董枨靓：中南大学选手，第16届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛一等奖获得者。

个人简介：董枨靓，大学三年级，来自中南大学湘雅医学院生物科学与技术专业。性格开朗，热爱生物技术，热爱英语演讲。她的格言是，“Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

演讲稿：

Elizabeth Taylor, the extraordinary actress and beauty icon, finished her legendary life of 79 years and left us recently. As a movie lover, I see her life as an invaluable treasure of the American movie making industry. But as a science student, I see her as a demonstration of the power of medical science. 50 years ago, pneumonia almost killed her. But tracheotomy, a surgery to cut open her trachea, enabled her to vanquish Death, to star in the famous movie of Cleopatra, and to win the bonus of her eight husbands and a bunch of kids.

Science, the brilliant discovery of the most intelligent species of the planet, has escalated our living standard higher than ever before and has ameliorated the whole world. Today, I would like to share with you my belief in the power of science and the influence it brings to my life.

Yes, I believe in the power of science. Living in a time when “impossible is nothing”, we are experiencing the amazing speed of scientific development and its tremendous power. Just take medical science innovation as an example. Fifty years ago, average life expectancy for Chinese people was only 51. But today, my grandfather, a 74-year-old man, who is right here today, can promise me to see me getting married and giving birth to my children. Indeed, the past 50 years of effort brought about the improvement of child birth technology, inventions of various vaccines, and, as a result, much longer lives of the general Chinese population. Also, can you imagine what our world would be like without science, a life without TVs, cell phones, trains and satellites? In fact, from big to small, from earth to sky, science changed our life. Therefore, impressed and surprised by these beautiful changes that science has produced; it is hard not to believe in its magnificent power.                                 

For me, I firmly believe in science not because I was educated to do so, but because I recognized the wonders it has made. So I chose medical biology as my major and I work very hard on it. I previewed courses of medical biology in freshman year, I read science magazines and papers every week and I conducted experiments with the help of my professors. With this belief in my heart, I think the world is not unrecognizable, I feel fearless to the unsolved problems. With this belief in my heart, I can be more creative and challenge the knowledge I have learnt. With this belief in my heart, I dare to dream big dreams such as, to create a new medicine to cure hypertension, to invent a gene chip to detect all potential diseases, and to restore the damaged nerve system of paralyzed people.

So here I am, a keen medical biology lover, standing on stage, speaking to you. I believe in the power of science. I believe that scientific achievement doesn't rest. I believe if we want to know the future, create it.