作為迎接2010年上海世博會(huì)的主題推廣活動(dòng)之一，第14屆“21世紀(jì)·聯(lián)想杯”全國英語演講比賽于4月中旬在上海圓滿結(jié)束。比賽以“從時(shí)代的發(fā)展看人類生活方式的改變:主動(dòng)性與便利性”為主題，讓青年學(xué)子就新的世界經(jīng)濟(jì)與發(fā)展形勢下的城市生活不同側(cè)面進(jìn)行思考。本期我們選登了本屆比賽冠軍——清華大學(xué)金璐同學(xué)的已備演講。她的演講雖然文字難度不大，卻能由淺入深，以情動(dòng)人，大家寫作議論文時(shí)不妨借鑒借鑒哦。

Ladies and gentlemen，

“What would you do if you had only one day left to live?”

I asked this question to my young students when teaching English this winter break. So， what were their answers?

“I would watch television!” the first one.

“I would play with the computer!” the second one.

“I would play with the computer， too.” The girl

finished her sentence perfectly with a serious smile. Indeed， how cute and innocent that smile was， but how seriously my heart was hurt. I was just too frightened to keep listening to more answers like that.

Ten years ago， at their age， I had a different

answer. I said I would spend the last day of my life gazing at the face of my dear grandmother until I could inscribe[記下] every detail of it onto my mind.

When my grandmother was getting old and weak， my family bought her a telephone so I could make telephone calls saving both time and the trouble of traveling to her home. Later my family bought her a television so she could watch modern dramas all by herself. Then grandmother must have been， we assumed， very contented[滿足的] and happy.

But I never really knew how grandmother felt. She silently passed away one night without a word. When I heard about her death， a chilling pain pierced[刺穿] my empty heart. And the pain grew even sharper as I tried to remember in detail exactly

how grandmother looked， but I failed completely. How could I remember? I had not visited her for ages! My memories of her just dissolved[消散] into thin air and leaked away like water.

So， even though I have a telephone， can she hear me now?

Even though I might be on television， can she still see me now?

Even though I have modern telecommu-nications， can she still communicate with me now?

With all these “teles，” I was powerless.

Don’t people just love the word T-E-L-E of “tele，” which means far away? Indeed this is how modern technology has changed our world. But please do not forget this other “tele” word: telepathy[心靈感應(yīng)]， by which I mean human beings’ innate[天生的] ability to connect to our loved ones. Our minds are supposed to read each other’s minds; our hearts are supposed to feel each other’s hearts – and do this without any forms of tool[s]!

But the moment I desperately struggled to remember my grandmother’s face， the telepathy between her and me had gone forever. With the help of modern technology， I killed our telepathy.

But this shall never happen again!

Indeed the “teles” are great inventions. But telepathy gives them the warmth of a

human face. Let’s harness[利用自然力產(chǎn)生能源] the power of television to develop our kids’ telepathy with nature， so that they can still read the secret languages of flowers! Let’s

make telephone lines provoke[激起] our telepathy with each other， so we still connect in a warm and feeling way! Let modern technology keep our telepathy alive!

I told my grandmother’s story to the young kids that day. And they got very， very quiet. Then they asked me for [a] second chance to answer the question. I knew they had come to a new understanding – and that very moment they had made to me and to our future together， a dear promise.

Thank you very much!

女士們、先生們:

“如果您的生命只剩下最后一天，您會(huì)做些什么?”

這個(gè)寒假我給一群小朋友上英語課的時(shí)候，我向他們提出了這個(gè)問題。那么，他們是怎么回答我的呢?

第一個(gè)學(xué)生說:“我會(huì)看電視!”

第二個(gè)說:“我會(huì)玩電腦!”

“我也會(huì)玩電腦!”那個(gè)女孩說完之后，給了我一個(gè)正兒八經(jīng)的微笑。這是一個(gè)多么可愛天真的微笑，但也著實(shí)刺痛了我的心。我真的很害怕聽到更多類似這樣的答案。

十年前，還像他們那么大的時(shí)候，我的答案卻大不相同——我會(huì)用生命的最后一天細(xì)細(xì)端詳親愛的祖母的臉龐，直到自己能把每一處細(xì)節(jié)都牢牢地銘記于心。

當(dāng)我的祖母慢慢老去，身體也逐漸虛弱的時(shí)候，我們家給她買了一臺(tái)電話，這樣一來我就可以打電話給她，而不用花時(shí)間費(fèi)工夫上她家里去了。后來我們家又給她買了一臺(tái)電視，這樣她就可以自己一個(gè)人看電視劇了。那時(shí)，我們都以為祖母一定會(huì)感到滿足又欣慰了吧。

可是我不曾真正了解祖母的感受。一天晚上，她悄悄地離開了人世，一句話也沒有留下。得知她去世的消息時(shí)，一股冰冷透骨的疼痛刺穿了我空蕩蕩的心。而當(dāng)我試圖細(xì)細(xì)回憶祖母的模樣卻完全辦不到的時(shí)候，這種痛苦變得更為劇烈。我又怎么能想得起來呢?我已經(jīng)很久沒去看望她了!有關(guān)她的記憶在稀薄的空氣中越來越模糊，如水一般逐漸流走。

那么，縱然我有電話，現(xiàn)在她還能聽見我說話嗎?

縱然現(xiàn)在我上電視了，她還能看見我嗎?

縱然我擁有這些現(xiàn)代通訊設(shè)備，她還能和我聯(lián)系嗎?

擁有這些“電信設(shè)備”，我卻無能為力。

“T-E-L-E”，“tele”這個(gè)詞素表示“遙遠(yuǎn)”的意思，人們不是對(duì)它喜愛有加嗎?的確，現(xiàn)代科技就是這樣改變了我們的世界。不過，請不要忘記另外一個(gè)也含有“tele”的詞語:心靈感應(yīng)——我指的是人類天生的、與親人心靈相通的能力。我們本可以讀懂彼此的心思，本可以感受彼此的心跳——無需求助于任何工具!

然而，當(dāng)我竭力想回憶祖母的面容時(shí)，我們之間的心靈感應(yīng)已經(jīng)永久地失去了。借助現(xiàn)代科技，我把我們之間的心靈感應(yīng)扼殺掉了。

我們絕不能重蹈覆轍了!各式各樣的電信設(shè)備固然是偉大的發(fā)明，但(也需要)心靈感應(yīng)才能賦予它們?nèi)诵曰臏嘏幻?。讓我們利用電視的力量，開發(fā)孩子們用心靈去感受大自然的能力，這樣他們便依然可以讀懂花的密語!讓我們利用電話線路加強(qiáng)彼此之間的心靈感應(yīng)，這樣我們便仍然能以充滿感情的溫暖方式互相聯(lián)系!讓現(xiàn)代科技保持我們心靈感應(yīng)的活力吧!

那天，我給孩子們講述了祖母的故事。他們靜了下來，鴉雀無聲。后來，他們希望我再給他們一次回答那個(gè)問題的機(jī)會(huì)。我知道他們已經(jīng)(對(duì)這件事)有了全新的認(rèn)識(shí);而就在那一刻，他們已經(jīng)向我——也向未來許下了一個(gè)珍貴的承諾。

非常感謝各位!