To Americans, industriousness, thrift and ambition are possitive values. We encourage our children to be competitive, to get ahead, to make money, to acquire possassion. In games and in business alike, the aim is to win the game, the trorphy, the contract. We go in for laboursaving devices, gadgets, speed and shortcuts. We think every young couple should set up a home of their own. And we pity the couple who must share their home with their parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values. And those who do may hold other, and at times contradictory values that affect their ways of behaving. In the main, however,the collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the individual, whatever his personal inclination, is under considerable pressure to conform.
核心词汇
thrift:the habit of saving money and spending it carefully so that none is wasted 节约;节俭
She learned from her father the virtues of hard work and thrift.
她从她父亲身上学到苦干和节俭的美德.
contradictory:containing or showing a contradiction 相互矛盾的;对立的;不一致的
We are faced with two apparently contradictory statements.
我们面前这两种说法显然是矛盾的.
The advice I received was often contradictory.
我所得到的建议常常是相互矛盾的.
in the main:used to say that a statement is true in most cases 大体上;基本上
The service here is, in the main, reliable.
这里的服务基本上是可靠的.
