Someone traveling alone,if hungry,injured,or in,often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement.It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a sudden desire for charity(施舍,慈善)on the part of the settlers.It reflected the hardships of daily life:if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him,there was no one else who would.And someday,
remember,you might be in the same situation.Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the tired traveler.Yet,the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US,especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails.“I was just traveling through,got talking with this American,and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner—amazing.”Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon,but are not always understood properly.
The casual friendliness of many Americans should be explained neither as a superficial(表面的)behavior nor as an unnatural one,but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals,beliefs,and customs is the basic reason for all social interrelationships.And,of course,speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns.Visitors who fail to“translate”cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions.For example, when an American uses the word“friend”.the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture.It takes more than a brief experience on a bus to distinguish between polite custom and individual interest.Yet,being friendly is a public moral that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
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