英語演講 不同國家不同文化

DifferentCountriesDifferentCulturesAmericanPets美國人與寵物InAmerica,therearemorehouseholdswithpetsthanthosewithchildren.Atleast43percentofU.Shomeshavepetsofsomesort.Exoticcreatures,suchasmonkeys,snakesandevenwolves,findahomewithsomeAmericans.Morecommonpetsincludetropicalfish,miceandbirds.Buttheall-timefavoritesarecatsanddogs,evenattheWhiteHouse.TheClintons’cat,SocksandtheBushes’dog,MilliewereonceFirstPet.Americanssometimeshavestrongfeelingsaboutwhetherdogsorcatsmakebetterpets.“Dogpeople”and“catpeople”oftenenjoyfriendlyrivalries.在美國，有寵物的家庭比有孩子的家庭還多。至少百分之三四十的美國家庭有寵物，有些美國家庭養(yǎng)一些外國品種的動物，例如猴子、蛇，甚至狼；比較常見的寵物有熱帶魚、老鼠和鳥。不過，一直廣受歡迎的是貓和狗，連白宮也不例外?？肆诸D總統(tǒng)的貓——襪子和布什的狗——米利都曾是“第一寵物”。美國人有時(shí)候很在乎到底最好的寵物是貓還是狗，“愛狗的人”和“愛貓的人”喜歡開玩笑地彼此爭辯。Leadingadog’slifeinAmericanisn’tsuchabadthing.Manygrocerystoressellgourmetpetfoodstoownerseagertopleasetheirpets.InHouston,Texas,dogscanhavetheirdinnerdeliveredtotheirhomes,justlikepizza.Well-to-docaninescanattenddoggydaycarecenterswhiletheirownerswork.Petscanevenaccompanytheirownersonvacation.Fancyhotelsarebeginningtoaccommodatebothmanandbeast.FurryguestsatFourSeasonsHotelcanenjoygourmetmealsservedonfinechinaandsleepinsoftbeds.

在美國，狗所過的生活并不壞。很多雜貨店都賣有寵物美食，讓主人可以討好他們的寵物。在德克薩斯州的休斯敦市，狗兒還能享用專程送到家的晚餐，就跟比薩餅一樣。家境富裕的狗兒在主人上班的時(shí)候可以去狗兒托育中心。寵物甚至可以喝他們的主人一同去度假，高級飯店已經(jīng)開始可以同時(shí)留宿人和寵物，這些毛茸茸的客人在四季飯店可以享用以精致瓷器盛裝的美食，并在柔軟的床上睡覺。

Beneaththefluffyluxuries,thereliesabasicAmericanbelief:Petshavearighttobetreatedwell.Atleast75animalwelfareorganizationsexistinAmerica.Theseprovidecareandadoptionservicesforhomelessandabusedanimals.Veterinarianscangiveanimalsanincrediblelevelofmedicalcareforanincredibleprice.Topayforthehigh--techhealthcarepeoplecanbuyhealthinsurancefortheirpets.Andwhenit’stimetosaygood--bye,ownerscanburytheirpetsinarespectablepetcemetery.PetsareasbasictoAmericancultureashotdogsorapplepie.ToAmericans,petsarenotjustproperty,butapartofthefamilyAfterall,petsarepeople,too.

在舒適奢華的享受之下，其實(shí)存在著美國人的一種基本信念:寵物有受到妥善對待對權(quán)力。美國人至少有七十五個(gè)動物福利組織，他們?yōu)榱骼藙游锛氨慌按齽游锾峁┱疹櫯c領(lǐng)養(yǎng)的服務(wù)。獸醫(yī)能提供給動物極好的醫(yī)療照顧——價(jià)格也及昂貴，若為了負(fù)擔(dān)更先進(jìn)的健康醫(yī)療照顧，人們可以為他們的寵物買健康保險(xiǎn)。如果和寵物道別的時(shí)刻到了，主人們可以為寵物買一塊體面的墓地。寵物是美國文化的一部分，就如熱狗和蘋果派一樣。對美國而言，寵物不僅僅是他們所擁有的一樣?xùn)|西，它是家庭的一部分。畢竟，寵物也是“人”啊。BritishPubCulture英國酒吧文化VisitorstoBritainmayfindthebestplacetosamplelocalcultureisinatraditionalpub.Butthesefriendlyhostelriescanbeminefieldsofpotentialgaffesfortheuninitiated.AnanthropologistandateamofresearchershaveunveiledsomeofthearcaneritualsofBritishpubs---startingwiththedifficultyofgettingadrink.Mostpubshavenowaiters---youhavetogotothebartobuydrinks.AgroupofItalianyouthswaited45minutesbeforetheyrealizedtheywouldhavetofetchtheirown.Thismaysoundinconvenientbutthereishiddenpurpose.去英國的游客會發(fā)現(xiàn)傳統(tǒng)英國酒吧是最能領(lǐng)略當(dāng)?shù)匚幕牡胤健５珜τ诔鮼碚У降漠悋藖碚f，這些友善的酒吧卻猶如潛藏著有惹事危險(xiǎn)地“地雷區(qū)。一位人類學(xué)家和一組研究人員揭示了某些鮮為人知的英國酒吧文化。人們首先遇到的困難是從酒吧開始的。大多數(shù)英國酒吧都沒有酒保，你得到吧臺去買酒。一伙意大利年輕人等了45分鐘后才明白他們得自己買。這聽上去似乎讓人絕得不方便，可卻有它深刻的內(nèi)涵。Pubcultureisdesignedtopromotesociabilityinasocietyknownforitsreserve.Standingatthebarforserviceallowsyoutochatwithotherswaitingtobeserved.ThebarcounterispossiblytheonlysiteintheBritishIslesinwhichfriendlyconversationwithstrangersisconsideredentirelyappropriateandreallyquitenormalbehaviour.“Ifyouhaven’tbeentoapub,youhaven’tbeentoBritain.”Thistipcanbefoundinabooklet,PassporttothePub:TheTourists’GuidetoPubEtiquette,acustomers’codeofconductforthosewantingtosample“acentralpartofBritishlifeandculture”.Thetroubleisthatifyoudonotfollowthelocalrules,theexperiencemayfallflat.Forexample,ifyouareinabiggroup,itisbestifonlyoneortwopeoplegotobuythedrinks.Nothingirritatestheregularcustomersandbarstaffsmorethanagangofstrangersblockingallaccesstothebarwhiletheychatandditheraboutwhattoorder在因其冷漠而出名的英國社會里，酒保文化的形成是為了促進(jìn)社會交往。排隊(duì)的時(shí)候可以和其他等待賣酒的人交談。在英國諸島上，和陌生人親切地交談被認(rèn)為是完全適宜的正常行為的唯一場所可能就是吧臺了?！澳闳绻麤]去過酒吧就等于沒有到過英國?！边@個(gè)忠告可在名為《酒吧護(hù)照：游客酒吧儀俗指南》的小冊子中找到，它對那些想要領(lǐng)略“英國生活和文化核心部分”的人是一種行為準(zhǔn)則。問題是如果你不入鄉(xiāng)隨俗的話，你將一無所獲。譬如說，你們?nèi)羰菆F(tuán)體前往，那最好是一個(gè)或兩個(gè)人前去買酒。酒吧?？秃途票Ｗ畈幌矚g的就是一伙人一邊聊著一邊又優(yōu)柔寡斷不知喝什么酒好，把通往吧臺的路都給堵住。SpainTomatoFest西紅柿大戰(zhàn)Tensofthousandsofpeoplestripped（脫）offtheirshirtsandhurled（大聲喊叫）tonsofripe,juicy（多汁的）tomatoesateachotherintheannualTomatinafoodfight,creatingknee-deepriversoftomatosauceonthestreetsofthisSpanishtownThefestival,whichhasitsrootsinafoodfightbetweenchildhoodfriends,isgaininginpopularity.TheeventhasbecomesomethingofacallingcardforBunol.TheTomatina,heldthelastWednesdayinAugust,issaidtobetheworld’slargesttomatofight.Locallegend（傳說）claimstheeventbeganinthe1940safteragroupofyoungsterswagedafoodfightonthetownsquare.Theymetagainthenextyearandpeltedeachotherandpassers-by,startingthetradition.OffbeatContests芬蘭搞怪大賽

Theycarrytheirwives,sitonants,throwmilkingstools、bootsandmobilephones,hereinthehomeofweirdworldchampionships,participantswilldojustaboutanythingtowintheiroffbeatcrowns.NormallyreservedFinnssaythereisnobetterwaytocelebratetheshortsummermonthsthanwithconteststhataddajoltofadrenalinandsillinesstobrightsummernights.“Maybewearealittlebitcrazy….maybewearejustbored,”saidToniHautamakix,asauna-championshipspectatorfromOulu.

這里正舉辦各種怪異的世界錦標(biāo)賽——背老婆、坐蟻穴、扔擠奶桶、扔靴子、擲手機(jī)，參賽選手們個(gè)個(gè)躍躍欲試，爭當(dāng)“搞怪”冠軍。在平日較為保守的芬蘭人看來，沒有什么方式比舉辦這些新奇有趣的比賽來歡度他們短暫的極晝夏日時(shí)光更為美妙了。來自奧盧市，在觀看桑拿浴大賽的托尼·豪塔麥克斯說：“可能我們有點(diǎn)瘋狂，可能是我們厭倦了漫長的夏日。”

Mostofthe50orsocompetitionsthattakeplaceoverthethreesummermonths,manybilledgrandlyasworldchampionships,startedatsummerfairsorvillageaffairsButtodaythetopcompetitionscaneachattractabout10000peopletotheNordiccountyannuallytowatchorjoinin,staggeringacrosshurdleswiththeirspousesclingingtotheirbacksordivingheadlongintopondsofmudafterasoccerball.Someeventsareso