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In spite of “endless talk of difference, ” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people.

不管我们如何喋喋不休地谈论差别，美国社会实际上是一台同化人们的神奇的机器。

There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture.

这就是民主化的着装和言谈，并且还有种随意和缺乏尊重感，这些构成了通俗文化的特性。

People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered “vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite, ”

人们被一种消费文化所吸引了，这种文化是由十九世纪在高雅的氛围中陈列着琳琅满目的商品的百货商店所开始的，不是为了迎合有知识的精英们而开设的专门商店，

these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background.

而是创建了“不分阶层和背景人人都可以进入”的大众商店。

This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.”

这使得购物成为一种大众的、民主的行为。

The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.

大众传媒、广告和体育也是协助人们均质化的推动力。

Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous.

尽管这种文化并不算高雅，但也算不上有害，移民们很快就融入了这种共同文化。

Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation.

Gregory Rodriguez 为美国移民研讨会撰文指出，今天的移民既不是处于空前的水平，也不抵制同化。

In 1998 immigrants were 9. 8 percent of population; in 1900, 13. 6 percent.

在 1998 年，移民占全国人口的 9.8%；在 1900 年为 13.6%。

In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3. 1 immigrants arrived for every 1, 000 residents;

在 1990年以前的十年之中，在每千位居民当中，有千分之 3.1的新来的移民；

in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9. 2 for every 1, 000.

而在 1890 年以前的十年之中，每千位居民当中就有千分之 9.2 的移民。

Now, consider three indices of assimilation -- language, home ownership and intermarriage.

现在，让我们来看一下三个同化指标——语言、拥有产权住房和异族结婚情况。

The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English 'well' or 'very well' after ten years of residence. ”

1990年的人口普查透露：“来自十五个移民数量最多的国家的移民在到美国十年后英语说得‘好’或‘很好’。”

The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English.

移民的子女几乎都说两种语言，且精通英语。

“By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families. ”

“到了第三代，在大多数移民家庭，他们的母语就消失了。”

Hence the description of America as a “graveyard” for languages.

因此，有人就把美国描 述成了“语言的坟场”。

By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75. 6 percent, higher than the 69. 8 percent rate among native-born Americans.

到了 1996 年，出生于国外的、在 1970 年以前到达美国的移民有 75.6%购置了自己的住房，这个数字高出土生土长的美国人的拥有自己所有权住房的百分比——69.8%。

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates of intermarriage than do U. S. -born whites and blacks. ”

在国外出生的亚裔和西班牙裔移民“与美国本土白人和黑人相比，与异族通婚的比率要高。”

By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics,

到了第三代，有三分之一的西班牙裔女性与非西班牙裔男性结婚，

and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.

而有41%亚裔美国妇女与非亚裔男性结婚。

Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks,

罗得里格斯写道，即使那些住 在世界各地偏僻村庄的的孩子们都是诸如阿诺·施瓦辛格和加思·布鲁克斯等明星的星迷，

yet “some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power. ”

然而“一些美国人却害怕住在美国的移民不知怎样才能免受美国的同化力量影响” 。

Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed.

在美国是否存在不和以及潜在的不安？答案是肯定的，

It is big enough to have a bit of everything.

因为这个国家足够大以至于什么现象都存在。

But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.

但是与美国动荡狂暴的过去相比，如今的社会基本不能说明美国的社会环境正在恶化，变得黑暗。