21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿
(96年“21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲比赛”二等奖获得者，北京外国语大学徐义成)
Facing this audience on the stage, I have the exciting feeling of participating in the march of history, for what we are facing today is more than a mere competition or contest. It is an assembly of some of China's most talented and motivated people, representatives of a younger generation that are preparing themselves for the coming of a new century.
I'm grateful that I've been given this opportunity, at such a historic moment, to stand here as a spokesman of my generation and to take a serious look back at the past 15 years, a crucial period for every one of us and for this nation as well.
Though it is only within my power to tell about my personal experience, and only a tiny fragment of it at that, it still represents, I believe, the root of a spirit which has been essential to me and to all the people bred by the past 15 years.
In my elementary years, there was a little girl in the class who worked very hard but somehow could never do satisfactorily in her lessons.
The teacher asked me to help her, and it was obvious that she expected a lot from me. but as a young boy, restless, thoughtless, I always tried to evade her so as to get more time to enjoy myself.
One day before the final exam, she came up to me and said, "Could you please explain this to me? I want very much to do better this time. " I started explaining, and finished in a hurry. Pretending not to notice her still confused eyes, I ran off quickly. Nat surprisingly, she again did very badly in the exam. And two months later, at the beginning of the new semester, word came of her death of blood cancer. No one ever knew about the little task I failed to fulfill, but I couldn't forgive myself. I simply couldn't forget her eyes, which seem to be asking, "Why didn't you do a little more to help me, when it was so easy for you? Why didn't you understand a little better the trust placed in you, so that I would not have to leave this world in such pain and regret?"
I was about eight or nine years old at that time, but in a way it was the very starting point of my life, for I began to understand the word "responsibility" and to learn to always do my duties faithfully and devotedly, for the implications of that sacred word has dawned on me: the mutual need and trust of people, the co-operation and inter-reliance which are the very foundation of human society.
Later in my life, I continued to experience many failures. But never again did I feel that regret which struck me at the death of the girl, for it makes my heart satisfied to think that I have always done everything in my power to fulfill my responsibilities as best I can.
As I grew up, changed and improved by this incident and many other similar ones, I began to perceive the changes taking place around me and to find that society, in a way, was in its formative years like myself. New buildings, new commodities and new fashions appear every day.
New ideas, new information, new technologies. People can talk with each other from any corner of the
earth in a matter of seconds. Society is becoming more competitive.
Words like individuality and creativity are getting more emphasis and more people are rewarded for their hard work and efforts. Such is the era in which this generation ,grows and matures.
Such is the era in which this generation will take over the nation from our fathers and learn to run it. Yet in the meantime, many problems still exist.
We learn that crimes take place in broad daylight with crowds of people looking on and not assisting. We hear that there are still about 1 million children in this country who can't even afford to go to elementary schools while enormous sums of money are being squandered away on dinner parties and luxury cars.
We buy shoddy medicines, or merely worthless junk in the name of medicines, that aggravate, rather than alleviate our diseases since money, many people believe, is the most important thing in the world that must be made, even at the expense of morality and responsibility.
Such an era, therefore, determines that we are a
generation with a keener sense of competition and efficiency and a greater readiness to think critically and act creatively.
Such an era, furthermore, demands, that we are a generation with a clear perception of our historical responsibility and an aggressive will to take action and solve the problems. History has long been preparing these qualities in this generation and it is now calling us forward to give testimony to our patriotism and heroism towards this nation and all humanity.
Standing here now, I think of the past 15 years of my life as an ordinary student. Probably I'll be an ordinary man for the rest of my life. But this doesn't discourage me any, for I know that with my sense of responsibility and devoted efforts to always strive, for the best, it's going to be a meaningful and worthwhile life that I will be living.
全国英语演讲比赛一等奖_清华大学曹丰_英语演讲稿Our Future: A Battle between Dreams And Reality Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen: When I was in the primary school, I have a dream. I want to invent a device which could bring you from one place to another in no time at all. When I was in the secondary school, my dream was to study in my ideal university. And when eventually I got into the university, my dream was to graduate. How pathetic! When we grow up, we dream less And become more realistic. Why? Why do we have to change our dreams, so, so in order to let it be "fulfilled"? Why do we have to surrender to the so-called "reality"? What IS the reality actually? Ladies And gentlemen, the reality is not real. It is a barrier keeping us from all the possible fantasies. Flying, for example, had been a dream to mankind for thousands of years. A hundred years ago, "man could not fly" was still regarded as the "reality". Now if that was really the reality, what did the Wright brothers do? How did some of you get to Macau? Only when we believe that the reality is not real can we soar with our dreams. People say that our future is a battle between the reality And our dreams. And if, unfortunately, Mr. Reality wins this war, then I see no future of mankind at all. AIDS will never be curable as this IS the reality; People living in the undeveloped countries will suffer from
21世纪英语演讲比赛 篇一：21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛章程 第十七届中国日报社“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲比赛章程中国日报社“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲比赛由中国日报社主办、21世纪英文报系承办。自1996年创办以来，大赛作为每年5月在英国伦敦举行的国际英语演讲比赛的中国区选拔赛，获胜者将代表中国在国际舞台上展示中国青年学子的风貌。中央电视台知名双语节目主持人刘欣、芮成钢等均曾作为大赛获胜者参加国际比赛荣获大奖。多年来，作为国内档次最高的英语学习竞赛，大赛已在北京、上海、广州、深圳等大陆主要城市及香港和澳门巡回举行，并得到国际权威英语教学和机构的大力支持和高度重视，英国国际英语联合会(esu)、美国世界英语教师协会(tesol)、美国教育考试服务中心(ets)、英国大使馆文化教育处等都是大赛的长期合作伙伴。同时，大赛还得到了国家相关部委、企事业单位、新闻媒体等社会各界的广泛关注和支持。国家教育部、国务院新闻办公室、北京奥组委等机构均曾有领导亲临比赛现场，并为获奖选手颁奖。 第十七届中国日报社“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲比赛由中国日报社主办、21 世纪英文报系承办、国际英语联合会、美国世界英语教师协会、美国教育考试服务中心、英国广播公司、澳大利亚navitas英语集团、澳门理工学院、香港科技大学等机构协办。为使大赛组织更为严谨，充分体现学术要求，保证赛事公平、公正、公开的原则，本届大赛将分别成立“组织委员会”及“评审委员会”，分别负责赛事的组织工作和评判工作，详细委员名单将于官网公布。 本届赛事将于2011年6月28日启动，面向全国高校本、专科在校学生举行。比赛赛区划分如下：京津赛区、河北赛区、山西赛区、浙江赛区、上海赛区、川渝赛区、辽宁赛区、吉林赛区、黑龙江赛区、陕西赛区、福建赛区、广东赛区、广西赛区、湖南赛区、湖北赛区、河南赛区、山东赛区、江苏赛区、其他赛区(含除上述地区外的中国大陆所有其他省/直辖市/自治区)。比赛全程将分三个阶段： (1)互联网选拔赛/校园选拔赛(2011年6月-11月)；(2)地区决赛(2011年12月)；
大学生英语演讲稿：如何改变自己 it’s my great pleasure to stand here to present my speech—change the world, change ourselves. frankly speaking, i don’t quite agree with them.indeed, we should never neglect or even discard our traditonal festivals as china boasts a brilliant history and splendid traditions. (examples).but why can’t we absorb the meaningful western holidays and culture. earth.the only way for us to protect our traditional culture is to reject the foreign culture? the answer is definitely no. what we ought to do is to spare no effort to educate chinese to get to know and treasure our splendid traditions instead of rejecting foreign culture. only by educating can we set our confidence and belief towards our culture. only by educating can we preserve and promote the wealth that our ancesters left for us. at last i’d like to share a famouse saying of gandhi with all of you ,that is:if you want to change the world, then you must change yourself first.” 我很高兴能站在这里,现在我speech-change世界,改变自己。 引人注目的是,西方的节日日益变得越来越流行,而中国的传统节日都是受冷落。在不久 的将来大约10医生在北京大学和清华大学宣布,我们应该拒绝入侵的西方节日,因为他们认 为西 方节日作为一种挑战我们的传统节日和文化。 坦白地说,我不完全同意他们。事实上,我们不应该忽视甚至抛弃我们的传统节日作为中 国拥有辉煌的历史和灿烂的传统。(例子)。但是我们为什么不能吸收西方文化的意义。 有明显的原因,一些西方节日在中国非常受欢迎。另一方面,一些西方的节日,我们中国人 不合理和有意义的事情,比如父亲节,愚人节等等。另一方面,普遍的全球化使得中西文化在中 国的流行。被这一趋势、中国unconsiciously卷入西方节日和文化。 摘要随着世界的发展,文化交流不同国家和民族之间变得更快和更非常多,艺术设计多重 要。我们确实是来自不同的国家,但我们是公民相同的世界,所以不同的民族优秀传统文化中 找到财富是地球上的每个人都…我们唯一的方法来保护我们的传统文化,就是拒绝外国的文 化吗?答案是绝对不行。我们应该做的就是不遗余力地教导中国人了解并珍惜我们的辉煌的传 统,而不是拒绝外国文化。只有通过教育才能将我们的信心和勇气向我们的文化。只有通过教 育才能保持和提升的财富,我们祖先留给我们。 最后,我想说的一个著名的分享与你们在一起。甘地,那就是:如果你想要改变世界,那么 你必须改变你自己。”篇二：大学生英语演讲稿100篇 how to be popular most people would like to be popular with others, but not everyone can achieve this goal. what is the secret to popularity? in fact, it is very simple. the first step is to improve our appearance. we should always make sure that we stay in good shape and dress well. when we are healthy and well-groomed, we will not only look better but also feel better. in addition, we should smile and appear friendly. after all, our facial expression is an important part of our appearance. if we can do this, people will be attracted to our good looks and impressed by our confidence. 如何才能受人欢迎 大部分的人都想受人欢迎，但是并非每个人都能达到目标。受欢迎的秘诀何在?事实上是 很简单的。步骤一，先改善我们的外表。我们得确保自己很健康，并且穿着体面。当我们既
21世纪英语演讲稿(英语,演讲稿,世纪)目录 第一篇：21世纪英语演讲稿 第二篇：21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿 第三篇：21世纪英语演讲诸康妮演讲稿 第四篇：曹丰21世纪英语演讲比赛演讲稿 第五篇：21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿英语演讲稿 正文 第一篇：21世纪英语演讲稿 title: diversity creates beauty culture is the essence of a nation’s strength, so how to develop our culture and treat oversea culture is an important issue. there are different thinking and actions in the world. some nations reject foreign culture. meanwhile, there are some nations imitate others. of course, there are countries keep the good traditional culture as a basic and then adopt others’ strengths, such as china, japan. i hold the idea that we should make cultural diversity bee mainstream in the future world and avoid cultural integration at the same time. to date, how to develop its own culture has never been stopped thinking. every nation has its own assumption, action and reform. keep cultural diversity is successful and effective. cite china, tang dynasty enjoys its own booming economy and colorful culture. search for its origin and we 第1 页共17 页
21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛稿 21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛稿1 The Doors that Are Open to Us Good morning ladies and gentlemen: The title of my speech today is "The Doors that Are Open to Us ". The other day my aunt paid me a visit. She was overjoyed. "I got the highest mark in the mid-term examination!" she said. Don't be surprised! My aunt is indeed a student; to be exact, a college student at the age of 45. Last year, she put aside her private business and signed up for a one-year, full-time management course in a college. "This was the wisest decision I have ever made," she said proudly like a teenage girl. To her, college is always a right place to pick up new ideas, and new ideas always make her feel young. "Compared with the late 70s," she says, "now college students have many doors." My aunt cannot help but recall her first college experience in 1978 when college doors began to be re-opened after the Cultural Revolution. She was assigned to study engineering despite her desire to study Chinese literature, and a few years later, the government sent her to work in a TV factory. I was shocked when she first told me how she (had) had no choice
21世纪大学实用英语课文翻译及课后答案 Text A 大学——我一生中的转折点 佚名 作为一名一年级新生初进大学时，我害怕自己在学业上搞不好。我害怕独自一人在外，因为我是第一次远离家人。这里周围都是我不认识的人，而他们也不认识我。我得和他们交朋友，或许还得在我要学的课程上跟他 们在分数上进行竞争。他们比我更聪明吗？我跟得上他们吗？他们会接受我吗？ 我很快就认识到，我的生活现在就取决于我自己了。如果我要在学业上取得成功，我就必须制定一份学习计划。 我必须调整花在学习上的时间和花在社交上的时间。我必须决定什么时候上床睡觉，什么时候吃什么，什么时候 喝什么，对什么人表示友好。这些问题我都得自己回答。 开始时，生活有点艰难。我在怎样利用时间上犯了错误。我在交朋友上花的时间太多了。我还在怎样选择大学里 的第一批朋友上犯了一些错误。 然而不久，我就控制住了自己的生活。我做到了按时上课，完成并交上了第一批作业，而且以相当好的成绩通过 了前几次考试。此外，我还交了一些朋友，跟他们在一起我感到很自在，我能把我担心的事告诉他们。我建立了 一种真正属于我自己的常规——一种满足了我的需要的常规。 结果，我开始从一个不同的视角看待我自己了。我开始把自己看作是一个对自己负责也对朋友和家人负责的人。 凡事自己做决定并看到这些决定最终证明是明智的决定，这种感觉很好。我猜想这就是人们所说的“成长”的一 部分吧。 我未来的生活将会怎样呢？在人生的这一阶段，我真的不能确定我的人生之路最终将会走向何方，我真的不知道 在以后的几年中我会做什么。但我知道，我能应对未来，因为我已经成功地跃过了我生命中的这一重要障碍：我 已经完成了从一个依赖家人给予感情支持的人向一个对自己负责的人的过渡。 Practice 5 1. smart 2. succeed 3. shortly 4. managed 5. share 6. fear 7. responsible 8. however 9. enter 10. surrounded 11. handle 12. comfortable Practice 6 1. is up to 2. keep up with 3. under control 4. at first 5. grew up 6. make friends with 7. turned out 8. as a result 9. set up 10. in addition Practice 7 1. how to play the game 2. where I wanted to go 3. whether they would accept him or not 4. what to do and how to do it 5. whom to love and whom not to 6. when he made that decision Practice 8 1. I see Li Ming as my best friend. We share the same hobbies and interests. 2. They looked upon their math teacher as their best teacher. 3. We think of this place as our home. 4. They looked on their college life as their happiest years in their life. Practice 9 1. John is both smart and responsible. He likes to make friends with other people. 2. I have made the decision to compete for the new post. You can compete for it, too. 3. Shortly after the doctor came, he managed to have my father’s illness under control. 4. As freshmen, most of us do not know what college life has in store for us, but we all know that we must do well in our studies. 5. To succeed in college, we must keep up with the other students and set up a routine that meets out needs. 6. Though the assignments last week turned out to be more difficult than I thought, I handed them in on time.
英语演讲第一名演讲稿特激情 篇一：激情英语演讲稿：如何丰富人生 激情英语演讲稿：如何丰富人生 ladies and gentlemen. i'm so glad you're here. i'll be talking about life today. life goes by so fast. we shouldn't waste any time. we should all lead colorful lives. i have four golden rules. i want to share them with you. follow these tips and you'll have a colorful life. first,focus on quality. make quality your life goal. make quality your calling card. do your best every day. do everything to the best of your ability. focus on being a quality person. opportunity will find you. success will follow you. you'll earn respect and have a great reputation.
second,treat people well. love to greet them and meet them. love to interact and be with people. value people and relationships. value time with friends and family. give and share to really live.people are the secret to hapinness. people are the key to a colorful life. we must always treat them right. third,you must treat your body right,too. you can't enjoy life without good health. being healthy leads to a colorful life. you'll have more energy. you'll attract more people to yourself. you'll also add more years to your life. everyone must exercise regularly. everyone must eat nutritiously. maintain good health continuously. fourth,love deeply and have passion. 篇二：第八届全国大学生英语英语演讲比赛第一名演讲稿_顾秋蓓 全国大学生英语英语演讲比赛第一名 顾秋蓓 演讲稿 A Scene to Remember Gu Qiubei
The person I like most 中央教育科学研究所南山附属学校 2012级曾子珊 I have many friends in Primary School and Junior High School, but my best friend was in my Primary School. She is a girl. She is a beautiful girl. She is also a kind girl. She?s usually smiling and favora ble. And she isn?t good at simulate, so everyone can easily discover it. One day, we had a Singing competition. I wanted to join the Competition but I was scared to be alone, so I asked her. Although she already had many programs, she agreed. But the seco nd day, she was in a bad mood. I asked her, but she didn?t admit. I asked her all the time, finally she told me the reason: Maggie also wanted to sing, and she hoped she would sing with her. But she didn?t want anybody hurt, so she was thinking about it. That?s not a very big deal, but she considered it for a long time. What a kind girl! Her nickname is …mushroom congee? because her hairstyle is like a mushroom and her surname is …Zhou?. We all call her mushroom congee. She is …Lily Zhou?, who is the pers on I like most. The Person I Respect Most 深圳市清华实验学校 2011级陈焯锋 Do you know what respect means? Some people think respect means to be polite to each other, to not laugh at each other and to not say rude things to each other. I think respect means a good manner, a defined behavior and a noble moral principle which we all are expected to have? The person I respect most is my best friend-Mathew. He was my classmate when I was in primary school in Hong Kong. He was very smart and funny. On exam, he can easily get full marks; everyone liked him and asked him for help with the homework. After class, he played with us on the playground and told us jokes that made everyone laugh! In year 3, my math was so bad. I failed math in the mid-term exam. I felt very bad and he comforted me. Then he stared to help me with my math, he taught me after every class. In the final exam, I got a good result. I was so grateful to him. And he plays piano very well, and he got many prizes in the piano competition. In year 6, I came to Shenzhen to study because of m y parent?s work and we had not seen
曹丰 Our Future: A Battle between Dreams and Reality Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen: When I was in the primary school, I have a dream. I want to invent a device which could bring you from one place to another in no time at all. When I was in the secondary school, my dream was to study in my ideal university. And when eventually I got into the university, my dream was to graduate. How pathetic! When we grow up, we dream less and become more realistic. Why? Why do we have to change our dreams, so, so in order to let it be "fulfilled"? Why do we have to surrender to the so-called "reality"? What IS the reality actually? Ladies and gentlemen, the reality is not real. It is a barrier keeping us from all the possible fantasies. Flying, for example, had been a dream to mankind for thousands of years. A hundred years ago, "man could not fly" was still regarded as the "reality". Now if that was really the reality, what did the Wright brothers do? How did some of you get to Macau? Only when we believe that the reality is not real can we soar with our dreams. People say that our future is a battle between the reality and our dreams. And if, unfortunately, Mr. Reality wins this war, then I see no future of mankind at all. AIDS will never be curable as this IS the reality; People living in the undeveloped countries will suffer from starvation forever as this IS the reality; 4)Disputes among different countries would never be settled as this misunderstandings and intolerance IS the reality. Ladies and gentlemen, how many of you have a dream of being able to make a lot of money? Please raise your hands. Oh, quite a number of you! Actually, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a dream, but a task. Every one of us has to make a living, right? Anyway I hope your task will be accomplished. How many of you think that you have already fulfilled your dream and that you don't dream anymore? Dear 5)adjudicators, what do you think? C.S. Lewis once said, "You are never too old to dream a new dream." So for our future, please dream and be unrealistic. Now that I am a university student, my goal is to graduate with excellences. But at the same time, I have a dream deeply rooted in our future. One day, people living in the areas now 6)sweltering with the horror of wars will be able to sit with their families and enjoy their every moment. One day, people from the rich countries are willing to share what they have with those from the poor countries and those from the poor countries will eventually be able to make their own happy living themselves. One day, different cultures in this age
1 “21世纪杯”英语演讲比赛评分表 一、初赛的评分标准 参赛选手围绕大赛初赛主题“My recipe for happiness ”撰写一篇50-100字左右的英文演讲稿。 备注： A 组<3年级> 50-70字 B 组<4年级> 70-80字 C 组<5年级> 80-90字 D 组<6年级> 90-100字 一、作品内容分数值比例：满分100分 1、结构明确、条理清楚，段落分明（25% 30分） 2、中心明确、内容与题目相符，描写具体、生动（30% 40分） 3、语句通顺、语法正确（10% 20分） 4、会用标点，错别字少（10% 10分）错别字每个扣0.5分，标点错误每个扣0.5分，扣足3分为止。 附：书写工整、美观（卷面分 3分） 卷面太乱，字迹潦草酌情扣1—3分。 二、评分参考：（以总分100分为例） 作品类别 评分参考 评分依据 说明
2 一类文 85-100分 1、文章结构清晰，段落层次分明，有一定的逻辑性和思想内涵； 2、切题且内容具体，紧紧围绕一个中心把意思表达清楚，能进行生动而细致的描述； 3、语句通顺流畅，能用完整的句子表达出自己的意思，会用恰当的修辞方法； 4、标点使用正确，无错别字或错别字极少； 5、页面整洁、字迹工整、美观； 1．漏写题目扣1分。 2．错别字每3个扣1分，重现不计，最多扣3分。 3．字迹工整的加1─2分；字迹潦草，难以辨认的酌情扣1—3分。 4．字数不足，酌情扣1—3分；严重不足降一等。 5．抄袭或模仿优秀作文降两个档次。 二类文 75-84分 1、文章结构相对清晰，能合理分段； 2、切题且内容相对具体，能围绕一个中心把意思表达较为清楚，描述相对生动； 3、语句较为通顺流畅，能用完整的句子表达出自己的意思，会用常用简单的修辞方法； 4、能正确使用常用标点符号，错别字较少且能达到规定字数； 5、页面较为整洁、字迹相对工整清晰； 三类文 65-75分 1、文章结构不够清晰，层次不够清楚； 2、围绕演讲题目展开描述，描述不够生动但相对清楚； 3、语句基本通顺流畅，基本能用完整的句子表达出自己的意思，缺乏常用的修辞方法； 4、标点使用大体正确，错别字略多，达到规定字数； 5、页面不够整洁、字迹不够工整清晰； 四类文 65分以下 1、文章层次不够清楚； 2、内容相对简单，中心不明确，文章的意思表达不清楚； 3、语句的完整性和通顺程度不够，句子的表达不完整，有语病，错别单词较多； 4、标点符号使用不当，字数略少； 5、字迹潦草，书写不够认真；
21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿 第1篇第2篇第3篇第4篇第5篇更多顶部 目录 第一篇：21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿 第二篇：21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿英语演讲稿 第三篇：21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛冠军演讲稿 第四篇：第十届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛冠军演讲稿 第五篇：21世纪杯演讲稿 更多相关范文 正文 第一篇：21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲稿 (96年21世纪杯全国大学生英语演讲比赛二等奖获得者，北京外国语大学徐义成) facing this audience on the stage, i have the exciting feeling of participating in the march of history, for ore than a mere competition or contest. it is an assembly of
some of chinas most talented and motivated people, representatives of a younger generation that are preparing themselves for the coming of a ne grateful that ive been given this opportunity, at such a historic moment, to stand here as a spokesman of my generation and to take a serious look back at the past 15 years, a crucial period for every one of us and for this nation as y poy personal experience, and only a tiny fragment of it at that, it still represents, i believe, the root of a spirit e and to all the people bred by the past 15 years. in my elementary years, there ehoe to help her, and it me. but as a young boy, restless, thoughtless, i alore time to enjoy myself. one day before the final exam, she came up to me and said, could you please explain this to me? i uch to do better this time. i started explaining, and finished in a hurry. pretending not to notice her still confused eyes, i ran off quickly. nat surprisingly, she again did very badly in the exam. and tonths later, at the beginning of the neester, e of her death of blood cancer. no one ever kneyself. i
“21世纪·爱立信杯”全国英语演讲比赛冠军得主的演讲稿 To me March 28th was a lucky day. It was on that particular evening that I found myself at central stage, in the spotlight. Winning the "21st Century·Ericsson Cup" Seventh National English Speaking Competition is a memory that I shall treasure and one that will surely stay. More important than winning the Cup is the friendship that has been established and developed among the contestants, and the chance to communicate offstage in addition to competing onstage. Also the competition helps boost public speaking in China, a skill hitherto undervalued. For me, though, the competition is a more personal experience. Habitually shy, I had been reluctant to take part in any such activities. Encouraged by my friends, however, I made a last-minute decision to give it a try. In the course of preparation I somehow rediscovered myself, a truer me. I found that, after all, I like communicating with other people; that exchanging views can be so much fun—and so much rewarding, both emotionally and intellectually; that public speaking is most effective