Even though America has yet to fully recover from the prolonged (continuing for a long time) recession, it is still the land of opportunity. Every time I return to the US, I feel the American dream is still alive and kicking. When something is "alive and kicking", it means it is active and doing well. On this trip I have mixed business with pleasure. The expression "mix business with pleasure" means to do work but also to relax. I am writing columns but also seeing relatives. The fresh air has done wonders for me. The idiom "do wonders" means do a lot of good or have a good effect.
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o you know why America is called the land of opportunity? The reason is that Americans and many people around the world feel the US is a freedom-loving country where anyone can succeed and get rich by working hard. That is why so many people, especially people from poorer countries, still want to immigrate to the US. It is where they can find the American dream. The expression "American dream" is similar to the expression "land of opportunity". If you have achieved the American dream, it means you have become rich and successful in life.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have achieved the American dream. So have Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, who was born in Taiwan, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who was born in Russia. This shows even immigrants can achieve the American dream. Many years ago it was also possible to achieve the "Hong Kong dream". A good example is Li Ka-shing. He came to Hong Kong from the mainland, worked 16 hours a day in a plastics company and is now Asia's richest man. Many property developers and business people also achieved the "Hong Kong dream" years ago. But it has become almost impossible to achieve the Hong Kong dream nowadays no matter how hard you work. The only way to get rich in Hong Kong nowadays is to speculate in the property and stock markets. But there is now a "China dream". Many mainlanders have become rich. A good example is Alibaba founder Jack Ma Yun.
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即使美國還未從長久（prolonged）的經濟衰退中恢復，她仍然是機遇之地（land of opportunity）。每次我回到美國，我還能感受到那個美國夢（American dream）依舊生氣勃勃的（alive and kicking）。Alive and kicking是指某物仍然生龍活虎、活力澎湃的。這趟旅程我是結合工作與娛樂的（mixed business with pleasure）。習語mixed business with pleasure，是指既有工作亦有享樂的時候。我有寫專欄，同時也去探望親屬。清新的空氣於我更是有特別的奇效（do wonders）。習語do wonders解作帶來奇蹟或發揮很好的果效。
你知不知道為何美國會被稱為機遇之地（land of opportunity）？那是因為世界各地許多人都認為，美國是個愛自由的國家；任何人只要努力，都可以成功或致富。因此有許多人，尤其是來自較窮困的國家，很想移民到美國去。這就是他們找到美國夢（American dream）的地方。習語American dream類近習語land of opportunity，若你的美國夢（American dream）實現了，那即是說你的人生得以富裕成功。
微軟創辦人比爾．蓋茲和面書創辦人朱克伯格就實現了他們的美國夢（American dream）。出生於台灣的雅虎共同創辦人楊致遠，與生於俄羅斯的谷歌共同創辦人謝爾蓋．布林也是一樣。那就表明，即使外來移民也能實現美國夢（American dream）。 許多年前，要實現「香港夢」（"Hong Kong dream"）也是可能的。最佳的例子就是李嘉誠。他從中國內地來港，在塑膠公司一天工作十六小時，現在是亞洲最富有的人。許多地產發展商和商人也在多年前實現了「香港夢」（"Hong Kong dream"）。可是，現在無論你多努力，要實現「香港夢」（"Hong Kong dream"）幾乎都是不可能的。今天，要在香港致富，唯一的方法就是在地產和股票市場中投機。但現在倒有一個「中國夢」（"China dream"），許多內地人都變有錢了。最好的例子就是阿里巴巴創辦人馬雲。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=286553§ion_name=wtt&kw=126
