四級(jí)晨讀主題美文100篇 72

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2000年后，世人會(huì)記得迪斯尼還是柏拉圖?

(In 2,000 years, will the world remember Disney or Plato?)

LONDON - Down in the mall, between the fast-food joint and the bagel shop, a group of young people huddles in a flurry of baggy combat pants, skateboards, and slang. They size up a woman teetering past wearing DKNY, carrying Time magazine in one hand and a latte in the other. She brushes past a guy in a Yankees' baseball cap who is talking on his Motorola cell phone about the Martin Scorsese film he saw last night.

倫敦——沿著購(gòu)物街向下，一群年輕人，穿著松松垮垮的短褲，腳踩溜冰板，滿(mǎn)嘴粗話(huà)，擁擠在一塊，慌張地穿行在連鎖快餐店之間。他們會(huì)評(píng)價(jià)一位路過(guò)的婦女，她身穿DKNY的衣服，一手拿著時(shí)代雜志，一手挎一個(gè)小包，蹣跚地走著。一個(gè)家伙與她擦身而過(guò)，他頭戴美國(guó)籃球隊(duì)的帽子，邊走邊在他的MOTO手機(jī)上與朋友狂侃昨夜剛看的Martin Scorsese導(dǎo)演的電影。

It's a standard American scene - only this isn't America, it's Britain. US culture is so pervasive, the scene could be played out in any one of dozens of cities. Budapest or Berlin, if not Bogota or Bordeaux. Even Manila or Moscow.

這是一幅標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的美國(guó)式的畫(huà)面——只是發(fā)生在英國(guó)，而非美國(guó)。美國(guó)文化已經(jīng)如此普遍了?，F(xiàn)在世界上每天都有幾十個(gè)城市——多倫多，波爾多，布達(dá)佩斯，德國(guó)柏林，甚至馬尼拉和莫斯科，都在上演這樣的場(chǎng)景。

As the unrivaled global superpower, America exports its culture on an unprecedented scale. From music to media, film to fast food, language to literature and sport, the American idea is spreading inexorably, not unlike the influence of empires that preceded it.

作為世界上唯一的超級(jí)大國(guó)，美國(guó)將自己的文化推廣到前所未有的范圍。從音樂(lè)到傳媒，從電影到快餐，從語(yǔ)言文學(xué)直到體育項(xiàng)目，美國(guó)價(jià)值觀以不可抵擋之勢(shì)傳播著。與之前的帝國(guó)擴(kuò)張不無(wú)相似。

The difference is that today's technology flings culture to every corner of the globe with blinding speed. If it took two millenniums for Plato's "Republic" to reach North America, the latest hit from Justin Timberlake can be found in Greek (and Japanese) stores within days. Sometimes, US ideals get transmitted - such as individual rights, freedom of speech, and respect for women - and local cultures are enriched. At other times, materialism or worse becomes the message and local traditions get crushed.

不同之處在于，今天的科學(xué)技術(shù)以令人眩目的速度將文化推向地球的各個(gè)角落。若說(shuō)柏拉圖的“理想國(guó)”經(jīng)過(guò)了兩千年才到達(dá)美洲，那么賈斯汀的新專(zhuān)輯在數(shù)天之內(nèi)就能出現(xiàn)在希臘或日本的音像店里 。有時(shí)，美國(guó)一些如個(gè)人權(quán)利、言論自由、尊重婦女等思潮的傳播，豐富了各地的文化;而有時(shí)，物質(zhì)主義或者更糟的思潮，卻給各地的傳統(tǒng)文化帶來(lái)了危害。

"The US has become the most powerful, significant world force in terms of cultural imperialism [and] expansion," says Ian Ralston, American studies director at Liverpool John Moores University. "The areas that particularly spring to mind are Hollywood, popular music, and even literature."

“在文化擴(kuò)張方面，美國(guó)已成為世界上勢(shì)力最強(qiáng)大，影響最廣的國(guó)家。” Ian Ralston這樣說(shuō)。他是利物浦約翰墨爾大學(xué)的美國(guó)研究會(huì)理事。他還說(shuō)，“提到文化擴(kuò)張，人們就會(huì)想到好萊塢，流行音樂(lè)，甚至美國(guó)文學(xué)。”

But what some call "McDomination" has created a backlash in certain cultures. And it's not clear whether fast food, Disney, or rock 'n' roll will change the world the way Homer or Shakespeare has. To this question we haven't got any explicit on yet.

但是，一種"McDomination"現(xiàn)象對(duì)某些文化的發(fā)展造成了阻礙。快餐、迪斯尼、搖滾音樂(lè)是否能像荷馬和莎士比亞那樣改變這個(gè)世界呢?對(duì)于這個(gè)問(wèn)題，我們尚不能得到明確的答案。