Unit 4 Different Lands Different Friendships.docVIP

Few Americans stay put for a lifetime.在美国，很少有人终身呆在一个地方。We move from town to city to suburb, from high school to college in a different state, from a job in one region to a better job elsewhere, from the home where we raise our children to the home where we plan to live in retirement.我们从小镇来到城市，又从城市迁往郊区；上高中在一个州，上大学又到另一个州；另觅更好的工作时也会换格地方；养儿育女在这儿，安度晚年在那儿。With each move we are forever making new friends, who become part of our new life at that time.每换一个地方，我们总会结交新朋友，他们将成为我们新生活的一部分。 For many of us the summer is a special time for forming new friendships. 在我们许多人看来，夏天是交朋结友的特别季节。Today millions of Americans vacation abroad, and they go not only to see new sights but also—in those places where they do not feel too strange—with the hope of meeting new people. 如今，有数百万的美国人出国度假，他们并不只为看风景（有些地方未必全然陌生）， 他们还希望能结识新朋友。No one really expects a vacation trip to produce a close friend.当然，没人指望在假日旅行中缔结深厚友谊， But surely the beginning of a friendship is possible. 但交个朋友肯定还是可以的。Surely in every country people value friendship. 不管怎么说，每个国家的人都珍视友谊。 They do.情况确实如此。The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is not a lack of appreciation of friendship, but different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being. 但是当不同国度的人走到一起时，交往障碍并不是缺少对友谊的珍视，而是对友谊内涵及缔造方式的不同期望。In those European countries that Americans are most likely to visit, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relations, and is differently related to family life. 在那些美国人最可能去的欧洲国家，友谊全然不同于一般人际关系，它与家庭生活有着特殊联系。For a Frenchman, a German or an Englishman friendship is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment. 在法国、德国或英国，友谊通常有着更具体的要求，并意味着更多的责任与义务。 But we use the word, “friend” can be applied to a wide range of relationships—to someone has known for a few weeks in a new place, to a close business associate, to a childhood playmate, to a man or woman, to a trusted confidant. 可是当我们用到“朋友”一词时，所指的是许多种人际关系：可能是出门在外刚认识几个星期的人；也可能是一位亲密的工作伙伴；可能是儿时玩伴；也可能是知己密友；他们可能是男，也可能是女。Th