上海世博欲驚艷亮相

　'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.'

　　美國上海世博會總代表費(fèi)樂友(Jose Villarreal)說，如果主辦地是另一座城市，如果規(guī)模沒有這么盛大，我可能會說人們肯定會缺乏熱情。而事實(shí)上，這將是史上規(guī)模最大的世博會，并且這么多美國人一直想親眼見一見中國，而上海又是如此充滿活力的地方，這一切便是吸引人們前來的理由。費(fèi)樂友是美國德州圣安東尼奧市的一名律師，他所擔(dān)任的美國上海世博會總代表一職與大使的職能類似。

　　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.

　　上海世博會美國館投資高達(dá)6,100萬美元。這座大型展館差一點(diǎn)給中美兩國的外交關(guān)系造成重大裂痕。上世紀(jì)90年代美國國會明令禁止政府為世博會出資。美國國務(wù)卿克林頓(Hillary Clinton)在最后一刻為籌款所做的努力才使美國得以參加此次世博會。