Upper-Intermediate - Shanghai Expo (D0332)

那天有个朋友问我为什么上海这么重视2010年的世博会。我还真不知道呢。
nàtiān yǒu ge péngyou wèn wǒ wèishénme Shànghǎi zhème zhòngshì èr líng yī líng nián de Shìbóhuì 。wǒ hái zhēn bù zhīdào ne 。
The other day, a friend asked me why Shanghai is taking the 2010 Expo so seriously. I honestly don’t know.

其实世博会对不同的人都有不同的意义。比如说老百姓，有些就因为世博会建造场馆拆迁，搬到了更好的房子里。而就上海这个城市而言，最大的意义在于会促进经济的发展。
qíshí Shìbóhuì duì bùtóng de rén dōu yǒu bùtóng de yìyì 。bǐrú shuō lǎobǎixìng ，yǒuxiē jiù yīnwèi Shìbóhuì jiànzào chángguǎn chāiqiān ， bān dào le gènghǎo de fángzi lǐ 。ér jiù Shànghǎi zhège chéngshì éryán ，zuìdà de yìyì zàiyú huì cùjìn jīngjì de fāzhǎn 。
Actually the Expo has different meanings for different people. For example, for some common citizens it means that their old homes will be torn down for construction sites, so they will be moved into better houses. In addition, with regard to Shanghai city itself, the most meaningful thing is that it will stimulate economic development.

我还是不明白，世博会不就是一个国际性的展览会吗？
wǒ hái shì bù míngbai ，Shìbóhuì bù jiùshì yī ge guójìxìng de zhǎnlǎnhuì ma ？
But I still don’t understand. Isn’t the Expo just an international exhibition?

简单地说的确如此。不过世博会是由政府主办，多个国家或国际组织参加的大型综合性展览。和一般的展览不同，它展现的是社会，经济，文化和科技各个领域的成就。它的特点是时间长，规模大，参展国家多，因此影响也非常深远。
jiǎndāndeshuō díquè rúcǐ 。bùguò Shìbóhuì shì yóu zhèngfǔ zhǔbàn ，duō ge guójiā huò guójìzǔzhī cānjiā de dàxíng zōnghéxìng zhǎnlǎn 。hé yībān de zhǎnlǎn bùtóng ，tā zhǎnxiàn de shì shèhuì ，jīngjì ，wénhuà hé kējì gège lǐngyù de chéngjiù 。tā de tèdiǎn shì shíjiān cháng ，guīmó dà ，cānzhǎn guójiā duō ，yīncǐ yǐngxiǎng yě fēicháng shēnyuǎn 。
Simply put, yes it is. However, the Expo is hosted by the government. It is a large-scale comprehensive exhibition attended by many different countries and international organizations. The difference between this and other exhibits is that it presents achievements in social, economic, cultural, scientific and technological fields. Its special features are the long duration, the scale of the event, and the many countries that participate. The effects are extremely far-reaching.

噢，那它有点像人文的奥运会。我们能看到来自不同国家，不同领域的展览和活动，内容肯定很丰富！
ō ，nà tā yǒudiǎn xiàng rénwén de Aòyùnhuì 。wǒmen néng kàndào láizì bùtóng guójiā ，bùtóng lǐngyù de zhǎnlǎn hé huódòng ，nèiróng kěndìng hěn fēngfù ！
Oh! It's almost like a cultural Olympics. We will be able to see exhibits and activities originating from different countries and various fields. The content will definitely not be lacking.

没错，这也就是为什么世博会能给主办国带来很大的人气和经济效益。其实世博会的筹备现在就已经开始了，很多相关设施已经在建设当中。这既给社会提供了很多的就业机会，又改善了我们的生活环境。
méicuò ，zhèyě jiùshì wèishénme Shìbóhuì néng gěi zhǔbànguó dàilái hěn dà de rénqì hé jīngjìxiàoyì 。qíshí Shìbóhuì de chóubèi xiànzài jiù yǐjīng kāishǐ le ，hěn duō xiāngguān shèshī yǐjīng zài jiànshè dāngzhōng 。zhè jì gěi shèhuì tígōng le hěn duō de jiùyè jīhuì ，yòu gǎishàn le wǒmen de shēnghuó huánjìng 。
Exactly. This is another reason why the Expo is able to bring so many benefits to the economy and reputation of the host country. Actually the preparations for the Expo have already started. Many facilities related to the Expo are already under construction. This has already brought the community a lot of employment opportunities, and has also improved our living environment.

噢，怪不得大家提到世博会就这么兴奋。哎，每次世博会是不是都有主题啊？
ō ，guàibude dàjiā tídào Shìbóhuì jiù zhème xīngfèn 。āi ，měicì Shìbóhuì shì bu shì dōu yǒu zhǔtí ā ？
Oh, no wonder everyone gets so excited when they talk about the Expo. Oh, isn’t there always a theme for every Expo?

对呀，这次的是“城市让生活更美好”。到时候希望会有很多新的想法让我们的生活变得更好。
duìyā ，zhècì de shì “chéngshì ràng shēnghuó gèng měihǎo ”。dào shíhou xīwàng huì yǒu hěn duō xīn de xiǎngfǎ ràng wǒmen de shēnghuó biànde gènghǎo 。
You’re right. This time it is “cities makes life better*”. When the time comes, I hope there will be a lot of new ideas on how to make our lives better.

Vocabulary

对……而言	duì ... éryán	/
就……而言	jiù ... éryán	with regard to ...
一般而言	yībān'éryán	speaking on the same line
而言	éryán	speaking of
商机	shāngjī	commercial opportunity
进出口	jìnchūkǒu	import export
主办	zhǔbàn	to host
人气	rénqì	human spirit
展览	zhǎnlǎn	exhibition
效益	xiàoyì	benefit
拆迁	chāiqiān	to pull down (an old house) and move its occupants elsewhere
就业	jiùyè	employment
改善	gǎishàn	improvement
筹备	chóubèi	preparation
小区	xiǎoqū	area
设施	shèshī	facilities
深远	shēnyuǎn	farreaching
世界博览会	shìjièbólǎnhuì	World Fair
大型	dàxíng	large scale
搬迁	qiānbān	to move
房地产	fángdìchǎn	real estate
补偿	bǔcháng	to compensate
抽象	chōuxiàng	abstract
组织	zǔzhī	to be organized by
控制	kòngzhì	to control
新闻稿	xīnwéngǎo	press/news release
铭刻	míngkè	to engrave on one's mind
人道	réndào	humanity
残酷	cánkù	cruel