Hints:

这是一篇介绍并分析美国人友善好客这一文化现象的文章。

文中有一处破折号。


'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 interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, 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, assumptions, and conventions underlies 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 encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
“我只是路过,和这个美国人聊了聊。很快,他就请我到他家吃饭——这真令人惊奇。”去过美国的旅客的这种谈论很普遍,但并非都能被正确理解。很多美国人不经意表现的友好不应被看作是表面或虚假的应酬,而应该看成是文化传统的历史发展结果。 同任何发达国家一样,一系列复杂的文化符号、设想和习俗构成了美国所有社会关系的基础。当然,会讲一种语言并不意味着就理解其社会和其文化模式。不能正确“诠释”文化含义的旅行者往往得出错误的结论。例如,美国人所说的“朋友”一词,其文化含义可能与旅行者语言和文化中的“朋友”大相径庭。要想正确区分礼貌是出于文化习俗还是个人兴趣,单凭一次公共汽车上的邂逅是远远不够的。不过,友好是很多美国人推崇的美德,也是希望从邻居和陌生人那得到的。