Acculturation (儿童的开化), which begins at birth, is the process of teaching new (47)______ of children the (48)______ and values of the parents’’ culture. How people (49)______ newborns, for example, can be indicative of cultural values. In the United States it is not uncommon for parents to put a newborn in a separate room that (50)______ only to the child. This helps to preserve parents’’ (51)______ and allows the child to get used to having his or her own room, which is seen as a first step toward personal independence. Americans (52)______ have held independence and a closely-related value, individualism, in high esteem (尊重). Parents try to instill these prevailing values in their children. American English expresses these value (53)______: children should "cut the (umbilical) cord" and are encouraged not to be "tied to their mothers’’ apron strings." In the process of their socialization children learn to "look out for number one" and to "stand on their own two feet."
Many children are taught at a very early age to make decisions and be responsible for their actions. Often children work for money outside the home as a first step to establishing autonomy. Nine- or ten-year-old children may (54)______ newspapers in their neighborhoods and save or spend their earnings. Teenagers (13 to 18 years) may babysit at neighbors’’ homes in order to earn a few dollars a week. Receiving a weekly (55)______ at an early age teaches children to budget their money, preparing them for future (56)______ independence. Many parents believe that managing money helps children learn responsibility as well as appreciate the value of money.
Word Bank
A) claim B) deliver C) generations
D) privacy E) allowance F) customs
G) construct H) available I) designs
J) belongs K) preferences L) absolutely
M) treat N) financial O) traditionally