美国原是一个由小城市和宽阔空间构成的国家。虽然美国人珍爱这一传统，但是在每8个美国人中，也只有一人住农场。近年的人口流向一直具有双重的特点——朝着都市化和市郊化两方面发展。在过去的10年中，大都市的面积急剧增长，而所增长的面积差不多有一半是在郊区。随着城市的迅速增多，同样迅速的分散化趋向也随之出现。美国人从城市中心向郊区的快速迁移，是现代最大规模的人口迁移之一。城外安静的住宅区已成了街道、错层式建筑和购物中心组成的综合式的密集区。
然而，郊区膨胀的这一势头，并未改变这一基本事实：美国已成为地球表面最具城市色彩的国家之一。人口调查局的数字表明，1830年以来，农村人口一直在稳步收缩。美国在立国时根本没有什么大城市，今天，拥有25.8万以上人口的城市约有50座。城市的庞大的综合企业正在东海岸地区和东北中部各州、太平洋及墨西哥湾海岸，以及靠近五大湖沿岸的地带发展起来。现在，一些社会学家把波士顿和华盛顿（哥伦比亚特区）之间600英里的一片区域——拥有全国1／5人口的一个地区——看作是一座巨城，或者，正如他们所称呼的，一座“麦加罗波利斯”。
America and the Winter Olympics
The international significance of sliding downhill struck Americans like an avalanche about thirty years ago．Until then snow had been something to shovel out of driveways in the morning．Then the Winter Olympics of 1932were held at Lake Placid，New York，and a wonderful，suicidal new world opened up．
City dwellers read of strange and stirring deeds：bob sledders missing a turn and being scraped off the ice，skiers flying through the air to land on their skulls．The coach of the American team stated that the Winter Olympics were the biggest boost that skiing had ever had；that they should awaken American boys and girls to the possibilities of this wonderful，healthful sport．He was right—in the years that followed，three or four million American boys and girls strapped on skis，and the healthy snapping of bones was heard from Vermont to Colorado．
In February of 1960the Winter Olympics returned to the United States，this time to remote Squaw Valley，California，in the Sierra Nevada；where there had been only a lodge and two ski lifts，visitors found that a tiny metropolis had been developed．Early in the preceding December，everything was ready—except the snow．An agitated call was sent out for Piute Indians to dance for the weather gods．
“Snow fall in two weeks.”announced the chief when the ceremony was finished．
“Why not earlier，Chief？”
“No chains for our bus.”he said．“Snow too soon，we not get home．”
美国和冬季奥运会
约30年前，从山上向下滑行所具有的国际意义，像雪崩一样冲击着美国人。在那以前，雪不过是人们早晨用铲子从车道上清除掉的东西。后来，1932年的冬季奥运会在纽约州的莱克普拉西德村举行了，这就打开了一个奇妙的、驱使人们冒险的新世界。
城市居民读到了一些引起轰动的奇闻：乘双连雪橇者转弯失手，从冰上刮了出去，滑雪者从空中飞落下地时头盖骨着地。美国队的教练说冬季奥林匹克运动会对滑雪运动是从未有过的最大推动力，它应该能使美国的男女少年开始注意到这一利于身心健康的奇妙运动的前景。他说得对。在接踵而来的年代里，三四百万美国男女少年穿上雪屐，骨头发出健康的咯噔声，从佛蒙特州到科罗拉多州都能听到。
1960年2月，冬季奥运会回到了美国。这一次地点在遥远的加利福尼亚的斯阔谷，在内华达山。那儿原来只有一家小旅馆和两架登山吊索设备，可这回客人们发现，一座小城市已经发展起来。早在前一年的12月，一切就已经准备就绪，只差没有雪。有人焦急地给派尤特的印第安人打了个电话，请求他们为掌管天气的神祇们跳舞。
“两个星期后降雪。”仪式结束时酋长宣布道。
“为什么不早点下呢？酋长！”
“没有链条拉我们的汽车呢，”他说，“雪下得太早，我们就回不了家啦。”
Liberia and Its Rubber Industry
Liberia，the oldest independent Negro state in West Africa，has been struggling for survival ever since its foundation in 1822．Progress has been hampered by constant hostility between the American Negroes whose families returned there in the early nineteenth century and the West Africans whose ancestors never left the continent．Though the two groups are of the same race，they are divided by language and outlook and regard each other with deep suspicion，creating a conflict which was not foreseen by Liberia’s founders．
In addition，neighboring states，native tribes，disease，and poverty have made life dangerous and difficult．The government has tried desperately，through loans and a trickle of trade，to make ends meet．Anxiety about financial matters lessened somewhat when，in 1910，the United States accepted responsibility for Liberia’s survival．However，not until Harvey Fire stone，the American rubber magnate，decided that the United States must produce its own rubber—with Liberia as the site of the rubber plantations—did Liberia have much hope of paying its debts and balancing its budget．
The rubber industry，founded in me 1920’s，and the activity that followed it，brought both progress and profit to Liberia．Before that time Liberia had no roads，no mechanical transport，and no good port；its people had little education and few tools．Now Liberians feel that the country is being ruled by rubber．For this reason the recent discovery of iron ore is important．Liberian leaders are trying to moderate the power of the rubber industry and to establish the country ‘s political and economic independence．
利比利亚和它的橡胶工业
利比利亚，西非年代最长的黑人独立国家，自1822年成立时起，就一直为生存而挣扎着。美国来的黑人和西非人之间经常不断的敌视阻碍了进步。这些美国黑人是在19世纪初带着家小回归的，而西非人的祖先则从未离开过这片大陆。这两部分人虽属同一种族，但语言和观点的不同使他们分裂，彼此之间怀有深深的猜嫌，终于酿成一场冲突，这是利比利亚的缔造者们所没有预见到的。
