Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other "friends" to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to "compartmentalize" (划分) friendships, having "friends at work", "friends on the softball team", "family friends", etc..

美国人通常认为自己是友好的民族。然而他们的友谊往往比来自其他文化的人们更短暂，更随意。生活中只有一个亲密的朋友，对美国人来说这很常见，他们认为其它的“朋友”只是社会上的泛泛之交。这种看法或许跟美国人的流动性和美国人不喜欢依靠别人的实际情况有关。他们往往将朋友关系划分为“工作朋友”、“运动朋友”、“家庭朋友”等。

　Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly charged atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque (无礼的) or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel are very personal. No insult is intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask them questions about themselves. Americans are usually eager to explain all about their country or anything "American" in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tired of listening. It doesn't matter because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence.

因为美国是一个高度活跃、充满运动和变化的社会，人们看起来一直在路上。在这种高度紧张的氛围里，美国人有时看似无礼或缺少耐心。他们想要尽快了解你，然后转身去做别的事。在交往初期，他们有时会问你一些你感觉很私人的问题。这不是有意的冒犯；问这些问题通常是出于他们真正的兴趣和好奇心或者他们没有耐心去得到事情的实质。换成你也一样，如果你不理解某些美国人的行为或你想知道他们更多的东西，就毫不犹豫地去问他们。美国人通常会热心地介绍有关他们国家或者你可能感兴趣的美国的任何事情。实际上他们如此地介绍这个东西可能使你听得很累。这无所谓，因为美国人往往会对交往中的沉默感到不安。例如，他们宁愿去谈天气或者最新的赛况，也不愿去对付沉默。

　On the other hand, don't expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States. Because the United States is not surrounded by many other nations, some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world.

　另外，别指望美国人熟知世界地理或国际事务，除非这些事情直接涉及到美国。因为美国并不与许多国家接壤。一些美国人往往忽略了世界其他地方。