numerous vicissitudes but never gave up.
我年轻时曾长期工作在中国的西北地区。在那浩瀚的沙漠中，生长着一种稀有的树种，叫胡杨。它扎根地下50多米，抗干旱、斗风沙、耐盐碱，生命力极其 顽强。它“生而一千年不死，死而一千年不倒，倒而一千年不朽”，世人称为英雄树。我非常喜欢胡杨，它是中华民族坚韧不拔精神的象征。
Earlier in my career, I worked in northwest China for many years. There, in the boundless desert, grows a rare variety of tree called
euphrates poplar. Rooted over 50 meters down the ground, they thrive in hostile environments, defying droughts, sandstorms and
salinization. They are known as the \
because a euphrates poplar can live for a
thousand years. Even after it dies, it stands upright for a thousand years, and even after it falls, it stays intact for another thousand years. I like euphrates poplar because they symbolize the
resilience of the Chinese nation.
千百年来，中华民族一次次战胜了天灾人祸，渡过
了急流险滩，昂首挺胸地走到今天。深重的灾难，铸就了她百折不挠、自强不息的品格。中华民族的历史证明了一个真理：一个民族在灾难中失去的，必将从民族的进步中得到补偿。
Over the millennia, the Chinese nation has weathered numerous
disasters, both natural and man-made, surmounted all kinds of difficulties and
challenges, and made her way to where she proudly stands today. The long sufferings have only made her a nation of fortitude and perseverance. The experience of the Chinese nation attests to a truth: what a nation loses in times of disaster will be made up for by her progress.
此时此刻，我不禁想起在汶川地震灾区的亲身经