The Great Wall is at the top of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" list.

China's more than 5,000-km-long engineering and architectural marvel is followed by the pink-colored ruins of Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome, and the Taj Mahal in India.

A private Swiss foundation launched a worldwide poll in January to choose the new top seven wonders from 21 sites. A jury short-listed the 21 from the original 77 selected by the foundation. Nearly 100 million votes were cast before the results were declared in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Saturday night.

The top contenders that lost out were the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, the Stonehenge in Britain, Angkor Vat in Cambodia, the statues on Easter Island and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The private campaign was the brainchild of Swiss filmmaker and museum curator Bernard Weber, who said his initiative seeks to recreate the popularity of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Only one of the original seven wonders, the Pyramids of Egypt, can still be seen. The others were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

"The real cultural and historical value of a world heritage site should not be determined by online voting but by what they mean to human beings," said a netizen on popular portal www.sina.com.cn.

The China Great Wall Society's Deputy Secretary Zhang Ji welcomed the results. The Great Wall's name on the list could only help preservation efforts, he said.

Han Guowei, a society official, addressed the glittering gathering in Lisbon and appreciated the efforts of the organizers and people who voted for the Great Wall. He welcomed friends from across the world to experience the "eternity and greatness" of the Great Wall.

(China Daily 07/09/2007 page 1)

Vocabulary:

brainchild: 主意、想法

curator: 館長

Questions:

1. How were the seven sites selected?

2. How many of the original seven wonders of the world can still be seen?

3. What does the China Great Wall Society's Deputy Secretary believe the listing could help?

Answers:

1. A private Swiss foundation launched a poll in January.

2. Only one, the Egyptian pyramids.

3. Preservation efforts at the wall.

（英語點津 Linda 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Matt Doran is an award-winning American newspaper journalist and an undergraduate student at Albion College. He is currently a polisher for China Daily Website and is on summer break from Beijing Foreign Studies University, where he will resume his study of Chinese in the fall.