北京奥运会对中国文化的影响力不容忽视。2008年，全世界203个国家和地区的官员、运动员将来到中国，全世界观看奥运会的观众将达到400亿人次，这是个让世界人民了解中国文化、理解中国文化的绝佳机会。但是在展示中国文化和经济实力的同时，中国公民更要重视提高文明素质。

The success of Beijing's 2008 Olympic Games rests as much on showing good manners as on the quality of facilities and athletic performances, China's senior delegate to the International Olympic Committee said. "It's the rude bus passenger or a witness to an accident who fails to lend a hand that stands in our way of staging an impressive Olympiad," He Zhenliang said on Monday in Shanghai. "People are talking about showcasing our culture and the country's economic power through the extravaganza, but I think good manners should be put at the top of our agenda," He was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily newspaper on Tuesday. Beijing residents' brusque, sometimes crude, manners are frequently noted by visitors, and the city hopes to counter such impressions with a courtesy campaign aimed at discouraging widespread spitting, jaywalking and line-jumping. China has invested enormous national prestige in holding a successful Games, with many Chinese seeing in that a validation of their nation's rapid rise to global influence and acceptance. Along with improving public manners, He, the honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said holding the Games could help China raise its generally low level of popular participation in sports, especially in schools. "The Olympiad can't provide a solution for all these problems once and for all, but at least it gives us an opportunity," he said. (Agencies)

Vocabulary:

jaywalking : 走路不遵守交通规则 line-jumping: 插队，动词形式即jump the line