阅读理解

　　It was a proud moment for all Chinese when 8, 000 picture-perfect soldiers, tanks and missiles, 60 beautiful floats(花车), and 100, 000 well-trained people all passed by Tian'anmen Square and 151 planes flew over Beijing on October 1．

　　President Hu Jintao, in a Mao jacket, reviewed the thousands of soldiers．“Today a socialist China that faces the future is standing tall and firm in the East,”he announced．

　　China holds grand celebrations every 10 years to celebrate the founding of the country．But this year's parade topped those in the past．

　　Behind the celebrations is the great progress China has made．When the country was founded, it was poor, but now China has the world's third largest economy．

　　China has more Internet and mobile phone users than anywhere else and is the world's largest car market．

　　Almost all Chinese families have at least one television and, in the cities, a washing machine－rare things 30 years ago．Some 15 million families own cars, said Xinhua News Agency．

　　On the parade floats could be seen models of high-speed trains, giant computers, cars and bundles of wheat and rice．

　　“I never thought China would be able to have such a great celebration, and at a time when the world economy is slowing down．The parade showed me how powerful my country is and it makes me feel proud of it,”said Jia Yanxin, 16, from Beijing Yuying High School．

　　Despite the pride, China still has a lot of progress to make：although it is the third largest economy in the world, the average urban income(15, 781 yuan in 2008)is still low．Also, there is a widening gap between rich and poor and environmental problems．

　　However, the celebration was not just a showcase(展示)of the country's success．It was not just a parade．It was the Chinese people's march into their own future, as China Daily said．

　　“China has grown from a baby to a grown-up with responsibilities．I believe it will go much further over the next 10 years,”said Gong Chen, 16, from Beijing No．8 High School．