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w关键词：American
Dream/美国梦 |
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w目录：Culture/文化 |
w话题：
美国社会文化 |
w类型：说明文 |
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w难度级别：
高级 |
w词汇要求：2000 |
w文章词数：420 |
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[ 生 词 可 拖 选 或 双 击 ] |
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What is the American Dream?
什么是美国梦呢？
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作者：Unknown |
来源：www.physicsforums.com |
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日期：2008-03-11 |
责编：Emma |
(Statue of Liberty：位于纽约湾的自由女神像)
The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of
America which was written in 1931. He states: "The American Dream is "that
dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a
difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too
many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream
of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each
man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they
are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless
of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." (p.214-215)
In the United States’
Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers:
"…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Might this sentiment be
considered the foundation of the American Dream?
Were homesteaders
who left the big cities of the east to find happiness and their piece of land in
the unknown wilderness pursuing these inalienable Rights? Were the immigrants who came to
the United States looking for their bit of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, their Dream? And what did the desire of the veteran of World War II -
to settle down, to have a
home, a car and a family - tell us about
this evolving Dream? Is the American Dream attainable by all Americans? Would
Martin Luther King
feel his Dream was attained? Did Malcolm X
realize his Dream?
Some say, that the American Dream has become the pursuit
of material prosperity - that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier
homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families - but have less time to enjoy
their prosperity. Others say that the American Dream is beyond the grasp of the
working poor who must work two jobs to insure their family’s survival. Yet
others look toward a new American Dream with less focus on financial gain and
more emphasis on living a simple, fulfilling
life.
Thomas Wolfe said, "…to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden
opportunity ….the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever
thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him."
Is this your American Dream?
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