当代美国单元1

(前言) and Acknowledgments to the Second Edition

In line with (与…保持一致) the other titles (标题) in this series, the aim of this book is to provide an (access=right/ chance通道) accessible

general introduction to the

(同时代/ 当代) United States of America and offer (guide: n./vt.->) guidance (指南) and resources (资源) for further study (=research) for both university students and general (一般) readers. We have (intend: vt.打算->) intentionally (=on purpose/ deliberately故意) adopted (采用<->adapt改编) a (narrate: vt.->) narrative (叙事体) and grammatical style that exposes readers to (接触) formal (正规的) American English as well as (=and) to colloquialisms (口语), using American spelling and punctuation (标点) throughout (from the beginning to the end).

Our experience teaching (->teaching

experience) in universities and business schools in Denmark, Norway, and the United States

the selection (选题) of

topics. the nomenclature [命名法, 术语] of many courses, “America” itself is used colloquially in the title to mean the United States of America. Russell Duncan has the overall (=general总体的) editorial responsibility for the book and particular responsibility for Chapters 1, 2 and 5–10. Joseph Goddard has primary (=major) responsibility for Chapters 3 and 4.

The success of the book on first (publish: vt.->) publication has led us to produce (=publish) this (substance: n.物质->substantial->) substantially (大量的) revised and expanded (拓展) second edition after what seems a short

–interval (间隔). This has enabled us to take full account (=description描述) of G. W. Bush’s first term (任期) and the early months of his second. We are indebted to (=owe sth. to sb.) our publisher Steven Kennedy for

the text in the first place (=first)

and for delivering (=giving) unerringly (准确无误的) good suggestions and leeway (=flexibility 灵活性). We would also like to single [(1)adj.单一的; (2)vt. choose for praise] out Palgrave Macmillan’s sales representative Ben Greig, who first listened to Duncan’s ideas for a textbook and suggested the fit with the Contemporary States and Societies series.

Keith Povey did an especially good job in copy-editing the text. Special thanks go to our colleagues and students at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen Business School for their widespread (多方面的) encouragement during the two years of writing and editing. We are grateful (/thankful) to (=thank) those colleagues who have read all or parts of the text: Niels Thorsen, University of Copenhagen; John McCormick, Indiana University; Paul Richmond, Copenhagen Business School; Marian Morton, John Carroll University; Deborah Kitchen, University of Oslo; John Dumbrell, University of Keele; Michael Dunne, University