《英语国家社会与文化》内容简介：学习语言必须与了解、学习文化相结合。母语的学习如此.外语学习更是如此。我们常说要用对方（指母语国家人群）听得懂的方式进行表达，也就是说在进行交流时.要用符合对方文化习惯的方式进行表达。这就要求外语学习者了解、学习对方的政治、历史、社会和文化。给学习英语的学生提供一些所学语言国家的基本材料与信息.使学生有一定的了解.这就是编写此书的目的。
Culture Difference: Society The United States, like other countries has its rich and poor people, its rich and poor neighborhoods. Americans love --- and many are themselves living examples of---the “self-made man.” You will hear this expression often. But for every person who is successful. They are usually better educated tan their parents and therefore more likely to have good, well paying jobs. In addition to the fact that the United States includes people whose families originally came from many other parts of the world, Americans move across the nation in great numbers. One study reported that one of every five families in the United States moves every three years. This continuous mixing of people into new communities is an important observation to consider when trying to understand the meaning of class in America. We have already discussed the questioning, "do-it -yourself" American personality that is another important consideration. In many countries, a man's social class is determined at birth. That is, his social class or position is shared with his family, his wider group of relatives. In the United States, position in society is , to a large degree, personal rather than related to family or group. Before World War Two, family ties were more important America than they are now. Uncles, aunts grandparents , and children vacationed together, spent holidays together, and saw much of each other. But as the American economy developed more rapidly after the war, social customs began to change. With the rapidly growing economy, there were new employment opportunities, many of them in scientific fields. These opportunities were often located in other parts of the country. The younger members of many families who were will educated began to move away from the towns where their families lived to tale these new jobs. As these young people became successful, they often moved into a new social stratum [1], consisting of others who, like themselves, moved away from home to follow job opportunities. These same changes are already happening in most new countries around the world. Today, a man who can read or fix a machine may become the new leader of his community in place of an older person. Often young people can better understand the new sciences and modern skills; as these young people learn and advance, their wages rise and they become increasingly successful. Frequently, it is just one member of a family that becomes very successful. Other members continue working at their average jobs and salaries, without much chance of becoming as successful as the son or daughter. When this happens, people sometimes become separated from their family. Many return to visit, but others move away never to return to their relatives and old friends. To many people, success means having more power than one possessed before . It can be won through skill, knowledge, leadership, or sometimes just by hard work. In America, "success" has normally been accompanied by an increase in wealth. As a result, an individual's social position is determined not by a person's job but by the kinds of possessions he owns. As we said, however, young people are in the process of developing different ＆#118alues and different ways to measure success. 这是一篇关于美国社会文化在上世纪发生差异变化的过程
