the wedding gift
ray’s wedding had gone off without a hitch. everyone seemed to have had a good time. a few people had too good of a time; they went home with designated drivers. all evening, the gift table remained unguarded. who would steal anything, ray thought. he had never heard of such a thing happening at a wedding. but his best friend aaron said there was a first time for everything. he strolled out regularly from the inside festivities to check on the gift table, making sure no one suspicious was hanging around it.
ray and julia went on a 3-week honeymoon to italy right after the wedding. when they got back, they opened all the gifts and sent out thank you notes. but there was one problem. a married couple that used to be good friends had apparently given nothing. this surprised julia, because walt and mary said they were thrilled to be invited. and, they actually seemed to have had a great time at the wedding. frankly, ray didn’t even care if they hadn’t given a gift. he just needed to know whether to send a thank you note. ray called aaron. aaron said maybe walt had left an envelope on the gift table like aaron had. “yes, but we got your envelope with the cash inside,” ray said.
“maybe my envelope looked too thin, and some thief thought walt’s envelope looked nice and fat.”
aaron asked ray if he had looked everywhere for walt’s gift. had he called up the wedding site to see if anything had been left behind? ray said that he had looked everywhere and made a lot of calls that were fruitless.
ray didn’t know what to do. if he sent walt and mary a thank you note for a gift they hadn’t given, they would be insulted. if he didn’t send them a thank you note for a gift they had given, they would be insulted.
“what would you do?” ray asked. aaron said he would call walt up and tell him the problem.
“you can’t go wrong with simply being honest,” aaron said.
“oh, yes, you can,” ray countered. “sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.” but he thought about it, and finally decided that honesty might be the best policy. he called walt and told him the problem. walt said that yes, he had given an envelope. in fact, the envelope contained $500 cash.
“$500?!” ray asked. “that’s a lot of cash, walt!” walt admitted that it was, but he had gotten a fat raise early that year and ray’s was the only wedding he’d been to in quite a while. ray thanked him very much, and apologized sincerely for someone stealing walt’s generous gift. walt told him that it was “only money.”
when ray told aaron about walt’s gift, aaron laughed. “the only thief at the wedding was walt! i quit playing cards with him last year because i caught him cheating. and it was only a $10 pot! i’m sure i told you about that.”
“yes, you did tell me,” ray said. but, of course, he had to send walt a thank you note anyway.
Saying goodbye to childhood，we step into another important time in the pace of young，facing new situations，dealing with different problems……
everyone has his ownunderstanding of young，it is a period of time of beauty and wonders，only after you have
experienced the sour ，sweet ，bitter and salty can you really become a person of time of young is limitted，it may pass by without your attention，and when you discover what has happened ，it is always too ping the young well means a better time is waiting for you in the near future，or the situation may be opposite .
having a view on these great men in the history of hunmanbeing，they all made full use of their youth time ，to do things that are useful to society，to the whole mankind，and as a cosquence ，they are remembered by later
generations，admired by do something in the time of young，although you may not get achievements as these greatmen did ，though not for the whole word，just for youeself，for those around!
the young is just like blooming flowers，they are so beautiful when blooming，they make people feel happy，but with time passing by，after they withers ，moet people think they are so it is the same with young，we are enthusiastic when we are young，then we may lose our passion when getting older and we must treasure it ，don't let the limitted time pass by ，leaving nothing of significance.
a dream from beyond
i was sound asleep. my grandfather appeared in a dream. he asked why i had never visited him and grandma at the cemetery. he said that even my mom hadn’t visited since october 4 (grandma’s birthday). he told me that, when i was young, i had walked out into a pond and slipped under water. he had rescued me. he said grandma was supposed to be watching me, but that she had gotten sick all of a sudden and was throwing up. it was probably the fresh blackberries they had picked and eaten earlier. grandma had a bad stomach.
my parents were out on a boat in the pond. they did not know that grandpa had saved me until they got back to shore. i was in a towel and my clothes were drying on bushes. my brown and white buster brown shoes were also soaked. i was only three years old, grandpa said. my parents were angry at first, but when they saw that grandma was still feeling sick, they forgave her.
grandpa told me that we had a picnic after that. the four of us ate some chicken, potato salad, and homemade cookies. we drank lemonade. then grandpa took me for a walk in the woods (i sat on his shoulders). i saw some daisies, and we picked them. when we returned, i presented three daisies to mom and three to grandma, who was finally feeling better. grandpa said to bring some daisies to the gravesite. then i woke up.
the next day, i called my mom. “do you remember me walking into the pond and grandpa rescuing me?”
“my god! who told you about that?”
“you mean, it really happened?”
“yes, but your father and i never told you about it because grandma swore us to silence. even though it wasn’t her fault, she felt that she had failed in her responsibility, and never wanted you to know about it. my goodness, that was so long ago. who told you this?”
“mom, did i go for a walk with grandpa and return with daisies for you and grandma?”
“okay, i get it. you and your dad are playing some kind of prank. okay, it’s very funny. now, quit it.”
“this is no prank, mom. grandpa told me this in a dream last night.”
“it still sounds like a prank.”
“no, i’m serious. he told me that grandma had a reaction to blackberries. he said i was wearing brown and white buster brown shoes. he said i gave you and grandma daisies.”
“oh, my god. your father would never remember all this. it must be daddy! did he say anything about visiting his gravesite?”
“yes, that was his problem. he wanted me to visit them. he also said you had not visited since—”
“—since mom’s birthday six years ago?”
“well, not—”
“i’ve got to get over there right now!”
“wait for me! i’m coming with you, and i’ve got to bring those daisies. maybe we’d better start going every year, huh, mom?”
“yes. there’s no telling what grandpa might tell you next time.”
What would you do if you failed? Many people may choose to give up. However, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal.
On your way to success, you must keep your direction. It is just like a lamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. Otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead.
Direction means objectives. You can get nowhere without an objective in life.
You can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieve it. In this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time properly. And you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time.
get out of "jail"
oh, the joy! the absolute joy! archie couldn’t remember a recent moment when he had felt so happy. if he could sing, he would have sung. if he could dance, he would have danced. if he could have shouted to the world, he would have shouted to the world, “i’m free, i’m free!”
he had been in “jail” for the last week. a mental jail, to be sure, but it still felt like jail. about six weeks ago, he had received his almost annual jury summons. printed on the outside of the white envelope, in bright red letters, was: official jury summons enclosed—registration required within 5 days. a friend of his had been throwing away such summonses for at least 20 years. archie couldn’t do that—he felt that his luck was so bad that if he tried it, his summons would be the one with the concealed microchip that recorded him throwing the envelope in the trash. then he really would be in jail. so, he dutifully filled out the form and waited until his starting date—november 5, a monday. for that week, he would be “on call” for “no more than five days.”
as instructed, he dialed the 800-srv-jury number on the saturday preceding november 5. he tapped in his pin and jury group number. he listened, and sighed with relief; the recording had told him to call again monday after 5 p.m. so, one day out of five was gone!
on monday and tuesday, archie got the same recording. he had now escaped jury duty for three days, monday through wednesday. only two days to go.
wednesday afternoon, his friend gil called, asking archie if he wanted to play golf the next morning. archie said he was on jury duty that week. gil said, “well, no problem! it’s already wednesday. you’ve made it! there’s no way that they’re going to call you to jury duty this late in the week.” archie couldn’t believe that gil had said that. archie knocked several times on his wooden bookcase, saying that he hoped that gil was right.
at 5:05 that evening, still worried that gil had jinxed him, archie dialed the 800 number. sure enough, the recording told him to call back thursday between noon and 12:30, instead of the usual 5 p.m. damn that gil, archie thought.
thursday, he anxiously called at 12:28. the recording told him that his jury service was finished! all he had to do was mail in the affidavit that had come in the white envelope. archie put the affidavit into an envelope, put a 41-cent first class stamp on the envelope, and drove to the post office. whistling as he dropped the envelope into the mailbox, he happily washed his hands once again of the “privilege” of doing jury service.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I would like to begin with a story.
There was once a physical 1) therapist who traveled all the way from America to Africa to do a 2) census about mountain 3) gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; this put them severely under threat of 4) poaching and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we've ever been, where in the very depth of the African rainforest, surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas 5) cuddled their babies.
Yes, that's a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies, called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs. Dian Fossey, who spent most of bet lifetime in Rwanda to protect the ecoenvironment there until the very end of her life.
To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a 6) timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our ecoenvironment.
Today, we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21st century, provides people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. But on the other hand, many problems can occur---natural scenes aren't natural anymore. Deforestation to heat lodges is devastating Nepal. Oil spills from tourist boats are polluting Antarctica. Tribal people are forsaking their native music and dress to listen to U2 on Walkman and wear Nike and Reeboks.
All these 7) appalling(令人震惊的) facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been 8) eroding(侵蚀) our resources.
Encouragingly, the explosive growth of global travel has put tourism again in the spotlight, which is why the United Nations has made 20xx the year of ecotourism, for the first time to bring to the world's attention the benefits of tourism, but also its capacity to destroy our ecoenvironment.
Now every year, many local ecoenvironmental protection organizations an: receiving donations--big notes, small notes or even coins--from housewives, 9) plumbers(水管工人), ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and 10) invalids(残疾人), Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in hospitals, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care. Because they still want their Mother Nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them.
This kind of feeling that I have, ladies and gentlemen, is when it feels like it, smells like it, and looks like it, it's all coming from a scene to remember, a scene to recall and to cherish.
The other night, as l saw the moon linger over the land and before it was sent into the invisible, my mind was filled with songs. I found myself humming softly, not to the music, but to some- thing else, someplace else. a place remembered, a place untouched, a field of grass where no one seem to have been except the deer.
And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it's lime for us to do something, for our own and our coming generation. Once again, I have come to think of Mrs. Dian Fossey be- cause it's with her spirit, passion, courage and strong sense of our ecoenvironment that we are taking our next step into the world.
And no matter who we are, what we do and where we go, in our mind, there's always a scene to remember, a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it.
Thank you very much.
Thanks,contestant# topic for your impromptu speech is:Which is more important for you: knowledge from books or personal experience? Answer: Thank you. I remember, on my very first day of my beloved university, one of my professors said to me,“From now on, you’ll be on a journey between who you think you are and who yo can key is to allow yourself to continue the journey in the ocean of the books.”And I do learn a lot from books: I know the geometry of Euclid, logic of
Aristotle, fable of Aesop known to children around the world. Well, no offense to all those great authors of the books, but during my three years at my university, I do realize that personal experience through practice means more to me. As we are in this global information age where both economic growth and individual opportunity are based on ideas, a commitment to providing all human beings the golden opportunity to develop themselves is so vital, not only to the people here, but all around. As we are in this transformational age where communications and commerce are global, investments are mobile, technology is almost magical, and the ambition for a better life is now universal, and I think this is why we are here today. We want to earn our personal experience through practicing our oral English, sharing our opinions of tourism and ecology with all the judges and audience here. And I think we are so lucky to be alive at this moment of the history. Never before have our nation enjoyed so much prospertity and so much social progress with so little internal never before have our young people had so much great opportunity to practice ourselves and, therefore, have a profound obligation to build a more perfect nation of our ancestor’s dream. And I think our government had provided us young people with the tools and condition to build the future of our dreams. Even if we know some rules, some regulations, or experiences from our books, we still simply cannot graft it onto today’s busier, more impersonal,complicated world. Instead, our challenges is to arrive at a consensus values and common vision of what we can do today individually andcollectively to build a strong family and strong community, and above all, make the world a better place for us to live. Thank you very much. Contestant#18, in your speech, you talked about ecotourism. Could you explain to us difference between ordinary tourists and e-tourists, or ecotourists?
Answer: Thank you for your question. And I think the key issue is the differences between our awareness. Fot example, if you want to go to a place to have a trip, enjoy your trip. And I think before you get on board, get on the bus, you can have the awareness that “I’m not a polluter, but an environment keeper.” We’re not go to all those scenic spots to estroy all those beautiful scenes but we to appreciate the Mother Nature giving us so much things. Thank you very much.
Contestant #18,now that information technology is becoming more and more accessible to people in China, do you think books will become less and less important?
Answer: Well, I think, maybe, umm, I don’t think that all those echnologies can replace the importance of books. We’re in our modern village where so many new industries—IT industries, tourism ndustries—crop up every day and this brave new world seem a little bit dehumanizing and inhospitable to a lot of world can no longer be defined as a place on a map or list or people in organizations but I think the true value, the essence of our village remains the is the network of values relationship that support our lives and we can learn those things from our books because books is the very first beginning stage of what we learn. Thank you very much.
I’d like to ask you a question about your prepared speech,please. You mention that the UN has declated the year 20xx, I think it was, “The Year of Ecotourism.” Do you think that such gestures really serve a purpose? Answer: And I think one of my teachers said to me, when I prepared my prepared speech, and he tells me that if we pay more attention to omething like environmental protection or ecotourism, it is more, it is better for us to bear in mind we should learn something in our hearts, we should have something about the awareness about how to pay more respect to our environment, not to talk about something orally but to bear something in our hearts. Follow our hearts, our environment can be k you very much.
This is a glass of water, tasteless, right? However if you add sugar, it will taste sweet, but if you add vinegar, it will become bitter. The same is true with our life the flavor is created by our choices.
If kindness is added to a strange you will have a friend; but if hostility is added, you will have an enemy. If love is added to a pile of red bricks you will have a home, but if hatred is add to those bricks , you will have an concentration camp.
So my dear friends, never complain that life is boring and the world is disappointing. If don’t like the taste of your life, change the ingredients.
Three year ago, I weighed more than 100 hundred kilograms which caused significant embarrassment and frustration in my life. Like always failing my P.E examinations, like always being laughed at by girls, like being terrified to speak in public. It was my grandmother’s encouragement that revived from my passive attitude to become confident in myself. She said “ My dear, if you can’t change you figure, why not treat it as your own style. So I began to cautiously employ the new way of thinking. By choosing to change my outlook on life, I developed the confidence to make a difference and finally I found a totally new world.
So my dear friend, if faith, hope, love, endurance are added to your life, you will find the confidence to conquer your limitation and embrace new challenges. And hopefully with my speech included, you will have a fantastic speech contest.
WE AND OUR YELLOW RIVER: THRIVING TOGETHER
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The issue of the Yellow River has become the biggest concern of members of the Chinese peoples Political Consultative Conference. My childhood, in fact, is closely associated with the river. My father is an engineering geologist, and he used to take me with him on his trips to the hydropower stations on the river. I enjoyed those trips, especially the trip to Longyang Xia reservoir. Although ten years have passed since my visit, I can still recall the scenery; I can still recall the water I saw at the reservoir. It was pure, clean and blue, not like the water I saw in the middle reaches of the river, which had turned brown and muddy after passing through the Loess Plateau.
Once during our stay at the power station, we were caught in a thunderstorm. And when rain stopped, I could see trickles of water rolling down mountain slopes and flowing into the reservoir. It carried little mud or sand, because at that time, trees and grass still grew around the reservoir. And they protected the soil. At Longyang Xia I was struck by the beauty of nature, and as a child I wanted to stay there and to grow up with our Yellow River.
Li Bai, the Tang Dynasty poet, said praises to the flowing water in the Yellow River. He saw it as coming down from heaven and nurturing the people along her way to the sea. However, in 1997,for 330days, not a single drop of water from the Yellow River went into the sea. And droughts are not the only punishment by nature. A friend of my father's, a university professor, is doing research on the Yellow River. According to this professor, the Yellow River will soon change its course if we allow this situation to continue. Because there is no longer enough water to carry away the silt and mud in the lower reaches of the river and the riverbed rises higher and higher each year.
We have taken too much from nature, but given back too little in return. And this is the cost of the unbalanced growth. If we had taken care of the vegetation in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, we would still experience the river as Li Bai described it.
While the developed countries are consuming proportionally more natural resources than the rest of the world, they've also taken some good measures in protecting nature. And as a developing country, China can learn from them in this aspect.
Last year, when I was visiting Australia with a group of Chinese students who had won prizes in an English Skills Test, our Australian hosts invited us to join them for a horse-ride in the mountains. After two hours on horseback, we reached a valley, where there was a most beautiful meadow, with flowers in all colors dotted on a huge blanket of green. When I began to praise the beauty of nature, my friends told me that in this valley, there used to be a big mine and the wastewater from the mine turned everything brown. When the mine was abandoned, people made great efforts to restore the green vegetation. They also used the latest biological technology choosing the best grass seeds suitable for the local soil. So the beautiful meadow is a result of commitment, hard work, and new technology.
What happened to this valley in Australia should also happen to our Yellow River and, in fact, it is happening. I have seen farmers planting trees on mountains along the Yellow River. I have seen them climb the mountain tops with seedlings on their shoulders because they had no machinery. I have seen them pour on trees the water they had carried up in buckets from miles down the valley. These farmers are quietly nourishing our Yellow River, just as the river has nourished them.
And these farmers, men and women I don't know, gave me the confidence that we and our Yellow River will grow together, and someday in the future, we will be able to drink the clean water from our Yellow River again, because she is our dearest mother.
Thank you.
I believe in our future
Honorable Judges, fellow students:
Good afternoon!
Recently, ther is a heated debate in our society. The college students are the beneficiaries of a rare privilege, who receive exceptional education at extraordinary places. But will we be able to face the challenge and support ourselves against all odds? Will we be able to better the lives of others? Will we be able to accept the responsibility of building the future of our country?
The cynics say the college students are the pampered lost generation, which would cringe at the slightest discomfort. But the cynics are wrong. The college students I see are eagerly learning about how to live independently. We help each other clean the dormitory, go shopping and bargain together, and take part time jobs to supplement our pocket money.
The cynics say we care for nothing other than grades; and we neglect the need for character cultivation. But again, the cynics are wrong. We care deeply for each other, we cherish freedom, we treasure justice, and we seek truth. Last week, thousands of my fellow students had their blood type tested in order to make a contribution for the children who suffer from blood cancer.
As college students, we are adolescents at the critical turning point in our lives. We all face a fundamental choice: cynicism or faith, each will profoundly impact our future, or even the future of our country. I believe in all my fellow classmates. Though we are still inexperienced and even a little bit childish. I believe that we have the courage and faith to meet any challenge and take on our responsibilities. We are preparing to assume new responsibilities and tasks, and to use the education we have received to make our world a better place. I believe in our future.
我对未来充满信心
尊敬的评委，各位同学：
下午好!
最近，社会上有一场很激烈的争论。大学生是一种稀有特权的享有者，在很棒的地方接受高等教育。但是，我们能面对挑战而无所畏惧吗?我们能够改善他人的生活吗?我们能够承担建设祖国未来的重任吗?
怀疑论者说大学生是被宠坏的一代，一丁点挫折都受不了。但是他们错了，我所看到的大学生正在努力的学习独立生活。我们互相帮助打扫卫生，一起上街砍价购物，一起参加兼职工作来赚零花钱。
怀疑论者说我们除了成绩什么都不关心，从而忽略了性格的培养。但是，他们又错了。我们彼此关心，我们向往自由，我们珍惜公正，我们追求真理。上个星期，很多我的同学去验血，为了给患血癌的孩子贡献自己的力量。
作为大学生，我们是处在人生分水岭的青年。我们都面临一个重要的选择：怀疑人生还是相信自己，每一种都会给我们的人生带来重大的影响，甚至影响我们祖国的未来。我相信我们的同学们，虽然我们依然缺乏经验，甚至有些志气，但是我相信我们有勇气和自信来面对生活的挑战并承担我们的责任。我们正努力准备接受新的任务，用我们所学习的知识将世界变得更美好。我对我们的未来充满信心。
Good evening, everyone . May I take this opportunity of thanking you for coming`, my name is ,I'm a sophmore ，major in Chinese from class one
This is really a great honor to have this opportunity, and I believe I can make good performance today. the next four minutes will change your attitude to internet and society.
With the increase of global Internet users and the rapid development of related technology, in recent years, people are developing an inseparable relationship with internet ,as is known to all ,it is convenient for us to click the mouse when surfing on line ,either to entertain or to meet the work’s need I still believe that In the near future, the network will affect people's life and society further .
One the one hand ,no one denies that internet is currently one of the most useful media in our daily life ,as a college student ,I get on line everyday to obtain and exchange information with it ,we have to say internet do a great help for all of us. Everything lives with opposite forces. The same can be said about modern technology, such as Internet. We also have enough evidence indicating that the Internet can be a harmful influence on people. A great many people admit that they are too much addicted to internet too maintain a regular and health lifestyle . Some children addicted in playing the games on the internet without study of the people using the internet to do some illegal things which loses people's properties and hurt someone's feelings.
Thus ,it is necessary for us to use internet in a reasonable way and restrain from overindulgence r all. internet is invented to enrich our life ,and to improve the effiency of our work rather than shackle us with a chain . I am afraid that the clock is against us, so we had better stop here have been a very attentive audience---thank you
Dream is rich and colorful, each people all have own dream, I am no exception, it is like a kaleidoscope, colorful, each gives person's feeling is different, I think every time, if god give me a chance to realize a dream, I will choose to be a fashion designer.
This is a dream, I don't know when existed at the beginning may be a bit confused, will often ask myself, is this what I want. But I saw RaoXueMan in occasional aunt's short story "standing on the roof of the world" that makes me believe, as long as you work hard, who can stand on the roof of the world, look at the brightest star in the sky.
Just like the song "I stood on the roof of the world, with a magnifying glass to see heaven and earth, found that too much magic, go to look for, the fate of the unknown, would rather believe that love will never be eradicated, who can erase the old legend, we hand clenched, courage and confidence, will be able to invincible, eager to each tomorrow never give up, to burn to burn energy, fantasy world, unravel the mystery, the heart never stop, I predict that the next crisis, aren't you afraid of thorns, side by side to create the miracle, in the bottom of my heart, friendship and the stars, no matter how many difficult problem, no matter how many distance, through the heart and you closer to, your dreams will more clearly, I, always believe that love will not become extinct," I firmly believe that this is my dream, I must work hard, this article is dedicated to the men of his own dreams, I hope you don't secretly tears, in the confusion to believe in yourself, believe that as long as you work hard can stand on the roof of the world!
Good afternoon, my dear friends.
I am very happy to meet you is my great honor to communicate with you at such a special t of all,please allow me to express my appreciation to you all to listion to me.
I am proud of being a college collegelife is fresh,new teachers, new classmates and new friends. I like the friendship, and their wide knowledge and opening mind. The grand library, school buildings and wide playground attrattde me very college life is better than I expected, I can do anything I like. In the college we can not only learn the professional knowledge,but also develop our comprehensive we can make full use of the period,we can learn many useful des,we should have the active attitude to our life,do a contributionto the society.
knowledge collaboration and all-round education
ladies and gentlemen,
we engineering students take it for granted that technology is changing incredibly fast. we are thinking nervously and seriously whether our colleges are failing to provide a foundation in the skills currently needed in industry. take my major telecommunications for example. scientists say that 21st century is a biomedical time, not an electrical time. but without the help of electronic data processing and transformation, biomedical technology alone cannot go too far. funny enough, the word biomedical itself is just a combination of two disciplines. so the interdisciplinary exploitation serves as the critical part for our electric and electronics world as well as any other fields to find new way of being.
but the power of knowledge collaboration is certainly not restricted to science and engineering; it is in the full community of learning. walking around campus i absorbed a reality that there is a seamless web between students from different professional backgrounds. the engineering students are discussing animatedly in a philosophy lecture, speaking passionately in the public speaking club, and looking for sparkling ideas from learning history and arts. how wonderful that is! that, ladies and gentleman, is just a significant step forward to be well-rounded because once we jump out of the circle we can see the bigger picture.
my friends, i hope that you have already got what university is all about. please let me end my speech with the nobel prize winner li zhengdao’s words: “the realization of the perfect combination of science and engineering, science and arts, technology and humanity， is the greatest symbol of a university’s success.” thank you.
知识的融合和人才的全面发展
我们理工科的学生都知道科技在以一种难以置信的速度变化发展着。我们都在紧张和严肃地思考着是否我们的大学能够为我们提供一个适应当前工业需要的知识基础。以我的专业通信工程为例，科学家们说21世纪是生物医学的世纪，而不是电气电子的世纪。但是如果没有电子化的数据处理和转换，生物医学时代就不能发展。有趣的是：“生物医学”这个词本身就是两个学科的结合，所以跨学科的开发手段就成了电气电子领域以及其他任何领域寻找新出路的关键。
但是知识的结合不仅仅局限在科学和工程中，而是在任何的学习中。徜徉在校园里，我看到了这样一个事实：理工科学生们在哲学讲座上讨论得热火朝天，在演讲俱乐部里激情地演说，在历史和艺术里寻找着闪光的思想。太棒了!朋友们，这就是我们能够全面发展的重要一步，因为当我们跳出自己的圈子时，我们能看到更大的图画。
朋友们，我希望你们已经意识到了大学教育究竟意味着什么。让我以诺贝尔奖获得者李政道先生的话结束我的演讲：“科学与工程，科学与艺术，科技与人道的完美结合，乃是大学教育的最大成功。”
谢谢。
When Henry ford decided to produce his famous v-8 motor, he chose to build an engine with the entire eight cylinders cast in one block, and instructed his engineers to produce a design in one for the engine. The design was placed on paper, but the engineers agreed, to a man, that it was simply impossible to cast an eight-cylinder engine-block in one piece.
Ford said, “Produce it anyway.”
“But,” they replied, “It’s impossible!”
“Go ahead.” Ford commanded, “And stay on the job until you succeed, no matter how much time is required.”
The engineers went ahead. There was nothing else for them to do, if they were to remain on the ford staff. Six months passed and nothing happened. Another six months passed, and still nothing happened. The engineers tried every conceivable plan to carry out the orders, but the thing seemed out of the question:“impossible!”
At the end of the year ford checked with his engineers, and again they informed him they had found no way to carry out his orders.
“go right head,” said ford, “I want it, and I’ll have it.”
They went ahead, and then, as if by a stroke of magic, the secret was discovered.
The ford determination had won once more!
This story may not be described with minute accuracy, but the sum and substance of it is correct. Deduce from it, you who wish to think and grow rich, the secret of the ford millions, if you can. You’ll not have to look very far.
Henry ford was successful, because he understood and applied the principles of success. One of these is desire: knowing out the lines in which the secret of his stupendous achievement have been described. If you can do this, if you can lay your finger on the particular group of principles which made Henry ford rich, you can equal his achievements in almost any calling for which you are suited.
I Regain Confidence
By Li Jun (李军青岛海洋大学)
(20xx年11月下旬，在上海举行的第七届“21世纪·爱立信杯”英语演讲比赛华东地区比赛中获得第一名)
专家点评:本演讲语言较流畅，从具体事件人手，将主题升华，催人奋进。
I received a devastating blow to my self-confidence in the first interview of my college years. I applied to be a host in our Student Acting Troupe and felt confident that I would be accepted. But one of the panel members told me: "You seem inadequate and you are a little vertically-challenged." My life has never been the same since. I used bigger heels to complement my height and psychological maneuvers and tricks to hide my lack of confidence. But no matter how hard I tried to look the part, there was still something missing.
As president of English Club, I organized the rehearsal of Snow White for an English party. Unfortunately, we could not find an actor to be the last dwarf. It had to be someone who was humorous by nature and fluent in English. Suddenly, all eyes turned to me, and I knew I would have to be the dwarf. To my great surprise and delight, once on stage, I was totally absorbed in the performance and my humorous nature was put to full use. As the dwarf, I was a big hit.
Yes, each of us is only one among millions of others, but each of us is an individual and each of us is unique. Cultivating our individuality will transform our lives, making of them a kaleidoscope of new colors and textures.
A world deprived of diversity would be a bland and boring place. The real tragedy is not being short or shy or ugly, but having your identity lost in a world in which everyone is a clone of a model cool boy or a flawless charming girl.
Given a choice, I would rather be ugly than live in such a world. I'd rather be a genuine dwarf accompanying a Snow White than be a Snow White among nothing but Snow Whites. I would rather be myself. I would contribute my individual and unique colors to create a more diverse universe. Please, be yourself.
For a nation's dream， we start from the 1840 sea surface; to a constant pursuit， we deep in the years to write a glorious. In global view shows choice of the Chinese road of national rejuvenation; concentrated panorama in history." Around the millennium change， eventful years， Chinese new century， great turning point， span， the future of six theme， reflects China's great achievements since 1840， arduous and tortuous road of revitalization of the nation and the Chinese people made in China under the leadership of the Communist party. The "shock" "excited" tears ""…… This is my watch， taste right is felt when discourse. Process of reading and rejuvenation of the great， I reviewed the history of the Chinese nation 100 years the dream of power and unremitting exploration. Full and accurate historical data， magnificent momentum， a language， a precious historical pictures， shows a picture of the world national revival.
