(精选)英美国家概况(美国部分)Unit 15 Dominant Values and Religious Beliefs课件.pptVIP

University of International Business and Economics Press The United States of America Unit 15 Dominant Values and Religious Beliefs The United States of America Think about these questions before we start: 1. What is culture? Please try to define this term. 2. What cultural values and religious beliefs are prevalent in America? 3. How do cultural values and religious beliefs influence the American society ? Warming-up Activities Contents Religion in America Dominant American Value Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅰ Dominant American Value 1.1 1.2 1.3 individualism competitive spirit equality 1 Individualism Definition: Belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence. Its influence on the American society? 2 Competitive Spirit Downside of competition for the U.S. society: The pressure to win can be overwhelming in America, where only winners are cheered and remembered and the winner takes all, including multimillion-dollar advertising contracts. The overemphasis on competition also contributes to a hostile workplace. Employees constantly compete against their peers and lose sleep over who gets credit for a new sales plan or for having the best ideas; this discourages teamwork and strains human relations. At school, cheating has become a serious concern when even the top students do it regularly. 3 Equality We hold these 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. ---the Declaration of Independence, 1776 3 Equality Equality, though an ideal of American Democracy, is not a reality in the American society, and the government has complete control over it. Many Americans treat people differently on the basis of their race, clothing styles, and the amount of money that they have. I have a dream that one day my four children will one day live i