英国和美国的文化差异英语作文【通用19篇】

The main content of American culture is the emphasize on individuals value, the pursue of democracy and freedom, the promotion of deploitation(开拓, 经营) and competition and the need of realistic and practicality. Its core is individualism: self first, personal need first, pursue of individual benefit and enjoyment, emphasize on achieving individual value by self-strive and self-design. This type of intentionally build up of personality and pursue customized individualism has its pros and cons, it gives incentives to people and make them exert on their potential and wisdom and as a result accelerate the development of the entire race and nation; on the other hand it is difficult to keep good relationship among people if everyone is egocentric thus make the entire society lack of unity.

American citizens emphasize on achievements and respect heroes. They have great sense in their hearts to praise succeand heroes. Personal achievements are one of those with the highest value in Americans mind. Americans have very strong senses of success. Succeis the pursuit of most Americans, it is their attractive future and the incentives for moving forward. They believe that ones personal value is equivalent to his achievements in his career. Some high achievers in their career such as entrepreneurs, scientists, artists and all kinds of super starts became modern heroes. The proceand result of how they strived have become the frame of reference of social culture value and the real life text book for parents to educate their children.

American society has great movements within itself. These movements are shown in two aspects: movements amongst locations and movements inside the society. The United States are relatively more open and have more freedom. Developed transport and the tradition of adventure and sporty makes a lot of American migrate from countryside to cities, from downtown to uptown; and from north to the southern sunny land, from one city to another. Unlike European countries, the social classes in America is not so stable. Further more, with the advocation of public education, movements upwards along the social ladder have become possible. Many people living in the states, no matter whether they are Native American or immigrants from overseas, have the same dream of changing their social claand make their lifetime dream come true through their own efforts. This is what they often called "American dream".

Britain is a rich and varied, with international and multi-cultural society, to welcome students from all over the world come here to learn and to value their contributions.

Britain is a tolerant, democratic society, where different political views and beliefs are respected. You will find many people wearing and eating habits and you do not have their own different major cities around the world have sales of snack food, meat from an Islamic shop, the Islamic meat from the shop. Asia to sell fruit and rice kind of Jewish food store to store, everything.

In different towns and cities, the year has a variety of activities to celebrate the worlds major religious festivals and activities, for example, in the city of Leicester at the Stradivari outside the Indian sub-section is the most spectacular Festival of Lights.

Britain itself from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, they have different characteristics and personality.

Britain from all over the world to accept immigrants and refugees has a long history, many people have been here for permanent settlement. London may be the largest gathering of minority British city, other cities also have a large number of minority residents.

All the worlds major religions are British. Mosques, Sikh temples, synagogues, churches and India Fodou together with a variety of Christian churches (Anglican and Roman Catholic from the Protestant and Orthodox) co-exist.

This diversity means that you will come to Britain is easy to integrate into Britains multi-ethnic society. You will also come from different religious and ethnic groups and people contacts, enhance understanding of different cultures.

In China, the college entrance exam is believed to be the most cruel exam, which will decide a student’s future. Many young people complain about this educational system, they yearn for the western education, which is reported to be much eaiser. But the fact is that not all foreign students like that.

在中国,高考被认为是最残酷的考试,这将决定一个学生的未来。许多年轻人抱怨这个教育体系,他们渴望西方的教育,西方教育一直被媒体报道上学轻松。但事实是,不是所有的外国学生都是这样轻松。

In America, high school students also need to take the very important exam so as to enter the college. Part of students choose to study in community college or just go to work, so they don’t have much pressure. They enjoy the high school life with joining many activities and taking all kinds of parties. But for the students who want to enter the top university, high school is not easy for them. They need to spend extra hours to study after class, which is much like Chinese students.

在美国,高中学生也需要参加非常重要的考试,为了上大学。一部分学生选择在社区大学学习或者是直接工作,所以他们没有太多的压力。他们享受高中生活，加入许多活动和各种各样的派对。但是那些想进入顶尖大学的学生,高中是不容易的。他们需要花额外的时间去课后学习,就像中国学生。

Actually, no matter in which country, every student needs to spend a lot of time studying in order to be competitive. If you yearn for an ease environment in high school, then you’d better prepare for the unexpected future.

其实,不管在哪个国家,每个学生都需要花大量的时间学习，才能有竞争力。如果你渴望在高中处于一个轻松的环境,那么你最好准备好迎接意想不到的未来。

[美国的教育英语作文

中美文化差异

国人见面打招呼时，喜欢问“你吃了吗?”“你去哪呀?”

而西方人对此都感到很怪异。

An American studying in China had an appointment at noon. As he was getting on his bicycle a Chinese friend passed by. "吃了吗?”The young Chinese asked. This, of course, is a common Chinese greeting around meal time and the American merely nodded with a smile, waved goodbye and went off. He realized that his friend’s remark was nothing more than a Chinese way of saying hello or Hi. If the greeting had been put literally into English "Have you eaten yet?" Or “Have you had your lunch? " It would have sounded rather unusual. To Americans, this greeting might mean this: "I havent either. Come on, let’s go together and get something to eat." or "If you haven’t, I was just going to invite you to my place." In other words, it could indicate an invitation to a meal.

Actually , another foreign student who had not been long in China once complained in broken Chinese 你们为什么老问我吃了饭没有?我有钱。To his way of thinking, people were concerned that he was not getting his meals properly because of lack of money. Clearly, he was offended. There is a similar Chinese greeting, such as "上哪儿去啊?""到哪儿去啦?" Which if translated literally, would be "Where are yon going?" Or "Where have you been?" The natural reaction of most English-speaking people to this greeting would most likely be "It’s none of your business!"

Fortunately, not all greetings sound strange or arouse displeasure. Many are similar, some are merely different. While greetings in many languages often indicate the time of day, there may be inconsistencies within a language. English has Good morning, Good afternoon and Good evening but not Good noon. And Good night is not a greeting at all, but an expression of farewell.

greeting 打招呼

一天中午，一个在中国学习的美国留学生有个约会。他刚要骑上自行车，一位中国朋友从旁边走过，问他：“吃了吗?”这是中国人在吃饭前后打招呼的常用语。美国留学生笑着点点头，挥挥手表示告别，就走了。

他知道，中国朋友的话等于英语中的Hello或Hi，但如果照字面译成Have you eaten yet?或Have you had your lunch?外国人听起来就很怪。美国人会以为，这种打招呼似乎是说：“我也没有吃。走吧，我们一起去吃点东西吧。”或者说：“如果没有吃的话，我正要请你到我家去呢。”;总之，这样打招呼有时意味着邀请对方去吃饭 。

发生过这样的事。有一次，一个刚到中国不久的外国留学生结结巴巴地用汉语说：“你们为什么老问我吃了饭没有?我有钱。”他以为人们总问他“吃饭了吗”是因为怕他没钱吃饭。他显然对这种问法感到生气。

再如，汉语中的“上哪儿去啊?”和“到哪儿去啦?”这样打招呼的话直译成英语就是Where are you going?和Where have you been?用这两句英语来打招呼，大部分讲英语的人听了会不高兴，他们的反应很可能是：It s none of your business! 你管得着吗!

幸而，打招呼的话并不都令人感到奇怪或者引起对方反感。有许多打招呼的话是相似的，有些只是说法不同。在许多语言里，打招呼的话往往是相似的，有些只是说法不同。

在许多语言里，打招呼的话往往与时间有关，但即使在一种语言中也有不一致的地方。英语中有Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening 都相当于汉语中的“您好”，只是说的时间不同而已，但不说Good noon。而 Good night (晚安;明天见;再会)根本不是打招呼的话，这只是告别时说的话。

The lunar new year is a great occasion to the chinese people. it lasts about the first four days of the year,during which people do not work except for the workers on duty. students do not go to school,and shops are closed.

several days before the new year,people begin to prepare. farmers kill pigs,sheep,cocks and hens. city dwellers buy meat fish and vegetables. houses are cleaned; coupletsare posted on the doors. colourful lanterns are hung at the gate.

On the eve of the new year,each family has its members gatherd together and eats a family reunion dinner. after the meal they watch tv until the clock strickes twelve. then every family sets off long strings of small firecrackers and other fire works to welcome the new year. on the first day of the new year,almost everyone is dressed in his or her best. when people meet on the way,they say to each other “happy new year”. friends and relatives pay new year calls and gives presents to each other. children indulge themselves in games.

the average family income of the u.s.a. has increased from 20,000 dollars per year in 1992 to 25,000 in 20xx. along with this considerable increase in people’s income, the way in which the average family spends its income has also varied to some extent. the average expenditure of family income is divided into several sectors, namely, housing, clothing, food and drink, transport, medical care, entertainment, savings and other items.

from the table, it is quite interesting to find that the money spent on some sectors such as food and drink (2%) and entertainment (6%) in 1992 and 20xx remains the same. for transport, the percentage of 20xx is only 1% larger than that of 1992. it is also worth mentioning that in 20xx, people tend to save less money than in 1992 because people deposit only half the money they used to in 1990. there is a greater increase in the expenses on housing and medical care, increasing by 8% and 6% respectively. on the other hand, people tend to spend less money on clothes, for there is a 5% decrease in 20xx compared with that in 1992. as far as other items are concerned, there is a sharp decrease in the percentage of family income spent on them, accounting for only 7% of the total.

it can be seen from the statistics that in american people’s life food and drink, entertainment and transport had always been important. with family income increasing, american people began to give first priority to housing and medical care, thereby improving their living conditions and invigorating health. by saving less, they presented to us the implication that they expected a fairly secure prospect.

导语：传统文化一直是考试的“常客”，经常出现在各类考卷上，如今正式纳入高考新大纲，中华优秀传统文化的重要性和地位也就不言而喻了。下面是yuwenmi小编为大家整理的作文素材，欢迎阅读与借鉴，谢谢!

前段时间2017年普通高考考试大纲出炉，明确提出，2017年高考将增加中华优秀传统文化的考核内容，充分发挥高考命题的育人功能和积极导向作用。比如，在语文中增加古代文化常识的内容，在汉语中增加文言文、传统节日、民俗等内容，在数学中增加数学文化的内容。

传统文化一直是考试的“常客”，经常出现在各类考卷上，如今正式纳入高考新大纲，中华优秀传统文化的重要性和地位也就不言而喻了。既然高考都将它纳入了考点范围，那怎么能少了四六级呢，这些素材赶紧积累起来，考场上才能沉着应对!

1.长城是人类创造的世界奇迹之一。如果你到了中国却没去过长城，就像到了巴黎没有去看看埃菲尔铁塔，或者就像到了埃及没有去看金字塔一样。人们常说：“不到长城非好汉。”实际上，长城最初只是一些断断续续的城墙，直到秦朝统一中国后才将其连成长城。然而，我们今天看到的长城——东起山海关，西至嘉峪关——大部分都是在明代修建的。

The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world that created by human beings. If you come to China without climbing the Great Wall, It’s just like going Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower , or going to Egypt without visiting the pyramids. People often say: "not a true man unless he comes to the Great Wall." In fact, the Great Wall was originally just some off and on the wall, it was not until the qin dynasty unified China after it joined the Great Wall. However, the Great Wall we see today - east of shanhaiguan, west to jiayuguan, most of them are built in the Ming dynasty.

2.饺子是深受中国人民喜爱的传统食品。相传为古代医圣张仲景发明。饺子的制作时包括：(1)擀皮;(2)备馅;(3)包馅水煮三个步骤。其特点是皮薄馅嫩，味道鲜美，形状独特，百食不厌。民间有“好吃不过饺子”的俗语。中国人接亲待客、逢年过节都有包饺子的习俗，寓意吉利。对崇尚亲情的中国人来说，“更岁交子”吃饺子，更是欢度除夕、辞旧迎新必不可少的内容。

Dumpling is a traditional food which is popular with Chinese people. According to an ancient Chinese legend,dumplings were first made by the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing. There are three steps involved in making dumplings: (1) make dumpling wrappers out of dumpling flour; (2) prepare the dumpling stuffing; (3) make dumplings and boil them.With thin and elastic dough skin ,fresh and tender stuffing, delicious taste, and unique shapes, dumplings are worth eating hundreds of times.There’s an old saying that claims,"Nothing could be more delicious than dumplings."During the Spring Festival and other holidays, or when treating relatives and friends,Chinese people like to follow the auspicious custom of eating dumplings. To Chinese people who show high reverence for family love,having dumplings at the monment the old year is replaced by the new is an essential part of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new year.

3.京剧被誉为“东方歌剧”，是地道的中国国粹。它起源于中国多种古老的地方戏剧，特别是南方的“徽班”。到了19世纪末，京剧形成并成为中国最大的戏曲剧种。京剧是综合性表演艺术，集唱、念、做、打、舞为一体，通过程式化的表演手段，叙述故事，刻画人物。角色主要分生、旦、净、丑四大行当。

Chinese Beijing Opera is known as the "Oriental opera", is the authentic Chinese quintessence. It originated in China where a variety of ancient drama, especially the southern "HuiBan". By the end of the 19th century, Beijing Opera to form the Chinese operas flourishing and become Chinas largest. Beijing Opera is a comprehensive performing arts, sing, read, do, play, dance as a whole, by means of stylized performance means, narrative, and characters. The main types of roles in Beijing Opera are sheng, dan, jing, and chou.

Life has many, "the first" is always unforgettable. Today, Im excited to tell you about my first trip to britain.

Last summer, my father and mother decided to take me to England for a trip. On that day, we were on the plane in Hongkong, and my father told me we had to fly to Holland first and then transfer there. On the plane, stewardess stewardess is very polite. She will bring us food and drink for us. We passengers are like God and enjoy the thoughtful and meticulous service. On the plane, I was eating, drinking and sleeping. I was very excited in my brain. Im looking forward to my destination soon.

After more than ten hours of flight, the plane finally arrived at Holland Amsterdam international airport. After we got off the plane, we went to England by a lovely little plane. Dont look at the plane. Its very small and inside. I feel very luxurious and comfortable. During the flight, our plane was unsteady in the air because of the resistance of the airflow. But Im still happy. Because Ill soon see my fathers friend, uncle Mike and his family. After a period of flight, our small plane finally landed at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in england. My mom and dad couldnt speak English when I was out of customs, and I was the only one to act as their interpreter. Its very troublesome to go through customs. To verify our passports, we need to cover chapter after chapter, and also to pick up our luggage. After all the customs formalities, we were tired out.

We dragged the trunk out of the airport and dads friend, uncle Mike, had been waiting for us outside. Suddenly, dad asked Uncle Mike, "what time is it for you in England?""

Uncle Mike immediately said, "its seven in the morning."! You have worked hard all the way!"

After greeting each other for a while, a coach with 7 people could drive us straight to uncle Mike. Uncle Mikes wife is Grace, a native of Hongkong, very friendly and friendly to people. I hasten to call her aunt. At this point, a child ran down the stairs from the two floor. He turned out to be uncle Mikes son, Kevinmike. The little man looked as big as I was. After seeing us, he took me by the hand and, like a little guide, showed me around every room of his house. Finally, he led me to a room and said, "my friend, this is your room."! You live here!" The look of his face was like a little master. On the morning of the second day, after breakfast, my father drove Mike uncles car, took me and my mother in Liverpool City, took a big circle, and visited the whole city. Here is what is foreign, city streets are clean, tidy, little and dainty buildings are also very beautiful. The small yard of every family is full of bright flowers. The whole city is quiet, free of noise and fresh air. The British people are very polite to people, and everyone sees us with a smile and regards to us. It made us feel very happy. The third day, we drove to the suburbs. There we saw large fields and saw ranches. On the farm, there were green grass, strong cows, white sheep, and strong horses. We also saw flocks of chickens, ducks, geese and cute puppies. Our day is on a farm to eat lunch, we eat the delicious French fries and fish, there are many unnamed foreign food, really let my appetite!

On the fourth day, we went to a cathedral in the city for worship. Before I went, I asked my mother to buy me a New Jersey, so it made me more lively and energetic.

On the fifth day, our main task is to go shopping in the big shopping mall in the city. I bought two beautiful cups and decided to return to my cousin and cousin. My mother bought a new captain armband for me. On the sixth day, my family went to the zoo in the city and we spent a whole day in it. Here, I saw the giraffe for the first time, saw the big rhino, saw the elephant, saw the boa constrictor...... I think the zoo here is very different from the zoo in our country, mainly in the style of the building. Really let me eyes!

The seventh day, I did not go out, but stay at Uncle Mikes home, and his son playing trampoline and game consoles. All two of us are boys, and our personalities are similar. We have nothing to say, talk about each other, and enjoy ourselves! From time to time the room burst into our happy laughter.

On the eighth day, we finally finished our trip to England and left the beautiful England for Hongkong. The two of us are reluctant to part. Especially uncle Mike and my son Kevinmike left E - mail address, so that we can keep in touch after day. Mom and dad have also invited uncle Mikes family to come and visit us in Hongkong.

My English friend name is Jim.

HE is ten years old, his family in london,he and his family member comes our china to play.He has a cosin,he name is qianyu hi is oniy four years old,but he has a lot of questions.look he is pointing at the chopsticks to ask that my this is anything.

I and jim has become the good friend .Several days later Jim said that he wanted, he said that i love China .I will forget that you zhou lei, will have free time london to look at me .Ok see you Jim.see you.

Visitors to the United States are often surprised to learn the great distance from the east coast to the west coast. The continental United States stretches 4,500 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. It borders Canada on the North,and reaches south to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. A fast train,travelling 96 kilometers an hour, takes more than 48 hours to cross the country. A jet plane crosses the continental United States from east to west in about five hours.

Including the states of Alaska and Hawaii,which are not seen in this map of the continental United States, the country covers an area of 9,363,123 square kilometers. Of the fifty states of the country Alaska is the largest in area,and Hawaii is the newest. The former borders on northwestern Canada: the latter lies in the Pacific.

American houses usually have private kitchens, a living room and sometimes separate areas for eating and watching television. A house usually has its own mailbox, a yard with plants or perhaps a lawn, and a place to store garbage out of sight.

A bungalow is a small house with one or two bedrooms and usually one bathroom.

A mansion is a real big house with many bedrooms and several bathrooms.

A ranch house usually has three or four bedrooms. The master bedroom for the mother and father usually has its own bathroom.

An apartment is usually one living space within a building. Several apartment can be in the same building, with a shared yard, parking spaces, and garbage.

A town house is a two-floor apartment. The kitchen, living room and dining room are usually on the first floor and the bedrooms are on the second floor.

A studio apartment may have a separate kitchen, but the living room is also the bedroom!

A condominium, or condo for short, is an apartment that is owned by the occupant, not the building owners.

Most American are happy to talk about their homes. And if theyve done anything special in their home, theyll let you know what it was, and maybe tell you what it cost to put in the Jacuzzi, deck or patio, etc. Most Americans live in cities, but nearly as many live in suburbs. Suburban American has shopping centers called malls and residents usually need a care to get around. Most of the houses in the suburbs are one or two stories tall, with private yards and gardens and garage. There are few tall buildings in the suburbs. Cities have neighborhoods, warehouse stores, and public transportation is usually pretty good. Private houses might only have a back yard, and if there is a garage it probably is small. Cities have a lot of apartment buildings and some tall buildings may seem to scrape the sky , so they are called skyscraper .

[American houses美国的房屋英语作文

Today,lots of people are affected by western culture especially the new generation who born after 1990s.In my opinion,some of western culture is good but some of them are not suited.Learning western culture can let us know about what is the western custom and what differnets between chinese and western.because of comparison we can learn the positive sides such as more confident,independent.On the other side,the negative sides we should not learn.for example,some high school student even younger fall in love with others.They spend much time to do it and forget what more important things they really need to do in that moment.Indeed,every coins have two sides.how to do deal with it,I think let time make the answer.

[如何对待中外文化差异英语作文

In china if you invite people for meal, the person who invited other people would pay for the meal but it’s not the way in Western country. In western country people will think you only invited me but it’s not your responsibility to pay for me.

I can afford it. They won’t be happy if you pay for them. People in China would always put dishes into customer’s plate to show their hospitality, but they will think it’s not healthy because your chopsticks have been used by you. In western country like America not England, people will always give tips to waiter after they finished meal in a restaurant.

If you don’t they will not be happy because tips are one of their major income. In china this only happen in some top restaurants and hotels in large international cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Western people will also think you are rude if you make sound during the meal. Western people do not hold their bowl up even when they have a bowl of soup.

When meeting someone for the first time it is customary to shake hands both for men and for women. Hugs are only exchanged between close friends. Kissing is not common and men never kiss other men.

Americans will usually introduce themselves by their first name and last name (such as “Hello I’m John Smith”) or if the setting is very casual by their first name only (“Hi I’m John”). The common response when someone is introduced to you is “Pleased to meet you.” Unless someone is introduced to you with their title and last name (such as Mister Smith or Miss Johnson) you should address them by their first name. Americans normally address everyone they meet in a social or business setting by their first name. However you should always address your college professors by their title and last name (such as Professor Jones) unless they ask you to do otherwise.

第一次见面的时候，男人和女人都习惯握手。拥抱只是亲密朋友之间的交换。接吻并不常见，男人从不亲吻其他男人。

美国人通常会介绍他们自己的名字和姓氏(如“你好，我是约翰·史密斯”)，或者，如果设置很随便，由他们的名字只(“嗨，我是约翰”)。当某人被介绍给你时，通常的反应是“很高兴见到你”，除非有人向你介绍他们的姓和姓(如史米斯先生或约翰逊小姐)，你应该称呼他们的名字.。美国人通常用他们的名字称呼他们在社交或商务场合遇到的每个人.。然而，你应该总是称呼你的大学教授的头衔和姓(如琼斯教授)，除非他们要求你做其他的事情.。

[美国习俗的英语作文

How to overcome culture shock

Some good ways to successfully minimize and overcome culture shock are to read about the place where you will be staying and the things you will be doing, also, if possible, speak with someone already living in the new environment.

Once you are there, keep in mind that people and customs may be very different from what you are used to. Having realistic expectations and realizing that difficulties and misunderstandings may occur will help you keep a cool head when they do, and keeping an open mind will allow you to find solutions to those problems that may arise.

When possible interact with the local population. Dont succumb to the temptation to isolate yourself, even if it is within a group of compatriots. Locals will generally be pleased to introduce you to their culture and willing to answer questions. Dont be afraid of making mistakes. When you are eager to learn people are usually more than willing to meet you half-way and learn from you in turn.

Find ways to keep in touch with family and friends at home. Sometimes you just need to talk with someone who fully understands who you are and feels that your way of being is not strange, or rude. Keeping in touch also makes the homecoming process much easier.

Going abroad for Studies

The other day I announced that I would go abroad for further studies right after my college education. My decision evoked the immediate objection of my family： Why? Why should I borrow a huge sum of money for overseas studies while I might receive the same education at home at relatively low cost? My answer is： in addition to knowledge， I can gain experience that those who stay at home will never have.

First， experience is the opportunity for the real-life use of foreign languages. While a person can study a foreign language at home， the effect can never be compared with constant use of the language in academic and everyday life. There is no better opportunity to improve second-language skills than living in the country in which it is spoken. Living in English-speaking countries such as America and Australia for several years， for example， my English will be as perfect as native speakers.

Second， living and studying abroad offers me a different perspective of the world. On a university campus， foreign students are likely to encounter their counterparts from different countries and areas and are exposed to different ideas and values. This helps me to have a meaningful understanding of different societies and inevitably sees my own country in a new light.

Third， overseas experience， frustrating and painful as it may be， is helpful. A person going abroad for study often experiences much more difficulty——difficulty in adapting to a new culture and in dealing with all problems alone. Yet， the difficulty， coupled with the frustration brought on by culture shock， is a rewarding experience for ones future life and development of personality.

Although going abroad is expensive and perhaps painful， the payoff is worthwhile. For the benefit is not merely knowledge gained， but the experience desirable in ones personal life.

"America， to endure， must change…… Change to preserve Americas ideals—— life， liberty， the pursu

"america， to endure， must change……

change to preserve americas ideals—— life， liberty， the pursuit of happiness. though we march to the music of our time，our mission is timeless."

—— president bill clinton， 1993

a society in transition

shifts in the structure of american society， begun years or even decades earlier， had become apparent by the time the 1980s arrived. the composition of the population and the most important jobs and skills in american society had undergone major changes.

the dominance of service jobs in the economy became undeniable. by the mid-1980s， capping a trend under way for more than half a century， three-fourths of all employees worked in the service sector —— for instance， as retail clerks， office workers， teachers， physicians and other health care professionals， government employees， lawyers， and legal and financial specialists.

service-sector activity benefited from the availability and increased use of the computer. this was the information age， with hardware and software that could aggregate previously unimagined amounts of data about economic and social trends. the federal government had made significant investments in computer technology in the 1950s and 1960s as part of its military and space programs. in the late 1970s， two young california entrepreneurs， working out of a garage， assembled the first widely marketed computer for home use， named it the apple —— and ignited a

revolution. by the early 1980s， millions of microcomputers had found their way into u.s. businesses and homes， and in 1982， time magazine dubbed the computer its "machine of the year."

meanwhile， americas "smokestack industries，" such as steel and textiles， were in decline. the u.s. automobile industry reeled under competition from such highly efficient japanese car makers as toyota， honda and nissan —— many of which opened their own factories in the united states. by 1980 japanese automobile manufacturers controlled a quarter of the american market. only by the late 1980s and early 1990s did u.s. manufacturers begin to match the

cost efficiencies and engineering standards of their japanese rivals， and start winning back the share of the domestic car market they had ceded to imports over the previous two decades. although consumers were the beneficiaries of this ferocious competition —— and in other highly competitive industries， as well， such as computers —— the painful struggle to cut costs meant the permanent loss of thousands of jobs in the u.s. auto industry.

population patterns shifted as well. after the end of the postwar "baby boom，" which lasted from approximately 1946 to 1964， the overall rate of population growth declined and the population grew older. household composition also changed. in 1980 the percentage of family households dropped; a quarter of all groups were now classified as "nonfamily households，" in which two or more uelated persons lived together.

new immigrants changed the character of american society in other ways. the 1965 reform in immigration policy shifted the focus away from western europe， and the number of new arrivals from asia and latin america increased

dramatically. vietnamese refugees， for example， poured into the united states in the aftermath of the war. in 1980， 808，000 immigrants arrived， the highest number in 60 years， as the country once more became a haven for people from around the world......

前几天，我读了两篇神话——读《普罗米修斯的故事》和《燧氏钻木取火》后，我深有感触。

《普罗米修斯的故事》讲了普罗米修斯同情人类，为人类盗火结果被宙斯惩罚。《燧氏钻木取火》讲的是一个叫燧氏的年轻人在伏羲的指引下发现了钻木取火的方法。

读了两篇神话后，我发现了它们有相同点，也有不同点。相同点在于他们都是由一位天神帮助人类，带给人类光明，而且都很同情人类。不同点有两点，第一点：东方神话——《燧氏钻木取火》，伏羲同情人类，直接赐火给人类，然后将火熄灭再给出提示，告诉人类火在哪里，有人类自己寻找方法，从这里可以看出东方天神的博爱。而西方神话——《普罗米修斯的故事》我认为西方既有善良、勇敢的神，就比如普罗米修斯，他同情人类，于是冒险去见宙斯，请求宙斯把火赐给人类，可宙斯却说：“不给就是不给！”但他为什么不愿意把火给人类呢？因为宙斯自私，他希望人类永远愚昧无知，这样他就可以通知世界了。由于宙斯不赐火给人类，那么普罗米修斯也只好去盗火，结果被宙斯发现，普罗米修斯被捆在了高加索山的最高峰上，受尽折磨，这就说明了普罗米修斯的勇敢，可也写出了宙斯的自私、残酷无情。将东西方神话一对比，我发现东方天神很博爱，也很智慧，他将提示给人类，让人类自己找方法。

第二点是：《燧氏钻木取火》，伏羲指引年轻人，让他找到了永不熄灭的火种——钻木取火的方法，说明东方人民注重的是方法，方法是靠人想出来的，也就是说人们只相信人自己的力量。《普罗米修斯的故事》是普罗米修斯为人类盗火，这样会让人类觉得——神什么都可以做到，便养成了一种依赖。这说明西方的人民相信神，认为神可以给人一切。

读完这两篇神话后，解决了我的一个问题——为什么中国的发展比其它国家快，因为中国人相信自己的力量，而西方人民相信神。

The story about Valentine‘s Day.

There is a touching story about Valentine‘s Day from Europe. However, it is in honor of the great brother Valentine.

Long long ago, the tyrant Claudius was in chare of Roman. His tyranny made all the people angry and indignant. Not only lost people their home, but also wars were broken everywhere. What a worse, all the men must join in the army so that increase power. When the news was spread, every couple was forced to separate. Even if lovers must damage the marriage contract. This was more than people could bear. However, tyranny could not stop loving and love moved Valentine. In order to finished lovers’ dream, he helped them to hold weddings. Unluckily, Claudius heard it and he decided to sentence Valentine to dead on Feb.14th.

扩展阅读：美国人如何过情人节

移民美国后，相信很多移民者都对美国的节日有很大的兴趣，也曾有人咨询过移民专家，美国人过情人节嘛?回答当然是肯定的。美国人怎样过情人节?最传统和流行的做法是给爱的人送鲜花送巧克力，或者一定要提前预定餐厅座位，吃一顿浪漫晚餐。 美国人并不认为上了年纪的人就没有必要过情人节，在美国，情人节可不是年轻人的专利，而是所有年龄段的情人节。另外，还有人总是错误的以为，情人节是属于未婚思维情人间节日。

在美国人概念里，情人节是属于所有相亲相爱的生活伴侣的节日。情人节这天，也是美国餐馆最火爆的日子，好像比其它节日还火爆。

当然，不仅是对于美国人，对于任何国家的人来说，情人节当之无愧成为最浪漫的节日。移民美国后，你就会慢慢的融入进美国人的生活中，类似美国人过情人节吗?这类问题不用再咨询，随着生活就都了解了。

根据霍夫斯泰德对文化所下的定义，文化是在同一个环境中的人们所具有的“共同的心理程序”，是由相同的教育背景和生活经历所决定的。因此，各个不同的民族或地域之前会存在文化差异，因为其中的人会受到教育、社会和工作经验的影响。以东西方的文化差异为例，中国是一个崇尚大权力距离的国家，而美国是权力距离相对较小的国家。因此，地位象征对中国人来说尤为重要，认为上级所拥有的特权是理所当然的;而美国人则认为人与人之间是平等的。此外，西方人相对比较个人主义而东方人则更看重集体主义。在个人主义的社会中，人们重视自身的价值和需要，依靠个人的努力来为自己谋取利益，而在集体主义国家，人们把自己融入到一个或几个集体中，在这些集体中找到属于自己的位置，人们在精神上依赖于集体，因此，和谐在这些国家中显得尤为重要。在东西方文化中，还存在以下三个主要的文化差异，即不确定性规避、男性度与女性度以及长期取向与短期取向。