英語(yǔ)翻譯
In the United States,a person can take credit only for what he has accomplished by himself.Americans get no credit whatsoever for having been born into a rich or privileged family.(In the United States,that would be considered “an accident of birth”.) Americans pride themselves in having been born poor and,through their own hard work,having climbed the difficult ladder of success to whatever level they have achieved—all by themselves.The American social system has,of course,made it possible for Americans to move,relatively easily,up to the social ladder,whereas this is impossible to do in many other countries.The “self-made man or woman” is still very much the ideal in present-day America.
Americans believe that competition brings out the best in any individual.Consequently,the foreign visitor will see competition being fostered in the American home and in the American classroom,even at the youngest age levels.You may find the value placed on competition among individuals.But Americans teaching in Third World countries find the lack of competitiveness in a classroom situation equally distressing (令人苦惱的).They soon learn that what they had thought to be one of the universal human characteristics represented only a peculiarly American (or Western) value.
Americans,valuing competition,have devised an economic system to go with it – free enterprise (自由企業(yè)制).Americans feel very strongly that a highly competitive economy will bring out the best in