The United States exports a lot more【D6】________ than it imports.These products include movies, music, food, and【D7】________. Cu

Every year the United States exports cultural products to the rest of the world whereas it only imports similar products from other countries equal to about one percent of the amount exported. Movies, for example, are one such product. The movie industry in countries like England and Italy is almost completely dependent on American exports. Both countries report that 85% to 95% of all movie tickets sold each year are for movies produced in the United States. Millions of people worldwide buy American pop, rap, and rock music. Billions of people drink Coca-cola and eat McDonald’s hamburgers. American software dominates the computer market.
      Can all of the above products be called cultural? Most people divide culture into two forms：high culture and low culture. High culture is the kind produced by writers and artists. It is more concerned with stimulation thought in the people who view or use it and does not necessarily care how marketable people find it. Low culture, on the other hand, is viewed as a product usually for entertainment and is only as good as how well it sells. Because it is consumed by masses of people, this type of culture can also be called mass culture. The distinctions between low and high culture are not very clear.
      A professor of English and American Studies in France, points out that when a cultural product is imported, the product cannot cover the existing culture, thus replacing it. The imported product is changed to adapt to the local context. Also, the other countries import so many cultural products from the United States, they know a lot more about American culture in general than Americans know about the other culture. It is a definite advantage for people in these countries to be bilingual as well as bicultural. They can use their knowledge of American society and values to increase their chances of success in the American market.