only in this country but alsoby satelliteinternationally. The US is definitely a telephone country. Almost everyone uses the telephone to conduct business, to chat with friends, to make or break social appointments, to say Thank you, to shop and to obtain all kinds of information. Telepho
12、nes save the feet and endless amounts of time. This is due partly to the fact that the telephone service is superb here, whereas the postal service is less efficient. Some new arrivals will come from cultures where it is considered impolite to work too quickly. Unless a certain amount of time is all
13、owed to elapse, it seems in their eyes as if the task being considered were insignificant, not worthy of proper respect. Assignments are, consequently, given added weight by the passage of time. In the US, however, it is taken as a sign of skillfulness or being competent to solve a problem, or fulfi
14、ll a job successfully, with speed. Usually, the more important a task is, the more capital, energy, and attention will be poured into it in order to get it moving. 美国人认为没有人能停止不前。如果你不求进取，你就会落伍。这种态度造就了一个投身于研究、实验和探索的民族。时间是美国人注意节约的两个要素之一，另一要素是劳力。人们一直说：“只有时间才能支配我们。”人们似乎把时间当作一个差不多是实实在在的东西来对待。我们安排时间、节约时间、浪
15、费时间、挤抢时间、消磨时间、缩减时间、对时间的利用作出解释；我们还要因付出时间而收取费用。时间是一种宝贵的资源，许多人都深感人生的短暂。时光一去不复返。我们应当让每一分钟都过得有意义。外国人对美国的第一印象很可能是：每个人都匆匆忙忙常常处于压力之下。城里人看上去总是在匆匆地赶往他们要去的地方，在商店里他们焦躁不安地指望店员能马上来为他们服务，或者为了赶快买完东西，用肘来推搡他人。白天吃饭时人们也都匆匆忙忙，这部分地反映出这个国家的生活节奏。人们认为工作时间是宝贵的。在公共用餐场所，人们都等着别人尽快吃完，以便他们也能及时用餐，你还会发现司机开车很鲁莽，人们推搡着在你身边过去。你会怀念微笑、简短
16、的交谈以及与陌生人的随意闲聊。不要觉得这是针对你个人的，这是因为人们都非常珍惜时间，而且也不喜欢他人“浪费”时间到不恰当的地步。许多刚到美国的人会怀念诸如商务拜访等场合开始时的寒暄。他们也会怀念那种一边喝茶或喝咖啡一边进行的礼节性交流，这也许是他们自己国家的一种习俗。他们也许还会怀念在饭店或咖啡馆里谈生意时的那种轻松悠闲的交谈。一般说来，美国人是不会在如此轻松的环境里通过长时间的闲聊来评价他们的客人的，更不用说会在增进相互间信任的过程中带他们出去吃饭，或带他们去打高尔夫球。既然我们通常是通过工作而不是社交来评估和了解他人，我们就开门见山地谈正事。因此，时间老是在我们心中滴滴答答地响着。因此，我们千方百计地节约时间。我们发明了一系列节省劳力的装置；我们通过发传真、打电话或发电子邮件与他人迅速地进行交流，而不是通过直接接触。虽然面对面接触令人愉快，但却要花更多的时间，尤其是在马路上交通拥挤的时候。因此，我们把大多数个人拜访安排在下班以后的时间里或周末的社交聚会上。就我们而言，电子交流的缺乏
