上海世博欲驚艷亮相

        Early this month, the Expo site was a huge muddy field filled with workers, cranes, piles of building materials and heaps of construction debris. It was difficult to imagine that everything would be completed in time. China says 192 countries will come to this city of 19 million to participate in the six-month festival, drawing an estimated 70 million attendees. (The 12-month 1964-65 New York World's Fair drew more than 50 million.)

　　本月初，世博會場還是一個巨大的泥濘土地，到處是工人、起重機以及成堆的建筑材料和大量的建筑垃圾。當時很難相像一切能按時完工。中國稱192個國家將來到上海參加這個長達六個月的盛會，預計將吸引7,000萬名參會者。（1964年至1965年在紐約舉辦的世博會歷時一年，吸引了超過五千萬人。）上海目前共有1900萬人。

　　Still, tour packagers so far report very modest interest from Americans and Europeans, with rooms for the fair period easy to find even at the best hotels. 'People just don't know about the Expo, even many Chinese citizens,' says Terrence Ou, president of the Beijing-based Great Wall Adventure tour agency.

　　然而，旅行社方面顯示出迄今為止歐美游客對上海世博會的興趣不高，因此即便在上海最好的酒店人們也能輕易地找到世博會期間的空余客房。總部位于北京的Great Wall Adventure旅行社總裁Terrence Ou說，人們只是不知道世博會，就連許多中國人也不知道。