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Terrorism

The 1990s brought a new challenge to the world – terrorism. On February 26, 1993, the World Trade Center was rocketed by a bomb that killed six people, later the members of a radical Islamic group were convicted of the crime.

In April 1995, new bombs exploded in a federal office complex in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people including 19 children. The explosion was prepared by a Gulf War veteran, who believed that the US government became part of international totalitarian conspiracy. The cruel act of terrorism struck the nation, but further events snowed that terrorism became a real problem for the USA and for the world.

On September 11, 2001, twin skyscrapers of World Trade Center in New York were crashed by two planes with Muslim extremists, who had hijacked the planes with the passengers. Another plane plunged into the Pentagon in Washington, and the fourth plane did not reach the target having crushed in a Pennsylvania field. The combined deaths from these attacks exceeded 3,000.

The effect of the terrorist attack on the USA was devastating – it was the first time Americans were attacked on their soil in such a manner. The War on Terrorism declared by President Bush started with Afghanistan, where the terrorist Muslim organization Al-Qaeda was thought to be based.

However, the war appeared not so easy to finish. Though Afghanistan's movement, the Taliban, was defeated, the threat of terrorism is alive. As the mentality of terrorists is incomprehensible, Americans try to defend their country providing new measures of safety in the airports and many public places.

Cultural Focus: American Values through the Prism of History

Every nation lives by certain values, and even if people can't tell you exactly what values they live by there are different researches and opinions to show what the beliefs the people live with are. The values are inseparable from the nation's history, and American values are not the exclusion. They clearly reflect the history of this nation and can be traced through different historic events that shaped them.

Puritan Values. Though Puritans were not the first people who came to the New World and later their colonies did not comprise the biggest portion of the land, they were among the most lasting settlers. Besides, their values were very important to survival on the new land: self-reliance, hard work, frugal living and the guidance of individual conscience.

Puritans were also noted for considering earthly success a sign of God's favor and believed that making money can not prevent from entering the kingdom of heaven. Today the traces of the Puritan doctrine – "people get what they deserve" remain a part of American mentality. It makes Americans respect businesspeople and put much emphasis on making and possessing money.

Puritans' work ethic (often called "the Protestant work ethic") also remains a part of American life, showing how important the hard work is.

Immigration from different countries. America is a land of immigrants, and this fact shapes the values and attitudes in the society. During the centuries of immigration Americans developed a new kind of society, different from the Old World where the first immigrants had arrived from. Consequently, life in the New World developed in the newcomers such traits as equality and value of the fair competition.

The first colonists came to America from rather segregated societies, where class and status shaped individual's rights and opportunities. Unlike the Old World, new land did not favor class division; instead, it favored personal skills and abilities. "Any man's son may become equal of other man's son," wrote Fanny Trollope while visiting the USA in 1831, "and the consciousness of this is certainly a spur to exertion".

Belief that any person can achieve his or her dream remains crucial for American society today. It can be done with the fair competition, so competitiveness is emphasized everywhere – in the family, at school, and in the office.

The value of competitiveness is also reflected in the economic system, which is based on the free enterprise. The competitive economy of the USA shows its positive sides to the consumer – due to the competition the prices are often getting lower while the quality of production rises.

The War for Independence. This historical event no doubt remains an important milestone that shaped American character and relations inside and outside the country.

The Declaration of Independence, one of the most important American documents, stressed the idea of independence and equality, stating that "all men are created equal". This idea of egalitarian society – a society of equals is clearly traced in America today. People believe that they have equal opportunities in life. The whole system traditionally contributes to the sense that everybody plays the same rules.

Egalitarianism – the equality of people is also vividly seen in people's behavior. It's quite natural to call your teacher by the first name and not to treat people of high position in a differential manner. People of the lower class are often treated as if they were very important and people of high position are treated as everybody's equals.

Frontier. The frontier much contributed to the mentality of Americans, as people came to new places, where no doctors and nurses could be found and the means of communication were a big problem. The frontier experience played a significant role in the formation of American stressing such features as egalitarianism, privacy, freedom, inventiveness, and self-reliance.

Inventiveness developed in the people who came to the places in wilderness, and without self-reliance living in the new place was impossible. As government could not provide much help, the frontier people had to take care of themselves – men protected the houses with guns and in times of danger people worked together.

On the frontier people also lived far apart from each other. This lifestyle certainly contributed to the ideas of privacy and freedom that remain crucial for Americans today.

Task 4. Fill in the table representing historical events and the values they formed.

Historical Events

American Values

Arrival of Puritans

Immigration

War for Independence

Life on the Frontier

Task 5. Answer the following questions.

  1. How did the population patterns change in the second part of the 20th century?

  2. What was the reason for economic recession of the 1970s?

  3. When did the Cold War end?

  4. What happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

  5. How did the revolutionary changes in technology contribute to the development of the global economy?

  6. How did the immigration to the USA change?

  7. What are the challenges of living in the multicultural society?

  8. What was the impact of Political Correctness on the university curriculum?

  9. Why do people prefer to use sensitive language?

Task 6. Vocabulary development. State the meaning of the following words and fill in the gaps.

stagflation, recession, downsizing, nuclear missiles, totalitarian, global, disadvantaged, inclusive, bias

1. After the break of the Soviet Union regime gave way to de veloping democracies.

2. of industries meant loss of job for thousands of people.

  1. Stagnation coupled with inflation is usually called .

  2. The end of the Cold War led to the reduction of in many countries.

5. economy started growing after the new means of communication were introduced.

6. society tries to provide equal opportunities for all its members.

  1. In capitalist mode of production the periods of economic boon are followed by the periods of .

  2. Among the groups of population in the USA women and ethnic

minorities were named.

9.People became aware of the that existed in the language.

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