祝一轩：长沙理工大学选手，第17届21世纪杯全国英语演讲比赛三等奖获得者。

演讲稿：

Ladies and gentlemen:

Humanism can be defined as focusing on human value, attaching prime importance to human, and emphasizing human’s dignity. This concept of humanism has a close relationship with today’s advanced technology. In my point of view, this idea of humanism is both positively and negatively influenced by today’s advanced technology.

The idea of humanism is greatly benefitted by Technology. Today’s technology frees many people from doing manual labor that can be very dangerous.Machines and robots, for instance, are the good representatives of advanced technology. They help us greatly by being more productive than humans and they reduce the risk of injury. The shorthand machine invented in China can type 400 words in only one minute which reduces the stenographer’s burden. The widely used Anti-explosion robots prevent people from being hurt or even killed. The plane on my way here provided me with a fast and comfortable trip. But if there are no planes, trains or cars, I would probably come here by riding a horse and I imagine I would look disheveled by the time I got here with my clothes split and my hair unkempt. My horse would tell me as he pants for breath, “there is no way I can carry you back.” On the other hand, technology prolongs people’s longevity. We can now cure a number of illnesses which could never be cured before. We are enjoying better living conditions offered by technology which satisfies both our substance and mental needs. The super hybrid rice technique invented by Dr. Yuan Longping can supply millions of people in the world with adequate food.

Now let’s consider the opposing side. A lot of things have both positive and negative aspects. So does technology. There are areas of technology that are just out of control and make horrible damages to humanism. The nuclear leaks that happened in Chernobyl of the Soviet Union and Fukushima Japan formed two “ghost cities” without a single person and killed more than 93 thousand innocent lives. The collision of two bullet trains in Wenzhou took away about 200 lives. At the same time, the advanced technologies used in warfare also bring horrible disasters upon many people. Atom bombs dropped in Japan in the world war two took away about 260 thousand lives. Napalms used in Tokyo affected the lives of 100 thousand people. These things wreaked havoc on humanism.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is not difficult to imagine a world short of humanism but full of technology. Negotiations between countries would be replaced by nuclear weapons. It would be a cold world filled with death all over the place. Meanwhile, it is not difficult to imagine a world void of technology but filled with slogans of humanism. People would not even have enough food to eat. How can we promote humanism without the basic necessities of life?

As we consider these things, I conclude this: We should make technology the basis of humanism and use humanism to guide the way technology develops. Only in this way can we balance the both to make the world a better place.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.