上海世博欲惊艳亮相

　'If it were a different city hosting it, if it were of modest size, I might say' that any lack of enthusiasm was warranted, says Jose Villarreal, a San Antonio lawyer who is the U.S. commissioner general -- a sort of ambassador -- to the World Expo. 'The fact that it will be the biggest Expo ever, that so many Americans have always wanted to see China, that Shanghai is such a dynamic place -- all this makes it a reason to come.'

　　美国上海世博会总代表费乐友(Jose Villarreal)说，如果主办地是另一座城市，如果规模没有这么盛大，我可能会说人们肯定会缺乏热情。而事实上，这将是史上规模最大的世博会，并且这么多美国人一直想亲眼见一见中国，而上海又是如此充满活力的地方，这一切便是吸引人们前来的理由。费乐友是美国德州圣安东尼奥市的一名律师，他所担任的美国上海世博会总代表一职与大使的职能类似。

　　The massive $61 million U.S. pavilion at the Expo almost created a major diplomatic rift between the two countries. A congressional mandate from the 1990s forbids government funding for an Expo, and only a last-minute fund-raising effort by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton salvaged U.S. participation.

　　上海世博会美国馆投资高达6,100万美元。这座大型展馆差一点给中美两国的外交关系造成重大裂痕。上世纪90年代美国国会明令禁止政府为世博会出资。美国国务卿克林顿(Hillary Clinton)在最后一刻为筹款所做的努力才使美国得以参加此次世博会。