Never lose the vision of reality

Good afternoon

Ladies and gentlemen, today my topic is never losing the vision of reality. Talking about dreams and future, I would say, dreams should not be too far away from reality. Detaching from reality, looking solid or practical actions, any dream plan or dream project will be nothing short of daydreaming, or, at most well-intentioned thinking. Here I am remained the year of 2000, when 191 member states of the United Nations held a world summit conference, which made a declaration known as the millennium development goals. The goals of 2015, which every member state pledged to meet, were such as, elimination of hunger and poverty, drastic reduction in child mortality rates, reversing a spread of AIDS and other deadly disease, ect. Now, six years later, almost half way to the final year of 2015, do we see any signs of realizing these goals? Today, half the world-about three billion people, still live under two U.S dollars a day; and about 279 million children have no access to safe water, 11 million children die before they reach the year of five each year. Do we come to harness the spread of the AIDS? The answer is also “no” and indeed AIDS is spreading faster and wider than ever before. What is even worse, with the weak of the Iraqi War, the nuclear crisis in Iran and unsettled situations

in many places, the vision of us young people today are often limited but the limited vision that we do have and care about every day cannot change the conviction that this world does not seem to promise a vary bright future before us. Who is blame for this? Of course, we can blame the government: how they disappoint all seem to be: in the moment they are pledging to build a better future for us, and the other moment they are igniting wars killing more innocent people. But don’t you think we ordinary folks should also take some responsibility for, say elimination of hunger and poverty? When we are quickly rushing to schools, works, or place of entertainment, how many times do we stop just to hand over some food to the deprived on the streets? When we are reading newspapers browsing for news about what is going on in this world, how often do we stop to think about actual ways that we can do to help the people who are suffering from various disastrous situations? In fact, how much have we done to help the people who are in need just around us. Dreams are certainly beautiful and indispensable in our life, for they give us inspiration and motivation. Future plans are certainly necessary, for they provide us with goals and guides. But what is most beautiful and important is an action on a day-to-day base in order to realize our dreams or make our future goals realized, we need to put our words into deeds and

base our vision on reality. In other words, while human beings should be, first and foremost, idealists and thinkers, we should also be, and all the more, realists and practical doers. Thank you. 这是来自第六名北京语言大学的英语专业的崔笑笑的演讲稿，这篇演讲稿被她演绎的淋漓精致，极为流畅自然，所以她获得了此次大赛的最佳风度奖。她以millennium development goals的签署之后，在这几年里世界发生的细微变化和与当初所制定的目标作比较，发现相差甚远，由此展开观点论述：Never lose the vision of reality. 语言犀利，准确，观点独到，是一篇议论性演讲稿的佳作。

1．Vision

视力, 视觉, 视野

洞察力; 想象力; 眼力

幻象, 梦想, 幻影

美景; 美人; 绝妙的东西

【宗】显圣;【医】幻视

(修辞学的)描述; 电影中的回忆场面, 幻想场面

the field of vision

视野

a person of broad vision

见解广阔的人

The lady was a lovely vision.

这位贵妇模样儿长得很美。

2．detach

[di't?t?]

vt.

分开, 解开, 分离

指派担任特种任务, 分遣, 派遣(军队等) be detached from

脱离

Men were detached to defend the pass. 已经派遣了人员去防守关隘。

3. millennium

[mi'leni?m]

n.

一千年(间); 千周年纪念

(基督教)至福一千年

(幻想中的)太平盛世, 黄金时代

4．elimination

1.排除;除去,根除

2.淘汰

5．conviction

1.确信, 坚定的信仰, 坚定的看法（或信念）

2.判罪；定罪；证明有罪

3.深信；坚信；坚定；肯定

6． pledge

n.

1.保证; 誓言；誓约

2.信物

3.抵押，质钱，抵押品

vt. & vi.

1.保证, 许诺; 发誓

vt.

1.典当

2.保证给予（或做），正式承诺；使保证，使发誓

vi.

1.宣誓参加美国大学生联谊会

7． ignite

1.点燃; 引发;（使）燃烧;着火

Petrol ignites very easily.

汽油很容易着火。

The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited. 爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。

He ignited the fireworks.

他点燃了烟花。

The rock and roll ignites the excitement of the audience.

摇滚乐激起了观众的热情。

8．deprived

形容词 adj.

1.贫困的

The conference heard an appeal from a representative from one of the more deprived areas.

大会听取了一名来自一个比较贫困地区的代表的呼籲。

9． disastrous

形容词 adj.

1.灾难性的, 造成灾害的

Carelessness in driving often results in disastrous accidents. 驾驶不慎常带来不幸的意外。

2.极坏的, 很糟的

The road was disastrous.

路面真糟糕。

10. first and foremost

英基本释义1.首要的1.首要的

He was a singer, but first and foremost a scholar.

他是个歌手, 但他主要是一位学者。

 

第二篇：全国英语演讲大赛演讲稿之第十名Chinese philosopher, Confucius,

Good afternoon

Ladies and gentleman, two thousand years ago, the Chinese philosopher, Confucius, advocated a harmonious society without selflessness and conflicts. Fifteen hundred years later, the English author, Tomas More, wrote about an imaginary place in which everyone enjoys peace, equality and common wealth. These and various other ideal worlds share something in common: peace, love and harmony.（quote two celebrities：Confucius and Tomas More，from east to west， show the differences and similarities between the definition and image of peaceful Utopia）

Such has been a dream of human beings throughout the world. And we have been long working toward this goal. History has witnessed numerous wars and even today some parts of the world are still suffering from the threats of conflicts. Such a dream, however, has only been going stronger instead of going awry.（the talking point） When the athletes from North and South Korea walked into the Olympic field hand in hand, holding one flag of Korean peninsula, they together lit the torch in an effort to end the half-century’s conflicts. (the example to support the talking point above )It is true there are still many problems in the world-- Problems of too complicated roots to be solved at once. As we all know, some small countries are being bullied by big power now and then; but at the same time we see protests being staged all over the world. The nuclear power has caused unstable equilibrium but the cold war has made us aware that what a desolate future the world would have if nuclear wars were to break out. Racial discrimination and religious conflicts still prevail, but as far as I know, no religion in the world teaches people to hate or fight,(the hot issue of reality, catch audience’s attention and arise warries) indeed, reality is always far from ideal.(conclusion) But the problems are not altogether unsolvable. We human beings are blessed with reasons and have the confidence that the light of reason will eventually disperses the dark and shadows.(person perspective filled with hope and positive attitude)

With economy growing at an amazingly fast rate in the last two decades, China is now facing with both tremendous opportunities as well as challenges.(transfer from the whole world to china, turning point) An important charge of mindset is that china is learning to be critical of its own problems and more concerned with addressing these problems, public opinion has been so active and constructive as it is now. Self-criticism and a sense of crisis is a sign of maturity and self-confidence. Chinese visionaries are now advocating green GDP and attaching great importance to social development that emphasizes human well-being. So it is not hard to see the direction in which china is moving. Policymaking is getting more down to earth. Corruption is still being fought hard and concepts such as due process and human rights are working their way into public consciousness. So, with all these efforts going on, sure and steady, there is good reason to believe that china’s future will be bright.（positive and convinced by the reason listed above）

Last week, a forum was held in Beijing, the theme is Chinese dream and a harmonious world. The message is that all Chinese have a dream and that dream is

peace and propensity and the realization of this dream will contribute to the harmony of the whole world. (filled with hope and look forward to more peaceful and wonderful future)

Thank you very much.

此篇演讲稿选自全国大学生英语演讲比赛第十名——来自北京外国语大学赵婷的现场演讲稿。她演讲时语言组织极为缜密，规范，表达流畅，根据中国实情，观点独到。是一篇作为演讲的佳作。也是用来学习英语的好材料。来自北外英语专业的她标准的英语不仅让人叹服 ，而且她具有独特的世界观的她在世界和平问题，结合中西方的本身对和平的乌托邦社会的异同对比之后，加上当今世界一些地区争端（南韩北朝问题，核问题，强权问题等）分析，更加让人耳目一新。鲜活的例子和独到的结论。虽然这个演讲主题有些的大，但若能细微分析加独特的观点使得这篇演讲稿不拘一格，与前两篇相比，这篇比较具有全球性和震撼力，问题分析的也很到位，她本人在演讲过程中也显得很大方。本身的高雅，大方的气质与这个大气的演讲相得益彰。这篇演讲稿在上学期米老师课上的free talk上，我也模仿演讲过，虽然没有她的那么标准地表达，但是也模仿到一些在演讲时的技巧。收益很多，这篇我比较喜欢。

这篇演讲稿的几个亮点：

1． 开篇分别举了孔子和托马斯的对于和平的观点，从中国到西方的哲学家中分析异同，突出文章的中心论点—harmoniousness。

2． 多出采用对比法，突出问题，从开篇的中西方对和谐观的对比，到接下来的古今对比突显现当代的不和谐，不和谐因素普遍存在等。

3． 文章论点分明，论据有力。所举出的例子鲜活，从实际中取材，真实有又有说服力。

4． 态度乐观，积极，但又不存在担忧，观点独到，不只是一位的加重担忧，胡乱呻吟，而是客观的分析问题。

5． 语言组织的很紧密，文章流畅，逻辑性强。层层推进，由大到小的层次，化大为小的分析。

-----Liu Xinquan评

1. imaginary

[i'm?d?in?ri]

adj.

想象中的, 假想的; 虚构的

imaginary指“想象的”、“虚构的”, 如:

Although the main characters in the novel are so true to life, they are imaginary.

虽然小说里的人物写得栩栩如生, 但都是虚构的。

imaginative指“ 富于想象力的”, 如:

Scott was an imaginative writer.

司格特是位富于想象力的作家。

imaginable 指“可想象的”, 常放在名词后面, 前加 all, only, every 或最高级形容词, 如:

This is the only solution imaginable.

这是唯一想得出的解决办法。

2． Numerous

1.很多的, 许多的

3.Korean peninsula

Korean Peninsula

朝鲜半岛

Korean Peninsula nuclear issue 朝鲜半岛核问题

4.awry

扭曲；斜；歪

5.bully

1.恐吓, 威逼

6.nuclear

形容词 adj.

1.核的, 原子核的

He's very interested in nuclear physics.

他对核物理学非常感兴趣。

2.使用或生产核能的

A nuclear reactor is the apparatus in which atoms are split. 核反应堆是分裂原子的装置。

3.核武器的

7.prevail

1.说服, 劝说; 诱使

2.盛行, 流行

3.获胜; 占优势

8.equilibrium

平衡(状态, 性, 图, 曲线), 均衡, 均势, 相称, 平均

(心情的)平静

(判断的)不偏不倚

习惯用语

be in equilibrium

保持[处于]平衡状态

be in equilibrium with

与....平衡

reach equilibrium with

与...(达)到平衡

9.tremendous

1.极大的, 巨大的

2.绝妙的, 极棒的

10.disperse

(使)散开, 驱散

11.due process

1.法定诉讼程序

12.visionary

1.有眼光的, 有远见的

The question remains though——was he a visionary or a madman？ 问题仍然存在——他究竟是个有远见的人, 还是个疯子？

2.空想的, 幻想的, 不切实际的

a visionary scheme for the future

对未来的不切实际的计划

The ideas of a visionary may seem impractical to us.

在我们看来,空想家的观念好像不切实际。

名词 n.

1.有幻觉的人

2.好幻想的人;空想家

They are left-wing visionaries.

他们是左翼空想家。

3.有远见卓识者

True visionaries are often misunderstood by their own generation. 真正有远见卓识者往往受同时代人的误解

13.propensity

倾向, 爱好, 嗜好, 脾性(to, for)

a propensity to extravagance [for gambling] 奢华[赌博]的癖好

特殊用法

average propensity' to consume

平均消费倾向

average propensity to import

平均输入倾向

average propensity to save

平均储蓄倾向

marginal propensity

边际倾向