Uint 7 Text 1 How America Lives

Pre-reading questions

1. Americans are said to be open,free,and frank.What is your opinion? 2. How would you compare Americans with Chinese.

Americans still follow many of the old ways.In a time of rapid change it is essential that we remember how much of the old we cling to.Young people still get married (2.41 million couples last year as opposed to only 1.52 million in 1960).Of course,many do get divorced,but they remarry at astonishing rates.They have children,but fewer than before.They belong to churches,even though they attend somewhat less frequently,and they want their children to have religious instruction. They are willing to pay taxes for education, and they generously support institutions like hospitals, museums and libraries. In fact, when you compare the America of today with that of 1950, the similarities are far greater than the differences.

Americans seem to be growing conservative. The 1980 election, especially for the Senate and House of Representatives, signaled a decided turn to the right insofar as political and social attitudes were concerned. It is as if our country spent the 1960s and 1970s jealously breaking out of old restraints and now wishes to put the brakes on. We should expect to see a reaffirmation of traditional family values, sharp restraints on pornography, a return to religion and a rejection of certain kinds of social legislation.

Patterns of courtship and marriage have changed radically. Where sex was concerned, I was raised in an atmosphere of suspicion, repression and Puritanism, and although husky young kids can survive almost anything, many in my generation suffered grievously. Without reservation, I applaud the freer patterns of today, although I believe that it’s been difficult for some families to handle the changes.

American women are changing the rules. Thirty years ago I could not have imagined a group of women employees suing a major corporation for millions of dollars of salary which, they alleged, had been denied them because they had been discriminated against. Nor could I imagine women in universities going up to the men who ran the athletic programs and demanding a just share of the physical education budget. At work, at play, at all levels of living women are suggesting new rules.

America is worried about its schools. If I had a child today, I would send her or him to a private school for the sake of safety, for the discipline that would be enforced and for the rigorous academic requirements. But I would doubt that the child would get any better education than l did in my good public school. The problem is that good public schools are becoming pitifully rare, and I would not want to take the chance that the one I sent my children to was inadequate.

Some Americans must live on welfare. Since it seems obvious that our nation can produce all its needs with only a part of the available work force, some kind of social welfare assistance must be doled out to those who cannot find jobs. When I think of a typical welfare recipient I think of a young neighbor woman whose husband was killed in a tragic accident, leaving her with three young children. In the bad old days she might have known destitution, but with family assistance she was able to hold her

childrentogether and produced three fine, tax-paying citizens. America is essentially a compassionate society.

America cannot find housing for its young families. I consider this the most serious danger confronting family life in America, and I am appalled that the condition has been allowed to develop. For more than a decade, travelers like me have been aware that in countries like Sweden, Denmark, Russia and India young people have found it almost impossible to acquire homes. In Sweden the customary wait was 11 years of marriage, and we used to ask, ―what went wrong?‖ It seemed to us that a major responsibility of any nation would be to provide homes for its young people starting their families. Well, this dreadful social sickness has now overtaken the United States, and for the same reasons. The builders in our society find it profitable to erect three-bathroom homes that sell for $220,000 with a mortgage at 19 percent but find it impossible to erect small homes for young marrieds. For a major nation to show itself impotent to house its young people is admitting a failure that must be corrected.

Our prospects are still good. We have a physical setting of remarkable integrity, the world’s best agriculture, a splendid wealth of minerals, great rivers for irrigation and an unsurpassed system of roads for transportation. We also have a magnificent mixture of people from all the continents with varied traditions and strengths. But most of all, we have a unique and balanced system of government.

I think of America as having the oldest form of government on earth, because since we started our present democracy in 1789, every other nation has suffered either parliamentary change or revolutionary change. It is our system that has survived and should survive, giving the maximum number of people a maximum chance for happiness.

Glossary

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sue prospect allege irrigation discriminate unsurpassed athletic unique

budget parliamentary justice maximum

Notes

1. About the author James Albert Michener(1907-1997),American

writer,became known for the voluminous research he incorporates and makes accessible and interesting in his writings.His books typically provide a detailed discussion of the history and geography of specific regions.His wide ranging writing career began when his experiences during World War Ⅱ provided the material for a book of short stories,Tales of the South Pacific(1947);for which he received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize in fiction.His other works include Sayonara(1954);Hawaii(1959);Chesapeake(1978);The Covenant(1980);Poland(1982);Texas(1985);and Alaska(1988);The Novel(1991);Recessinal(1994);A Miracle in Seville(1995);The Bridge at Andau(1957);Iberia:Spanish Travels and Reflections(1968);A Michener Miscellany:1950-1970(1973);Michener’s memoir,The World Is My Home(1992).

2. The 1980 election…signaled a decided turn to the right (Paragraph 2) The

results of the 1980 election indicated that public attitudes and idologies were definitely beginning to favour a return to traditional arrangements. In this sentence, the right refers to beliefs characteristic of Right Wing, political groups or ideologies favoring mainrenance of the current distribution of power and wealth or a return to traditional arrangements.Right-wing groups are apt to be more aligned with the military and the church than other groups.Within a group,Right Wing is sometimes applied to be more conservative members,while liberal members are known as Left Wing.

3. Puritanism (Paragraph 3) the practices and doctrines of the Puritans who

were members of a group of Protestants in 16th –and 17th –century England and 17th-century America who believed in strict religious discipline and called for the simplification of acts of worship.The movement was an attempt to remove Roman Catholic influences from the Church of England.

4. In Sweden the customary wait was 11 years of marriage(Paragraph 7) In

Sweden,newly married couples will have to wait for 11 years before they can have their own homes.

5. balanced system of government (Paragraph 8) The concept refers to the three

branches of the United States government-the legislative,the executive,and the judicial-that restrain and stabilize one another through

their separated functions.The legislative branch,represented by the Congress,must pass bills before they can become law.The executive branch-namely,the president-can veto bills passed by the Congress,thus preventing them from becoming law.In turn,by a two-thirds vote,the Congress can override the president’s vote.The Supreme Court may invalidate acts of the Congress by declaring them contrary to the Constitution of the United States,but the Congress can change the Constitution through the amendment process.

Text comprehension

Ⅰ.Which of the following is Not a major aspect of the American life discussed by the author?

A. Agriculture and transportation.

B. Marriage and women’s social status. C. Social welfare and education. D. Family value and housing.

Ⅱ.Judge ,according to the text,whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Young people still get married,but the divorce rate is higher than the

remarriage rate because many don’t want to raise children.

2. The author welcomes the freer patterns of today’s courtship and

marriage because many young kids of his time suffered bitterly.

3. Today still very few women in universities are going up to the

athletic programs and demanding a just share of the physical education budget.

4. American public schools today are inferior to those decades ago. 5. Builders seem not willing to erect small homes for young married

couples because it is not very profitable. Ⅲ.Answer the following questions.

1. How does the author compare the American life at present and in the

past in terms of similarities and differences? 2. What old ways do Americans still follow?

3. What dose the author imply in the phrase―put the brakes on‖? 4. To what extent are American women changing the rules?

5. What aspects of a school would be author consider when sending

kids to school?

6. What does the author intend to tell with the case of his young

neighbor?

7. What conclusion does the author draw about the prospects of the

American people?Why?

Ⅳ.Explain in your own words the following sentences taken from the

text.

1. The 1980 election…signaled a decided turn to the right insofar as

political and social attitudes were concerned.

2. Some kind of social welfare assistance must be doled out to those

who cannot find jobs.

3. I am appalled that the condition has been allowed to develop.

4. This dreadful social sickness has now overtaken the United States. 5. For a major nation to show itself impotent to house its young people

is admitting a failure that must be corrected.

Writing strategies

This text is a essay of exposition,for it presents solid facts and major problems about American social life,though the writer inserts his own ideas at times.The whole article is clearly organized,concentrating on the major changes and problems in current American society.The paragraphs are developed by the deductive method.Each paragraph contains a topic sentence,which is proved,explained,or illustrated.For example,each of the first three paragraphs begins with a topic sentence.Can you point out the topic sentences of paragraphs 4-8?

In order to impressively illustrate,prove,or support the topic statements,the author employs various writing strategies,such as comparison and conparison and contrast that are used to show the similarities and differences concerning the issues under discussion.For instance,the beginning paragraph contains five sentences that tell us the relevant contrast?

As can be seen in the text,the tone is mainly objective,and it is definite and resolute when the writer expresses obligations as well as his attitudes or opinions.For example,in Paragraph 6,we find two sentencese:―Some Americans must live on welfare.‖and―…some kind of social welfare assistance must be doled out to those who cannot find jobs.‖These two sentances resolutely express the moral obligation to these Americans who cannot find jobs and make the writer’s attitude absolutely clear.Now list some other examples in the text to show that the tone is definite or resolute when the writer expresses obligations and his attitudes or opinions.

Language work

Ⅰ.Explain the italicized part in each sentence in your own words.

1. They belong to churches,even though they attend somewhat frequently.

2. The 1980 election signaled a decided turn to the right insofar as political and

social attitudes were concerned.

3. Without reservation,I applaud the freer patterns of today.

4. For major nation to show itself impotent to house its young people is

admitting a failure that must be corrected.

5. We have a physical setting of remarkable integrity.

Ⅱ.Fill in each blank with one of the two words from each pair in their appropriate forms and note the difference of meaning between them. RESTRAINT CONSTRAINT

1. Options are offered subject to staff availability and timetable______.

2. Reminding all concerned that violence breeds violence,they repeat their

appeal for calm and_______.

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