第六届希望之星大学组决赛选手盖歆：演讲稿

　　比赛演讲稿

　　The meaning of life

　　My favourite film is Brave Heart. When I first watched it, I was too young to remember the story. However, there were still some lines that I’ll always bear in mind—every man dies, not every man really lives.

　　What exactly is the meaning of life? For centuries, people have been pondering over this issue. Just as Hamlet said: “To be or not to be, that’s a question.” As for Van Gogh, the sole meaning of his being was to paint and paint and paint. On the other hand, William Wallace—the hero in Brave Heart—chose freedom above life. But I got to understand more of the meaning of life via a story of an ordinary couple.

　　In the summer of 1998, the most disastrous flood of several decades struck China. In a small town, a couple were caught in the flood and unfortunately neither of them could swim. In the torrent, they desperately got hold of a tree, which was actually their only chance to survive. However the tree was too young to support both of them. At this pressing moment, the wife looked at her husband calmly, saying: “Take care of yourself, darling, for the sake of the children.” Without saying anything more, she let go of the tree, disappearing in the torrent.

　　The husband was in such sorrow that he himself even wanted to go with his dear wife. But he was stopped by his senses—he was the headmaster of a primary school with so many lovely children waiting for him.

　　Both of them were just as ordinary and simple as we are. But they have really taught me with their choices in time of danger that the meaning of life is responsibility.

　　生命的意义

　　我最喜欢的一部电影是《勇敢的心》。当我第一次看这部电影时，我还挺小，以至于连影片的大意都忘了。但其中有一句话令我至今难忘：人终有一死，但并非每个人都真正生活过。

　　生命的意义究竟在于什么？千百年来，人们一直在思索这个问题。正如哈姆雷特所说：生存还是死亡，这是个问题。对梵高而言，他存在的唯一目的就是一直画下去。而片中的主人公威廉•华莱士为了自由放弃了生命。而一对平常夫妇的故事却使我对于生命的意义有了更多的理解。

　　1998年的夏天，数十年罕见的洪水在中国肆虐。在一个小镇上，一对夫妇被困在洪水里。不幸的是，他们都不会游泳。在急流中，他们抓住了一棵救命的树。可这棵树太小了，承受不了两个人的重量。在这危急的时刻，妻子对她的丈夫镇静地说：“亲爱的,为了孩子们，你多保重。”话一说完，她便松了手，消失在急流里。

　　她的丈夫伤心欲绝，恨不得随她一起去。但他的理智阻止了他——他是一个小学校长，还有那么多孩子等着他。

　　这对夫妇就像我们一样平常、普通，但他们却用自己在危难时刻的选择告诉了我生命的意义，那就是责任。