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作为迎接2010年上海世博会的主题推广活动之一,第14届“21世纪·联想杯”全国英语演讲比赛于4月中旬在上海圆满结束。比赛以“从时代的发展看人类生活方式的改变:主动性与便利性”为主题,让青年学子就新的世界经济与发展形势下的城市生活不同侧面进行思考。本期我们选登了本届比赛冠军——清华大学金璐同学的已备演讲。她的演讲虽然文字难度不大,却能由浅入深,以情动人,大家写作议论文时不妨借鉴借鉴哦。
Ladies and gentlemen,
“What would you do if you had only one day left to live?”
I asked this question to my young students when teaching English this winter break. So, what were their answers?
“I would watch television!” the first one.
“I would play with the computer!” the second one.
“I would play with the computer, too.” The girl
finished her sentence perfectly with a serious smile. Indeed, how cute and innocent that smile was, but how seriously my heart was hurt. I was just too frightened to keep listening to more answers like that.
Ten years ago, at their age, I had a different
answer. I said I would spend the last day of my life gazing at the face of my dear grandmother until I could inscribe[记下] every detail of it onto my mind.
When my grandmother was getting old and weak, my family bought her a telephone so I could make telephone calls saving both time and the trouble of traveling to her home. Later my family bought her a television so she could watch modern dramas all by herself. Then grandmother must have been, we assumed, very contented[满足的] and happy.
But I never really knew how grandmother felt. She silently passed away one night without a word. When I heard about her death, a chilling pain pierced[刺穿] my empty heart. And the pain grew even sharper as I tried to remember in detail exactly
how grandmother looked, but I failed completely. How could I remember? I had not visited her for ages! My memories of her just dissolved[消散] into thin air and leaked away like water.
So, even though I have a telephone, can she hear me now?
Even though I might be on television, can she still see me now?
Even though I have modern telecommu-nications, can she still communicate with me now?
With all these “teles,” I was powerless.
Don’t people just love the word T-E-L-E of “tele,” which means far away? Indeed this is how modern technology has changed our world. But please do not forget this other “tele” word: telepathy[心灵感应], by which I mean human beings’ innate[天生的] ability to connect to our loved ones. Our minds are supposed to read each other’s minds; our hearts are supposed to feel each other’s hearts – and do this without any forms of tool[s]!
But the moment I desperately struggled to remember my grandmother’s face, the telepathy between her and me had gone forever. With the help of modern technology, I killed our telepathy.
But this shall never happen again!
Indeed the “teles” are great inventions. But telepathy gives them the warmth of a
human face. Let’s harness[利用自然力产生能源] the power of television to develop our kids’ telepathy with nature, so that they can still read the secret languages of flowers! Let’s
make telephone lines provoke[激起] our telepathy with each other, so we still connect in a warm and feeling way! Let modern technology keep our telepathy alive!
I told my grandmother’s story to the young kids that day. And they got very, very quiet. Then they asked me for [a] second chance to answer the question. I knew they had come to a new understanding – and that very moment they had made to me and to our future together, a dear promise.
Thank you very much!
女士们、先生们:
“如果您的生命只剩下最后一天,您会做些什么?”
这个寒假我给一群小朋友上英语课的时候,我向他们提出了这个问题。那么,他们是怎么回答我的呢?
第一个学生说:“我会看电视!”
第二个说:“我会玩电脑!”
“我也会玩电脑!”那个女孩说完之后,给了我一个正儿八经的微笑。这是一个多么可爱天真的微笑,但也着实刺痛了我的心。我真的很害怕听到更多类似这样的答案。
十年前,还像他们那么大的时候,我的答案却大不相同——我会用生命的最后一天细细端详亲爱的祖母的脸庞,直到自己能把每一处细节都牢牢地铭记于心。
当我的祖母慢慢老去,身体也逐渐虚弱的时候,我们家给她买了一台电话,这样一来我就可以打电话给她,而不用花时间费工夫上她家里去了。后来我们家又给她买了一台电视,这样她就可以自己一个人看电视剧了。那时,我们都以为祖母一定会感到满足又欣慰了吧。
可是我不曾真正了解祖母的感受。一天晚上,她悄悄地离开了人世,一句话也没有留下。得知她去世的消息时,一股冰冷透骨的疼痛刺穿了我空荡荡的心。而当我试图细细回忆祖母的模样却完全办不到的时候,这种痛苦变得更为剧烈。我又怎么能想得起来呢?我已经很久没去看望她了!有关她的记忆在稀薄的空气中越来越模糊,如水一般逐渐流走。
那么,纵然我有电话,现在她还能听见我说话吗?
纵然现在我上电视了,她还能看见我吗?
纵然我拥有这些现代通讯设备,她还能和我联系吗?
拥有这些“电信设备”,我却无能为力。
“T-E-L-E”,“tele”这个词素表示“遥远”的意思,人们不是对它喜爱有加吗?的确,现代科技就是这样改变了我们的世界。不过,请不要忘记另外一个也含有“tele”的词语:心灵感应——我指的是人类天生的、与亲人心灵相通的能力。我们本可以读懂彼此的心思,本可以感受彼此的心跳——无需求助于任何工具!
然而,当我竭力想回忆祖母的面容时,我们之间的心灵感应已经永久地失去了。借助现代科技,我把我们之间的心灵感应扼杀掉了。
我们绝不能重蹈覆辙了!各式各样的电信设备固然是伟大的发明,但(也需要)心灵感应才能赋予它们人性化的温暖一面。让我们利用电视的力量,开发孩子们用心灵去感受大自然的能力,这样他们便依然可以读懂花的密语!让我们利用电话线路加强彼此之间的心灵感应,这样我们便仍然能以充满感情的温暖方式互相联系!让现代科技保持我们心灵感应的活力吧!
那天,我给孩子们讲述了祖母的故事。他们静了下来,鸦雀无声。后来,他们希望我再给他们一次回答那个问题的机会。我知道他们已经(对这件事)有了全新的认识;而就在那一刻,他们已经向我——也向未来许下了一个珍贵的承诺。
非常感谢各位!
Ladies and gentlemen,
“What would you do if you had only one day left to live?”
I asked this question to my young students when teaching English this winter break. So, what were their answers?
“I would watch television!” the first one.
“I would play with the computer!” the second one.
“I would play with the computer, too.” The girl
finished her sentence perfectly with a serious smile. Indeed, how cute and innocent that smile was, but how seriously my heart was hurt. I was just too frightened to keep listening to more answers like that.
Ten years ago, at their age, I had a different
answer. I said I would spend the last day of my life gazing at the face of my dear grandmother until I could inscribe[记下] every detail of it onto my mind.
When my grandmother was getting old and weak, my family bought her a telephone so I could make telephone calls saving both time and the trouble of traveling to her home. Later my family bought her a television so she could watch modern dramas all by herself. Then grandmother must have been, we assumed, very contented[满足的] and happy.
But I never really knew how grandmother felt. She silently passed away one night without a word. When I heard about her death, a chilling pain pierced[刺穿] my empty heart. And the pain grew even sharper as I tried to remember in detail exactly
how grandmother looked, but I failed completely. How could I remember? I had not visited her for ages! My memories of her just dissolved[消散] into thin air and leaked away like water.
So, even though I have a telephone, can she hear me now?
Even though I might be on television, can she still see me now?
Even though I have modern telecommu-nications, can she still communicate with me now?
With all these “teles,” I was powerless.
Don’t people just love the word T-E-L-E of “tele,” which means far away? Indeed this is how modern technology has changed our world. But please do not forget this other “tele” word: telepathy[心灵感应], by which I mean human beings’ innate[天生的] ability to connect to our loved ones. Our minds are supposed to read each other’s minds; our hearts are supposed to feel each other’s hearts – and do this without any forms of tool[s]!
But the moment I desperately struggled to remember my grandmother’s face, the telepathy between her and me had gone forever. With the help of modern technology, I killed our telepathy.
But this shall never happen again!
Indeed the “teles” are great inventions. But telepathy gives them the warmth of a
human face. Let’s harness[利用自然力产生能源] the power of television to develop our kids’ telepathy with nature, so that they can still read the secret languages of flowers! Let’s
make telephone lines provoke[激起] our telepathy with each other, so we still connect in a warm and feeling way! Let modern technology keep our telepathy alive!
I told my grandmother’s story to the young kids that day. And they got very, very quiet. Then they asked me for [a] second chance to answer the question. I knew they had come to a new understanding – and that very moment they had made to me and to our future together, a dear promise.
Thank you very much!
女士们、先生们:
“如果您的生命只剩下最后一天,您会做些什么?”
这个寒假我给一群小朋友上英语课的时候,我向他们提出了这个问题。那么,他们是怎么回答我的呢?
第一个学生说:“我会看电视!”
第二个说:“我会玩电脑!”
“我也会玩电脑!”那个女孩说完之后,给了我一个正儿八经的微笑。这是一个多么可爱天真的微笑,但也着实刺痛了我的心。我真的很害怕听到更多类似这样的答案。
十年前,还像他们那么大的时候,我的答案却大不相同——我会用生命的最后一天细细端详亲爱的祖母的脸庞,直到自己能把每一处细节都牢牢地铭记于心。
当我的祖母慢慢老去,身体也逐渐虚弱的时候,我们家给她买了一台电话,这样一来我就可以打电话给她,而不用花时间费工夫上她家里去了。后来我们家又给她买了一台电视,这样她就可以自己一个人看电视剧了。那时,我们都以为祖母一定会感到满足又欣慰了吧。
可是我不曾真正了解祖母的感受。一天晚上,她悄悄地离开了人世,一句话也没有留下。得知她去世的消息时,一股冰冷透骨的疼痛刺穿了我空荡荡的心。而当我试图细细回忆祖母的模样却完全办不到的时候,这种痛苦变得更为剧烈。我又怎么能想得起来呢?我已经很久没去看望她了!有关她的记忆在稀薄的空气中越来越模糊,如水一般逐渐流走。
那么,纵然我有电话,现在她还能听见我说话吗?
纵然现在我上电视了,她还能看见我吗?
纵然我拥有这些现代通讯设备,她还能和我联系吗?
拥有这些“电信设备”,我却无能为力。
“T-E-L-E”,“tele”这个词素表示“遥远”的意思,人们不是对它喜爱有加吗?的确,现代科技就是这样改变了我们的世界。不过,请不要忘记另外一个也含有“tele”的词语:心灵感应——我指的是人类天生的、与亲人心灵相通的能力。我们本可以读懂彼此的心思,本可以感受彼此的心跳——无需求助于任何工具!
然而,当我竭力想回忆祖母的面容时,我们之间的心灵感应已经永久地失去了。借助现代科技,我把我们之间的心灵感应扼杀掉了。
我们绝不能重蹈覆辙了!各式各样的电信设备固然是伟大的发明,但(也需要)心灵感应才能赋予它们人性化的温暖一面。让我们利用电视的力量,开发孩子们用心灵去感受大自然的能力,这样他们便依然可以读懂花的密语!让我们利用电话线路加强彼此之间的心灵感应,这样我们便仍然能以充满感情的温暖方式互相联系!让现代科技保持我们心灵感应的活力吧!
那天,我给孩子们讲述了祖母的故事。他们静了下来,鸦雀无声。后来,他们希望我再给他们一次回答那个问题的机会。我知道他们已经(对这件事)有了全新的认识;而就在那一刻,他们已经向我——也向未来许下了一个珍贵的承诺。
非常感谢各位!