[编者按]第七届全国中学生英语演讲比赛于2004年1月14日在哈尔滨市第三中学举行。在演讲比赛上,营员们展示了缜密的思维,良好的语言组织能力,引来了观众的阵阵喝彩。下面就带你一起走进演讲比赛现场。

　　On January 10th, 2004, over 150 students selected from all parts of China gathered in Harbin, a pure white city in winter, to attend the 2004 National English Winter Camp for Middle School Students. Thanks to the English Coaching Paper, I spent six pleasant days in the camp and got the great chance to compete with other excellent English speakers. It was my pleasure to communicate with so many top students in the study of English in China and got to learn a lot from them through various activities. I learned most from the Seventh National English Speech Competition for Middle School Students. It showed me other contestants' amazing ability to use English and also strengthened my wish to improve my English studies.

　　The speech competition included selection and final competition. First we were divided into groups by grades to compete. After a strict selection, 27 students in Junior and 36 in Senior entered the final competition, including me.

　　The day before the competition, we drew lots for the order. During the competition, we had to draw lots

　　again for our topics in order. Everybody in Senior group got only 5 minutes for preparation. Each contestant's speech had to be less than 5 minutes. When the speech was finished, the judging panel composed of experts from both China and abroad would ask the contestant 1 or 2 questions. There were 6 items for grading, pronunciation and intonation 1.5 marks, content 1.5, fluency 2, accuracy 1, eloquence 2 and the other 2 marks for timing and response. The full score was 10. As soon as one contestant finished a speech, the score of the previous contestant would be announced. As the topics covered many fields like culture, science, etc, the speech competition required speed and confidence.

　　Since I was the 29th contestant, I had enough time to observe how others performed. Most of the contestants showed their fantastic ability to talk about these certain topics fluently. They had done a good job. Hearing them talk about the SARS epidemic, the 2008 Olympics or the space exploration with great self-confidence, I couldn't help wondering about the situation when I was on the stage.

　　For a busy man time passes quickly. That's true. Finally, it was my turn to get the topic. Feeling a bit scared and excited, I unfolded the note. It read Why I like/dislike talk shows. At that moment thoughts were tumbling about in my mind. Which was closely related to talk show? How could I give my speech in a reasonable and acceptable way? I kept searching for the answers in my mind. At last I decided to mention the importance of communication to explain the good of talk shows, though I heard some people said privacy was the only thing wanted on talk shows. However, the human urge to communicate is one of the strongest urges known to mankind. Talk show which was made formally and for the aim of communication and understanding was able to provide people with opportunities to express themselves in my opinion.

　　I did not have much time to think about details but just remembered a few main points. Then I heard my name called. It was my turn to get onto the stage.

　　My heart bounded with tension, so it took me a second to calm down. Then, I walked towards the center of the stage, and smiled at the judges and audience, as I determined to give my speech naturally. After a brief introduction about myself, I started. I did not pay much attention to the reaction of the audience, but tried my best to explain my view as correctly as possible, as if I was discussing a question with somebody. Thank goodness, as I covered all of my points, I heard the bell ring. Time was up.

　　Later on, I answered the questions and got off the stage, with my heart still beating very fast. I could relax then, till I heard my score announced. It was the highest! I heard people screaming and applauding in the hall, and I knew that I made it! Suddenly my heart throbbed with excitement.

　　Yes, I made it in the speech competition. That will encourage me to do better in the future. I believe that as long as I keep working hard, I will achieve my own goal.

　　(本文作者郑芳为甘肃兰州第一中学的学生,参加了2004年全国中学生英语冬令营,并获得第七届全国中学生英语演讲比赛的一等奖及第七届全国中学生英语辩论赛的三等奖。)

　　(文/郑芳 ； 英语辅导报高二版 03~04学年度第36期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)