i'm studying in a city famous for its walls. all visitors to my city are amazed by the imposing sight of the city walls, silhouetted by the setting sun with gold and shining lines. with old, cracked bricks patched with lichen, the walls are weather-beaten guards, standing still for centuries in protecting the city.
    our ancestors liked to build walls. they built walls in beijing, xi'an, nanjing and many other cities, and they built the great wall, which snakes through half of our country. they built walls to ward off enemies and evil spirits. this tradition has been maintained to this day as we still have many parks and schools walled off from the public. i grew up at the foot of the city walls, and i've loved them since my childhood. for a long time, walls were one of the most natural things in the world.
    my perception, however, changed after a hiking trip to the eastern suburbs, a scenic area of my city. my classmates and i were walking with some international students. as we walked out of the city, we found ourselves flanked by taller and taller trees, which formed a huge canopy above our heads. suddenly an international student asked me, “where is the entrance to the eastern suburbs?”
    “we're already in the eastern suburbs,” i replied.
    he seemed taken aback, “i thought you chinese have walls for everything.” his remark set off a heated debate. at one point, he likened our walled cities to “jails,” while i insisted that the eastern suburbs were one of the many places in china that had no walls.
    that debate had no winners, but i did learn a lot from this international student. for instance, he told me that universities like oxford and cambridge were not surrounded by walls; the campuses were just part of the cities. i have to admit that we do have many walls in china, and as we are developing our country, we must carefully examine them, whether they are physical or intangible. we will keep some walls but tear down those that impede china's development.
    let me give you an example.
    a year ago, when i was working on a term paper, i needed a book on business law and found a copy in the law school library. however, the librarian turned down my request with a cold shoulder, saying, “you can't borrow this book, you are not a student here.” in the end, i had to spend 200 yuan buying a copy; meanwhile, the copy in law school was gathering dust on the shelf.
    我在一個(gè)以它的城墻出名的城市學(xué)習(xí)。所有的游客來我市的壯觀景象的城墻驚訝，映襯夕陽的金光閃閃的線。與舊的，破獲的磚塊修補(bǔ)與地衣，墻壁是天氣毆打警衛(wèi)，站在幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，保護(hù)城市。
    我們的祖先喜歡建造城墻。他們在北京、西安、南京和其他許多城市修建了城墻，他們修建了長城，這是我們國家的一半。他們建造城墻以抵御敵人和邪惡的靈魂。這一傳統(tǒng)一直保持到今天，因?yàn)槲覀內(nèi)匀挥性S多公園和學(xué)校圍墻從公眾。我在城墻腳下長大，我從小就愛他們。很長一段時(shí)間，墻壁是世界上最自然的東西之一。
    然而，我的看法發(fā)生了變化，在一個(gè)遠(yuǎn)足旅行到東部郊區(qū)，我的城市風(fēng)景區(qū)。我和我的同學(xué)和一些國際學(xué)生一起散步。當(dāng)我們走出城市，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在高高的樹木，形成了一個(gè)龐大的群體在我們頭上。突然有一個(gè)國際學(xué)生問我：“東郊區(qū)的入口在哪里？”“
    “我們已經(jīng)在東部郊區(qū)，”我回答說。
    他似乎很吃驚，“我以為你中有墻上的一切?！彼脑捯l(fā)了一場激烈的辯論。在這一點(diǎn)上，他把我們的圍墻城市“監(jiān)獄”，“雖然我認(rèn)為東郊之一，在中國的許多地方，沒有墻壁。
    這場辯論沒有贏家，但我從這個(gè)國際學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)了很多。例如，他告訴我，像牛津和劍橋這樣的大學(xué)并不是被城墻所包圍，校園只是城市的一部分。我不得不承認(rèn)，我們在中國有很多的墻，當(dāng)我們在發(fā)展我們的國家時(shí)，我們必須仔細(xì)檢查他們，無論是身體還是無形的。我們會(huì)保留一些墻壁，但拆除那些阻礙中國發(fā)展的。
    讓我給你一個(gè)例子。
    一年前，當(dāng)我在一個(gè)學(xué)期論文工作時(shí)，我需要一本商業(yè)法律書，在法律學(xué)校圖書館找到一份復(fù)印件。然而，圖書館員拒絕了我的要求，說：“你不能借這本書，你不是一個(gè)學(xué)生在這里”，在最后，我不得不花200元買一份副本，同時(shí)，在法律學(xué)校的副本是在架子上的灰塵。