it is an assembly of some of china’s most talented and motivated people， representatives of a younger generation that are preparing themselves for the coming of a new century。
i’m grateful that i’ve been given this opportunity， at such a historic moment， to stand here as a spokesman of my generation and to take a serious look back at the past years， a crucial period for every one of us and for this nation as well。
though it is only within my power to tell about my personal experience， and only a tiny fragment of it at that， it still represents， i believe， the root of a spirit which has been essential to me and to all the people bred by the past years。
in my elementary years， there was a little girl in the class who worked very hard but somehow could never do satisfactorily in her lessons。
the teacher asked me to help her， and it was obvious that she expected a lot from me。 but as a young boy， restless， thoughtless， i always tried to evade her so as to get more time to enjoy myself。
one day before the final exam， she came up to me and said， "could you please explain t“modities and new fashions appear every day。
new ideas， new information， new technologies。 people can talk with each other from any corner of the earth in a matter of seconds。 society is becoming more competitive。
words like individuality and creativity are getting more emphasis and more people are rewarded for their hard work and efforts。 such is the era in which this generation ，grows and matures。
such is the era in which this generation will take over the nation from our fathers and learn to run it。 yet in the meantime， many problems still exist。
we learn that crimes take place in broad daylight with crowds of people looking on and not assisting。 we hear that there are still about 1 million children in this country who can’t even afford to go to elementary schools while enormous sums of money are being squandered away on dinner parties and luxury cars。
we buy shoddy medicines， or merely worthless junk in the name of medicines， that aggrava“petition and efficiency and a greater readiness to think critically and act creatively。
