A look at the history of the United States indicates that this country has often been called “a melting pot”, where various immigrants and ethnic groups have learned to work together to build a unique nation. Even those “original” Americans, the Indians, probably walked a land bridge from Asia to North America some thousands of years ago. So, who are the real Americans? The answer is that any and all of them are! And you, no matter where you come from, could also become an American should you want to. Then you would become another addition to America’s wonderfully rich “nation of immigrants”.

　    The United States is currently shifting from being a nation of immigrants of mainly European descent（家庭出身） to one of immigrants from other parts of the world, such as Asia and Latin America. The number of recent immigrants has increased rapidly. They desire to escape economic hardship and political oppression in their native countries as well as the desire to seek a better education and a more prosperous life in America, “the land of opportunity”. Although there are frequent conflicts between the cultures they have brought with them from the “old country” and those found in America, most immigrants learn to adjust to and love their adopted land.

　　Americans have also learned much from the customs and ideas of the immigrants and are often influenced by them in subtle and interesting ways. Immigrants bring their native cultural, political, and social patterns and attitudes, varied academic and religious backgrounds, as well as their ethnic arts, sports, holidays, festivals, and foods. They have greatly enriched American life.

　　For immigrants from all parts of the world, the United States has been a “melting pot” in which the foreigners have sometimes remained culturally and linguistically(语言上) what they were in their native lands even as they move towards becoming citizens of the United States, a country whose people share a common cultural outlook and a set of values. All recollections of another way of life in another place are not melt away in the “melting pot” --- nor should it. On the contrary, immigrants should maintain the languages, skills, religions, customs and arts of their own heritage, even while they are working towards entering the mainstream of American culture.

　　Help:

　　conflict: an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles

　　adjust to: to become more familiar with a new situation

　　subtle: not loud, bright, noticeable or obvious in any way