The German’s ego is extraordinarily exposed, and he will go to almost any length topreserve his "private sphere."This was observed during World War II when American soldiers were offered opportunities to observe German prisoners under a variety of circumstances.

 In one instance in the Midwest, German prisoners of war were housed four to a small hut. As soon as materials were available, each prisoner built a partition so that he could have his own space. In a less favorable setting in Germany, it was necessary to use open stockades because German prisoners were arriving faster than they could be accommodated.In this situation each soldier who could find the materials built his own tiny dwelling unit, sometimes no larger than a foxhole.             

It puzzled the Americans that the Germans did not pool their efforts and their scarce materials to create a larger, more efficient space, particularly in view of the very cold spring nights. 

 德国人的自我意识非常强烈，他们会不遗余力地保护自己的“私人领域”。

这一特点在第二次世界大战期间得到了充分体现，当时美国士兵有机会在各种情境中观察德国战俘。例如，在中西部的一个例子中，四个德国战俘被关押在一间小屋内。一旦有了建筑材料，每个囚犯都搭建了一个隔板，以便拥有自己的空间。在德国的不利条件下，有必要使用开放式栅栏，因为战俘的抵达速度超过了容纳他们的速度。在这种情况下，每个能找到建筑材料的士兵都建造了自己的小屋，有时甚至比散兵坑还要小。令美国士兵困惑的是，德国人没有集中他们的力量和稀缺的材料来创造一个更大、更有效的空间，尤其是在这个尤为寒冷的春夜。

What are the differences between a German house and an American one?

References:

The German house itself emphasizes privacy. All rooms have doors with locks, and the doors are  closed and often locked. 

In contrast to Germany, houses in the United States may have fences or hedges surrounding the backyard, but the front yards are wide open and inviting. Doors of the rooms in a house tend to be open.

Cultural Information: Home in Various cultures

 Compare the typical traditional home environment and the typicalcontemporary one in China to see what differences there are between them. Tryto decide how the differences reflect the changes in our culture.

  The typical traditional home environment in China is the si he yuanor the courtyard house. This home environment is totally enclosed with only onedoor leading to the outside and the inside square courtyard is surrounded byhouses facing inside. In this way, the whole residential environment is closedto the outside but open to the inside. The arrangement of the houses issymmetrical. No matter whether there is one household or a number of householdssharing a courtyard, people living inside are like a great family and sharemany things with one another.

 The typical contemporary home environment in China may be the modern apartmentbuildings, some of which can be so large that hundreds of families areaccommodated. Spatial organization of the modern apartment is no longerconfined to rigid walls, with more attention paid to the practical use ofspace, such as for entertaining, catering, learning and so on. Each apartmenthas (a)bedroom(s), a living room (chiefly for entertaining guests) and akitchen. Such home arrangement makes it possible for its occupants to have somepersonal space and privacy when living with other family members. Though peoplein one apartment building seem to live very close to each other, usually theydo not know each other, even their neighbors next door.

重难点词汇：

typical 典型的

traditional 传统的

arrangement 安排

courtyard house四院住宅；四院；

residential environment居住环境；

symmetrical匀称的，对称的；

households家庭；拆迁户；家户

 totallyenclosed全封闭；

contemporary 当代的

accommodated使适应

catering 提供饮食

occupants居住者，购买者；