1. Both the Jews and the Chinese started to emigrate to the USA in the mid-1800s.  _____

2. At that time both groups were very poor.   _____

3. The first Jews came mainly from Eastern European countries.  _____

4. Many Jews have distinguished themselves in both scientific and literary fields.  _____

5. Most Jews settled in the western states.  _____

6. Most Chinese settled in the northern states.  _____

7. Jews are perfectly integrated in American society.  _____

8. Many Chinese worked on the railroad connecting the east and the west coasts.  _____

9. Chinese living in the USA have lost their traditions and culture.  _____

10. Some Chinese Americans are among the wealthiest people in the country.  _____

 

 

The Jews started to emigrate to the USA in large numbers around 1850, mainly from Germany. They were mostly middle-class educated people and had some money. Many of them were traders and opened stores all over the country. Later some of these became large department store chains.

In the 1870s and 1880s more Jews came from Eastern European countries. They were poorer and lived together in the slums of big cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. Many of them, however, provided a good education for their children, who were then able to integrate and distinguish themselves in the fields of medicine, law, science, politics, and literature.

The rise of Nazism in the 1930s brought more Jews to America. Among them were people such as Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of the 20^th century.

Today the Jews make up 2.2% of the population. Jews have never been more secure as individuals, more accepted, more integrated into society at large, more affluent and more free of discrimination and persecution than they are in America today. Some Jews fear that this well-being constitutes a threat to their identity because the characteristics peculiar to Jewish culture and faith are fading amongst the young and are being replaced by America’s prevailing secular values of materialistic self improvement and individual gratification. Others see no harm in this and say it is typical of the ‘melting pot’ and should be welcomed.

 

The Chinese started to come to the USA with the Gold Rush of 1848 and then worked in large numbers to build the railroad lines which were going to link the East of the USA with the Far West. They settled down in California, especially in San Francisco, where a section of the city became known as ‘Chinatown’. They have always maintained their traditions and customs and, unlike most European immigrants, they did not want to become completely Americanized. Later, other ‘Chinatowns’ developed in many American large cities.

Chinese American I.M. Pei is one of the most famous architects in the world. He designed the terminal at the JFK Airport in New York, as well as some famous American skyscrapers, such as the John Hancock Tower in Boston and the Allied Bank Tower in Dallas. One of the wealthiest men in America is Dr Wang, the expert in digital electronic who was the first to produce electronic calculators in the 1960s, word processors in the 1970s and office automation systems in the 1980s.