1、上海世博会上海2010年世博会 Shanghais Bid for the 2010 World Exposition 2003/02/08 12:40 英语学习 Y: Yang Rui, Presenter of the CCTV English programme Dialogue W: Wang Guangya, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, PRCY: Chinas two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, often compete for influence. Last year, Beijing wo
2、n the bid to host the 2008 Olympic games and this year Shanghai is bidding to host the 2010 World Exposition. Shanghai is the first city in China to formally apply to host the Expo. The other five candidate cities are Moscow, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Polands Wroclaw and South Korea Yeosu. BIEs (Bu
3、reau of International Exhibition) 88 member states will vote in December in Monte Carlo to decide the host of the 2010 event. Joining us now is Mr. Wang Guangya, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.Y: Mr. Vice Minister, could you first brief us on Shanghais applying to host the 2010 World Expo?W: It is
4、 not Shanghai that is applying, but the Chinese government. It has been widely accepted by international community that the World Expo is the Olympics of economy, culture, science and technology. It provides an opportunity for people from different places to meet, to share and to make friends. It is
5、 also an important place for new ideas and new concepts to spread, grow and be applied to improve peoples living standards. There is a long history between China and the World Expo. When the first Expo was held in London in 1851, some Chinese businessmen and merchants went all the way to London to p
6、articipate in it. Ever since then, there have always been Chinese participants. Chinas famous liquor, Maotai, became well known in the World Expo in 1915 in Panama and won the gold prize in the event. Since the opening up and reform, China has been actively participating in different events of the W
7、orld Expo wherever it was held. Now that China is enjoying fast economic growth, we want to host this event not only to boost the World Expo, but also to further enhance the understanding between the Chinese people and people all over the world and to strengthen the cooperative exchange between Chin
8、a and other countries. Y: Theres this opinion from outside China that Shanghai should not be considered for hosting the Expo because Beijing has already won the bid for the 2008 Olympics. What do you think of this?W: I dont agree to this opinion for several reasons. First of all, Olympics differs fr
9、om the Expo. They belong to different categories. Secondly, Whether to give a country the honor to host Olympics or World Expo all depends on the condition, advantage and capability of that country to host major international events. And I think that through opening up and reform, Chinas economy has
10、 developed to such an extent that now we are the 6th most powerful economy in the world. That the world has given Beijing this opportunity to host the Olympics proves that the international community has recog-nized Chinas ability to organize major international events. Thirdly, if you look at the h
11、istory of the World Expo, there have been precedentsswheresa country is given the oppor-tunity to host both Olympics and World Expo at more or less the same time period.Y: Ive just read an article in New York Times that says Shanghai is bulldozing away its past, meaning that skyscrapers are replacin
12、g the old houses insgroupsto turn the citysintosa modern one. The criticism is that the citys modernization is at the expense of the destruction of its cultural relics. How would you react to that?W: Shanghai is a placeswhereswe Chinese and foreign visitors can see the reflection of culture not just
13、 of the east but also of the west. Also, thanks to Shanghais tremendous economic growth over the last 20 years, par-ticularly since 1992, many of the citys historical sites have been restored and preserved with more care. If you look at the themes and sub-themes proposed by China and Shanghai munici
14、pal government, you will see the idea is to develop and introduce modern ideas as well as to preserve the cultural character of the Shanghai city.Y: Many observers in international community have noticed Chinas emphasis on the balance between development and environment. Do you think Shanghai can be
15、 considered a model city in this sense?W: You see, the theme of better city proposed by Shanghai is the first time to appear in the World Expo history. This shows that the Chinese government and the municipal government of Shanghai are clearly aware that to take city as the major theme is something
16、that will find common ground with international community. In many countries bent on economic development, urbanization has become an issue. Of course, urbanization represents modernization. On the other hand, urbanization has its negative sides like traffic jams and pollution. Perhaps the World Exp
17、o, with its main theme on city life, is to bring all countries together to discuss how we can handle the problems, to demonstrate what we can do to eliminate the negative sides of urbanization. The problems are there. Many things have been done. I have visited Shanghai a number of times in recent ye
18、ars and Ive seen those tremendous efforts made by the central government and the municipal government of Shanghai.Y: Which of the other candidate cities do you think is the strongest rival as opposed to Shanghai?W: Each has its unique culture, history and advantage. We take all the other five cities
19、 seriously. We have a lot to learn from them and we are ready to join in the competition.Y: Regarding the recent visit by the BIE delegation to China, can you briefly tell us their comment on Shanghais preparation?W: I think the evaluation result is very good. They have sent their report to BIE with
20、 a lot of good words. They find that theres full support nationwide, full support in Shanghai. And they find that the preparations have wide coverage.Y: If Shanghai won the bid, theres eight years from now. Do you think theres any chance that Shanghai would not get as much support from the governmen
21、t as it is promised now due to financial difficulties that might result between now and then?W: I dont think thats possible. Over the last 20 years, with economic development in China, our country has witnessed social and political stability. If you also takesintosaccount that the Chinese government
22、 is a responsible government, that Chinese people are hospitable people, and if the world decides to give this opportunity to China, to Shanghai, the Chinese government will certainly honor our commitment and we will by all means try our best to make the Exposition in Shanghai the most memorable one
23、. Annotation 1. Buenos Aires:布宜诺斯艾利斯(阿根廷首都)。 2. Wroclaw:弗罗茨瓦夫(波兰西南部城市)。3. Yeosu:丽水(韩国港口城市)。4. Monte Carlo:蒙特卡罗(摩纳哥公国城市)，濒地中海。5. bulldoze: (用推土机)清除，平整，挖出。世界在面前展开 Unfolding New Worlds 2003/03/13 13:22 英语学习 地图通往异国的向导，激发想像力的钥匙I spent the most unforgettable period of my life ?my secondary school days ?mo
24、stly in Chinas Sichuan province. In my memory, the hilly landscape, with the zipper-like* Jiange range to the north and the Wu Gorge that all but closed like a locked door to the east, confined me in a large basin. Outside, the Sino-Japanese war was raging, but I was as safe as a baby in his mothers
25、 womb.The wars restrictions on movement and information could not hold back my curious imagination. What lay beyond the war? I was eager to explore. In those days, we saw no more than a few films a year, to say nothing of television. Even radio was by no means common. I had only two windows through
26、which I could glimpse the outside world: English classes and geography lessons. When I had enough of my English homework, I would flip through an atlas. My mind took flight when I pored over the maps. I was never tired of looking at them. They moved my heart more forcefully than any beautiful scener
27、y. There is no easier way to learn about a new place than to examine its stamps, money and maps. With their elegant printing and pleasing colours, stamps and money can give you a picture of the special features of a foreign country, but they can be difficult to obtain. A map, on the other hand, can
28、be found anywhere. Maps ?nothing more than a collection of abstract symbols representing a particular place ?gave my imagination free reign. Since I was little, I had always enjoyed losing myself in distant thoughts by looking at the maps.That atlas was my most beautiful and precious possession, and
29、 I took it with me wherever I went. When I went home from boarding school for the weekend, I had to walk through mountain paths, and would come to the Jialing River. I loved to sit on the soft and yellow sandy beach, open my atlas and take a spiritual journey. Sichuan is located hundreds of kilometr
30、es from the sea, so whenever my eyes roamed over a map, they were usually drawn to the countries with wriggling seacoasts, especially those with many islands. I felt I could easily quench my thirst for the outside world by drinking in the seawater, and satisfy my hunger by gnawing on those islands.
31、As I watched the river flow southward, I wondered when the water would carry me to the sea.Drawing maps became my favourite homework, and soon I was the recognised map-maniac of my class. Fellow students came to me for help when they couldnt complete their map assignments. My reputation even spread
32、to the teachers. One in particular would always glance over his shoulder to check my response whenever he drew a map on the blackboard. The other students couldnt suppress their giggles, while I tried my best to act as if nothing was amiss.One winter afternoon when I was 14, a used-book vendor came to the school. Looking at his merchandise on display under an orange tree, I was drawn to an ancient map of Turkey in dappled colours. Knowing
