经典美文——经典英语、趣味英语欣赏。

标题：布什：我眼中的美国[名人名言]
President Bush delivers his preference for US-style values at Tsinghua Universit
y, but emphasizes Washington''s hope for better relations with Beijing.
President Bush, perhaps taking a leaf from<注1> his wife''s gift for teaching, deliv ered a primer<注2> on the America he knows to Chinese university students, telling th em that "in a free society, diversity is not disorder. Debate is not strife, and dissent is not revolution."
Speaking before an audience of 240 Tsinghua University students in the school''s m ain auditorium,<注3> the president said, "Life in America shows that liberty, paired wit h<注4> law, is not to be feared....A free society trusts its citizens to seek greatness in themselves and their country."
At the end of his remarks, the president fielded<注5> questions for 20 minutes wi th the young audience, clearly enjoying the exchange. When one young woman asked why he wouldn''t like his daughters, Jenna and Barbara, to come to China and attend t his historic university, Bush told them: "I''m afraid they don''t listen to me anymore, if you know what I mean." He said the Chinese youngsters certainly have an amazing co untry and he thought his daughters should visit it.
The president told the students he was speaking on the 30th anniversary of Preside nt Richard Nixon''s trip to China that changed the two countries'' relationship. Nixon''s visit was a trip designed to "end decades of estrangement and confront centuries of sus picion."<注6> During the years since, "America and China have exchanged many hands hakes of friendship and commerce.""In fact, Americans feel a special responsibility for t he poor and the weak. Our government spends billions of dollars to provide health care and food and housing for those who cannot help themselves ... Many of our citizens contribute their own money and time to help those in need. "
Bush said his "country certainly has its share of problems and faults. Like most na tions, we''re on a long journey toward achieving our own ideals of equality and justice. Yet there is a reason our nation shines as a beacon<注7> of hope and opportunity, a reason many throughout the world dream of coming to America."We are a free nation, where men and women have the opportunity to achieve their dreams. No matter your b ackground or circumstance of birth, in America you can get a good education, start a b usiness, raise a family, worship freely and help elect the leaders of your community an d country. You can support the policies of our government, or you are free to openly d isagree with them. Those who fear freedom sometimes argue it could lead to chaos, bu t it does not, because freedom means more than every man for himself."
Bush told the students: "We are a nation of laws. Our courts are honest and indep endent. The president can''t tell the courts how to rule and neither can any other memb er of the executive or legislative branch.<注8> Under our law, everyone stands equal. No one is above the law, and no one is beneath it.
"All political power in America is limited and temporary, and only given by a free vote of the people.<注9> We have a Constitution, now two centuries old, which limits and balances the powers of the three branches of our government: judicial, legislative and executive."。