Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan does not allow an assistant to answer her door. She opens it herself and, looking stunning in a stylish leather skirt and stilettos（细高跟系带女鞋）, greets her guests with a friendly smile. Amazed by her casual manner, I follow her into the sitting room of her hotel suite in New York City. She is here to attend, among several other noteworthy（值得注目的、显著的） functions, the World Economic Forum, and we chat until she delivers a second shock.

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Gwyneth Paltrow?" I'm taken aback. But this reaction is exactly wrong. That's not because I look anything like the actress. Hardly. Instead, it's because I suddenly realize that the Queen of Jordan might know more about U.S. culture and that of most countries than do I and many other Americans.