Go Americans风急火燎的美国人

生命短促，视时间为生命是当今最流行的价值观，也是西方文化带给我们最强大的冲击。在这个美国人眼中，“风风火火”是美国人的一大优点：他们匆匆用餐、没有耐心；他们说话开门见山、不爱客套；他们钟情电子通讯、爱用节省劳力的家电……

Go Go Americans (First Part)

Americans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully, the other being labor.

 

这段里

"We are slaves to nothing but the clock," it has been said. Time is treated as if it were something almost tangible. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it; we also charge for it. It is a precious commodity. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person's hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We want every minute to count.A foreigner's first impression of the U.S. is likely to be that everyone is in a rush --- often under pressure. City people appear always to be hurrying to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, elbowing others as they try to complete their errands. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. Working time is considered precious. Others in public eating-places are waiting for you to finish so they too can be served and get back to work within the time allowed. Each person hurries to make room for the next person. If you don't waiters will hurry you.

Note

1. account for (something)  对……作出解释
例句：The public official charged with bribery was unable to account for the 200, 000 Yuan found in his house.
被指控受贿的那个官员无法解释在他家里发现的20万元是怎么来的。
2. sands run out of a person’s hourglass
岁月的沙粒从人的沙漏中流光
sands （古代记时用的）沙漏中的沙，喻时间，光阴，寿命
3. count  有价值，有重要意义
例句：Strength, skill and willpower count equally in sports.
在运动场上，力量、技术和意志同等重要。

 

You also find drivers will be abrupt and that people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief conversations, small courtesies with strangers. Don't take it personally. This is because people value time highly, and they resent someone else “wasting” it beyond a certain courtesy point.

This view of time affects the importance we attach to patience. In the American system of values, patience is not a high priority. Many of us have what might be called “a short fuse.” We begin to move restlessly about if we feel time is slipping away without some return --- be this in terms of pleasure, work value, or rest. Those coming from lands where time is looked upon differently may find this matter of pace to be one of their most difficult adjustments in both business and daily life.

用重点词组slip away造个句子吧——点这里——我要去论坛造句练练手

Note

1. have a short fuse  点火就着，容易生气
fuse：保险丝
2. slip away  很快离开，（时间）流逝
例句：We must get down to work as soon as possible; time’s slipping away.
我们必须尽快开始干起来，时间过得很快。

 

Many newcomers to the States will miss the opening courtesies of a business call, for example. They will miss the ritual socializing that goes with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee that may be traditional in their own country. They may miss leisurely business chats in a café of coffee house. Normally, Americans do not assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over prolonged small talk; much less do they take them out for dinner, or around on the golf course while they develop a sense of trust and rapport. Rapport to most of us is less important than performance. We seek out evidence of past performance rather than evaluate a business colleague through social courtesies. Since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly.

┨网页设计特效库┠ http://www。z┗co⊙l。com/网页特效/