杜倩倩：河北师范大学选手，第17届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛三等奖获得者。
自我介绍：我叫杜倩倩，就读于河北师范大学，现为大三学生。演讲是我的挚爱，从小一直伴随我的成长。在英语学习路上，从家乡小县城走到今天进入全国演讲比赛，有苦有甜，执着不悔。在校期间，曾任校级“译通英语社”副社长，主要奖项有：第十七届“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲大赛冀晋赛区总决赛冠军；第二届全国口译大赛连续传译河北、河南赛区二等奖；中央电视台希望之星英语风采大赛2010赛季河北赛区一等奖。
演讲稿：
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen:
Today I would like to begin with a story.
It started out on a hot afternoon in the summer of 2011. All was about to change as the sound of a child’s cry resonated through the sky. A lady ran towards the sound of distress. She couldn’t believe what she saw – a young child dangling from the windowsill of an apartment on the tenth floor! The only way to save the little life was to catch the child before hitting ground. She took off the high-heels immediately, moved forward a little bit and just then the child crashed into her arms!
Yes, that’s a memorable scene based on a true story in the scenic city of Hangzhou. The heroine, named Wu Juping, a mother of a seven-month-old boy, saved the child with her three bones broken. If she had been hit just one inch closer to the chest, she would have died. Later on, she was crowned “the most beautiful mother” by Chinese citizens.
To me, the heroic action not only presents an unforgettable scene, but also acts as a timeless reminder that humanism – the symbol of kindness and beauty – makes today’s technologically advanced world better.
Some people say as we move towards the amazing technological progress, humanism has been lost. They think people are taught to chase after all the brass rings, breaching the rules to satisfy the so-called interests and even turning away to the people who are crying for help. Doing drugs, abusing alcohol, stealing – today none of these behaviors are the deep embarrassment they should be.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a quite different answer, because the hue of humanism has never faded away. Despite the fact that we have computerized the world, despite the fact that robots are doing the menial work of humanity, despite the fact that we know the universe far better than we used to a century ago, we see human kindness and beauty still prevailing in this technologically advanced world.
We see in china three boys, only nineteen years old, sacrificed their lives to save the drowning children near the bank of Chang Jiang.
We see in America a bank president from Miami who cashed out of his company, took a 60 million dollars bonus and gave it out to the people who are nothing but poor.
We see in Africa, people from all over the world are working together to help Africans fight disease, eradicate poverty and achieve well-being.
Why? Because humanism has never faded away; because every man, every woman, every child, every family and every nation on this planet has a stake – it’s the kindness and beauty deeply rooted in their heart that propels them to make this world better.
Once again, I think of Wu Juping. There are some moments in life when we have to make tough decisions. To make the right one, we have to do away with the worries and refuse to sit back and watch. For her, it is instinct that enables her not to turn back nor falter; for me, it’s humanism that drives her to choose what is right and uphold the life miracle.
And if we do – if we do come together, if we summon the enduring spirit of humanism, a world featuring goodness, dignity, assistance and harmony is bound to come.
Thank you very much.
