【正确答案】China is an ancient civilization with a history dating back over 5, 000 years. The Chinese people have made a major contribution to human progress by creating the splendid Chinese civilization with hard work and ingenuity. The city of Beijing, with its long history of over 3, 000 years, stands testimony to that effort. It became the nation’s capital over 800 years ago. A short distance from the Great Hall of the People , where we are in right now, is the world-renowned Forbidden City. First built some 600 years ago, the former Imperial Palace is the largest and most complete existing ensemble of ancient royal architecture in the world. From Beijing’s time-honored past and the majestic Forbidden City itself, people can learn vividly the originality, greatness and profound richness of the Chinese civilization and feel for themselves the vigor, resilience and pioneering spirit of the Chinese nation. Beginning in the mid-19th century, China was reduced to dire misery as the country suffered one humiliating defeat after another and the people languished in poverty and starvation as a result of brutal foreign aggressions and corrupt and incompetent feudal rulers. Refusing to submit to a fate of agony and woe, the Chinese people fought back persistently and finally built up a New China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Since 1949, when the New China was proclaimed, and particularly since the implementation of reform and opening-up program pioneered by Mr. Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has undergone a profound transformation never seen in the country before. In a short span of 26 years from 1978 to 2004, China’s GDP increased from US $147. 3 billion to US $1. 6494 trillion with an average annual growth rate of 9. 4 percent. Its foreign trade rose from US $20. 6 billion to US $1. 1548 trillion, averaging an annual growth rate of over 16 percent. The overall national strength of China has increased remarkably and the texture of life of its people improved steadily. While inheriting and carrying forward their proud past, the Chinese people have written a new chapter in history.