【正确答案】 I know a Chinese student who came to the United States on a summer exchange program. She told me about the things she found hard to understand about the American family where she had her home stay'. The couple were both lawyers and had four children, all boys but in various stages of schooling from primary to senior high. They had a large house, a yacht and a private jet. Despite the trappings of great wealth, their lifestyle was surprisingly straightforward. For example, the parents went on vacation once. Before their departure, they left in the freezer four equal portions of food for the kids and assigned them specific house chores, mowing the lawn, scrubbing the pool and sprucing up the kitchen or the bathroom. The older boys who found their rations insufficient would have to trade with their younger siblings who could use their surplus supply as bargaining chips to reduce their share of the burden to keep the house proper and clean. I actually think this is a typical American family, but certainly not in the financial sense for its material possessions went way beyond an average household. It is typical because of the underlying social values it represents.