American Values

　　Americans sometimes fallsintosthe trap1 of thinking that American values are universal ones. We can't always see that our values are actually typical American values. Instead, we assume2 the things Americans value3 are obviously what everyone should believe in.

　　But we should remember the saying: when you "assume," you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me" . We only need to look at what happens when Americans go as advisors4 to developing countries to see how wrong our assumptions can be. Some Americans go thinking they're sharing pearls of wisdom with the backward natives about how to get things done right. They assume that stimulating competition and giving financial incentives5 for individual achievement will naturally change people's behavior and lead to success. When their projects barely6 get off the ground, they can't understand what went wrong. They mistakenly think that people must just be lazy or that they don't really want a higher standard of living. So the advisors wind up7 getting discouraged and going home, grateful to be surrounded by hardworking Americans again.

　　In these situations, we should realize that American values may come from America's unique position as the land of opportunity. We are brought up with the American dream that everyone can work hard and get ahead. But we should realize that in countries with a different history and different opportunities, other values might be more important, like avoiding conflict8 or saving face.

　　例句：He fellsintosthe trap of his opponent when playing chess and finally lost the game.

　　下象棋时，他中了对手的计，最后输了比赛。

　　2. assume: vt. to accept sth. to be true without question or proof假设，设想

　　例句：We can't assume that he won't come until we get a definite message from him.

　　在我们从他那里得到确切消息之前，不能假定他不来了。

　　3. value: vt. to have a high opinion of重视

　　例句：I value the friendship between us above all else.

　　我把我们之间的友谊看得比什么都重要。

　　4. advisor: n. a person who gives advice顾问，提供意见的人

　　例句：Quite a lot of companies have their own advisor agencies.

　　相当多的公司都有自己的咨询机构。

　　5、incentive: n. sth. that arouses someone to action激励，奖励

　　例句：Only hard-working employees will be offered cash incentives.

　　只有勤奋工作的职员才能得到奖金。

　　6. barely: adv. almost not几乎不能

　　例句：He could barely see anything after the eye operation.

　　他眼睛刚做完手术，几乎什么也看不见。

　　7. wind up: to arrive in a place or situation as a result of an action(以……)结束，落得个……的结局

　　例句：When I get sleepy I always wind up drinking a cup of coffee because it helps to refresh me for more study.

　　犯困的时候，我总是得喝上一杯咖啡,因为咖啡能令我清醒，继续学习。

　　8. conflict: n. disagreement; quarrel; argument分歧；争论；冲突

　　例句：We wish to avoid conflict between our countries if at all possible.

　　我们希望尽可能避免我们两国之间的冲突。

　　Clues to answer: a land of opportunity, work hard.