America's race1 problem may have no easy solution, however, in theory at least, Americans are against racism2.Most Americans are strongly opposed3 to the thought that people should be judged on the basis of their race, and they find racial slurs4 very offensive. Though people are not always so sensitive5 when it comes to Polish or Irish or Chinese jokes, for instance6. In Americans' eyes, it is ignorant7 and irrational8 for someone to refuse to be friends with a person just because of the color of his or her skin.Moreover, it is irresponsible9 for speakers to make openly racist or prejudiced10 remarks in public.

　　例句：Race relations was still an extremely serious issue in USA when Martin Luther King launched his famous speech "I Have a Dream".

　　马丁-路德-金发表著名的演说《我有一个梦想》时，美国的种族关系仍然是一个很严重的问题。

　　2. racism: n. a belief that one's own race is superior种族主义，种族偏见

　　例句：People advocating racism always feel his race superior to others.

　　鼓吹种族主义的人往往有种民族优越感。

　　3. opposed: adj. to be against反对的

　　例句：He's opposed to religious education in schools.

　　他反对在学校进行宗教教育。

　　4. slur: n. a rude saying that hurts people's feelings诽谤，中伤

　　例句：Saying that he is the thief is a slur because the police has already caught the thief.

　　说他是小偷根本就是诽谤，因为警察已经抓住了那个小偷。

　　5. sensitive: adj. easily hurt or offended敏感的

　　例句：Her reply showed that she was very sensitive to criticism.

　　她的回答表明她对批评非常敏感。

　　6. for instance: for example举例来说

　　例句：Several countries are abundant in cereals, China and Thailand , for instance.

　　有些国家，如中国和泰国，盛产谷物。

　　7. ignorant: adj. lacking knowledge about sth.无知的

　　例句：How can she be so damned ignorant and prejudiced?

　　她怎么会如此无知而且充满了偏见？

　　8. irrational: adj. without reason or understanding无理性的，失去理性的

　　例句：He became irrational after the mental attack.

　　那次精神打击之后他变得失去理性。

　　9. irresponsible: adj. lacking responsibility and not responsible不负责任的

　　例句：He was an irresponsible father for he abandoned his child six days after its birth.

　　他是一个不负责任的父亲，孩子出生才六天他就给抛弃了。

　　10. prejudiced: adj. making judgment on someone or something before knowing all the facts, esp. against a racial, religious, or nationalsgroups(尤指对种族、宗教或民族团体)怀有偏见的

　　例句：He is prejudiced to the colored people.

　　他对有色人种有偏见。

　　Exercise: What would be considered an act of racism by most Americans?

　　Clues to the answer: refuse to be friends, remarks on others' race