精美英文欣赏:集体生活方式

（单词翻译）

A Collective Style of Living

集体生活方式

The way in which people use social space reflects their social relationships and their ethnic¹ identity.

人们利用社交空间的方式反映出他们的社会关系和他们的种族身份。

Early immigrants to America from Europe brought with them a collective style of living,which they retained until late in the 18th century.

早期从欧洲到美国的移民带来一种集体生活方式，这种生活方式他们一直保持到18世纪晚期。

Historical records document a group-oriented existence,in which one room was used for eating,entertaining guests, and sleeping.

历史文献记载了一种面向群体的生活，一个房间被用作进餐，招待客人及睡觉的地方。

People ate soups from a communal² pot,shared drinking cups,and used a common pit toilet.

人们喝同一个锅里的汤，共用酒杯，使用公共的坑式厕所。

With the development of ideas about individualism,people soon began to shift to the use of individual cups and plates;the eating of meals that included meat, bread,and vegetables served on separate plates;and the use of private toilets.

随着个人主义观念的加强，人们开始转向使用单独的杯子，盘子；一日三餐包括肉，面包，蔬菜都放在分开的盘子里端上餐桌。人们开始使用独立的小卫生间。

They began to build their houses with separate rooms to entertain guests—living rooms,separate bedrooms for sleeping,separate work areas—kitchen, laundry room,and separate bathrooms.

他们开始建造待独立房间的房子，比如有招待客人的独立房间—客厅，独立的卧室，独立的工作间—厨房，洗衣间，以及独立的浴室。

In Mexico, the meaning and organization of domestic space is strikingly different.

在墨西哥，家庭空间的意义和布局明显不同。房子依天井或院子而建。

Houses are organized around a patio³, or courtyard.Rooms open onto the patio,where all kinds of domestic activities take place.

房间门朝向天井看着，天井是家庭一切活动的场地。

Individuals do not have separate bedrooms.

个人没有独立的卧室。

Children often sleep with parents,and brothers or sisters share a bed,emphasizing familial interdependence.

孩子们常常和父母一起睡，兄弟或姐妹睡一张床，突出家庭内部的相互依赖性。

Rooms in Mexican houses are locations for multiple activities that, in contrast, are rigidly⁴ separated in the United States.

墨西哥房子里的房间都是进行多种活动的场所，与此形成鲜明对比的是，这样的活动场所在美国是有严格区分的。