我認(rèn)識(shí)一位從中國來美國的暑期交換學(xué)生，她告訴我一件她覺得奇怪的事情。她寄宿在一個(gè)美國人的家里。這家夫婦倆都是律師，有4個(gè)從上高中到小學(xué)的男孩。那個(gè)人家房子很大，有游艇（恐怕不止一只）和私人飛機(jī)，非常富有的樣子，生活卻很簡(jiǎn)單。有一次，父母兩人出外度假，臨走前在家里的大冰箱里為留在家里的4個(gè)孩子放好一模一樣大小的4份食品，不分大小，每人一份。而且，還給他們每人分配一份工作，修整草地、洗游泳池、清理廚房、廁所等等。這4個(gè)孩子，大的食品不夠吃，小的吃不了。大的向小的要，小的就以代做自己那一份家事為條件，把吃不了的分一些給大的。

這確實(shí)是一個(gè)典型的美國家庭，說它典型，不是說它擁有的財(cái)產(chǎn)（這個(gè)家庭顯然要比許多其他美國家庭富有），而是說它的價(jià)值觀。

I know a Chinese student who came to the United States on a summer exchange program. She told me about the things she found hard to understand about the American family where she had her home stay'. The couple were both lawyers and had four children, all boys but in various stages of schooling from primary to senior high. They had a large house, a yacht and a private jet. Despite the trappings of great wealth, their lifestyle was surprisingly straightforward. For example, the parents went on vacation once. Before their departure, they left in the freezer four equal portions of food for the kids and assigned them specific house chores, mowing the lawn, scrubbing the pool and sprucing up the kitchen or the bathroom. The older boys who found their rations insufficient would have to trade with their younger siblings who could use their surplus supply as bargaining chips to reduce their share of the burden to keep the house proper and clean. I actually think this is a typical American family, but certainly not in the financial sense for its material possessions went way beyond an average household. It is typical because of the underlying social values it represents.