English Speech Contest, Students’ Talent Show

——记合肥七中高新校区英语演讲比赛

12月18日下午，合肥七中高新校区英语演讲比赛顺利落下帷幕，作为校园科技艺术文化节的一部分，英语演讲比赛一直是备受学生关注的一个活动，也是学生将平日的英语学习运用于实践、展现自己英语水平的一个良好平台。

The English Speech Contest of Hefei No. 7 Middle School, held on the new campus came to an end on December 18th afternoon, a great success. As part of Science and Art Festival, English Speech Contest, a good platform for students to practice what they have learned in class and show their English talent, is always being an activity attracting many students’ interest.

本次的英语演讲比赛从公告到初选再到决赛，前后共持续了两周之久。从初选开始，学生们就表现出了极高的参赛热情。初选要求从每个班选出两名参赛选手，各班的初选形式不一，或自主报名、或同学推荐、或老师推荐。限于规则，每个班级只能推荐两名选手，而有的班级报名选手很多，让老师不得不忍痛割爱，筛选掉一些选手，虽然可惜，但相信他们准备比赛的过程本身就是一场难忘的经历。

This English Speech Contest, from try-out to the final, lasted for two weeks,. Students brought forth strong enthusiasm from the very beginning. It was required that each class recommend two candidates. The ways of recommending varied from class to class, including self-enrollment, classmates’ election and teachers’ assignment. Due to the limit to the number of candidates, it was a pity that most students had no chance to participate in the final competition; however, the process of preparing for the try-out was definitely an unforgettable experience for them.

初选到决赛之间的准备期间，选手们更是积极备战，课间总能见到各个办公室英语老师身边围着一些学生，或拿着演讲稿请老师帮助修改润色，或在老师面前演讲开来，请老师纠正语音语调，指导手势姿态，其用心程度已经可以得满分。

Before the final came, students had spared no effort to make preparations. They came to the teachers’ during the break, some asking for teachers’ advice on how to polish their composition, some inviting their teachers to tutor them in their pronunciation, intonation and gestures. Their devotion deserves full marks.

决赛在12月17、18日两天下午的第四节课如期举行。本次演讲比赛形式为脱稿演讲，演讲主题有两种选择，一是既定主题“friendship（友谊）”，二是学生自选主题。来自24个班的48名学生带来了跟“友谊”、“梦想”、“坚持”、“现代科技”等话题有关的一个又一个精彩的演讲。有的娓娓道来与朋友间感人的友情故事，有的慷慨激昂地诉说着自己的梦想，有的激情澎湃地鼓舞大家“永不言弃”，还有的用实例告诫大家不要被科技剥夺了生活的乐趣，让人深思……除了内容，选手们的表现也是可圈可点。他们标准的发音、大气的台风、新颖的创意以及举手投足间流露出的自信都让台下的观众、评委们点头称赞。经过激励的角逐，来自高一（六）班的王子腾同学以9分（满分10分）的高分获得了本次比赛的第一名，与张心怡、袁金娇、朱雨晴同学共获一等奖；张馨然等9位同学荣获二等奖，钱舒健等11位同学荣获三等奖。

The final took place on the afternoons of December 17th and 18th as scheduled. Students were required to make an unscripted speech and meanwhile they were free to choose topics if they didn’t want to make a speech on the predetermined topic ‘friendship’. Contestants from 24 classes presented wonderful speeches with topics ranging from ‘friendship’, ‘dream’, ‘persistence’, to ‘modern technology’ and so on. Audience and judges were deeply impressed by their performance in terms of their standard pronunciation, elegant stage manners, creative ideas as well as their confidence. After a competitive contest, the first prize went to Wang Ziteng, Zhang Xinyi, Yuan Jinjiao, Zhu Yuqing, among whom Wang got the highest score; Zhang xinran and another eight students won the second prize, Qian Shujian and ten other students winning the third prize.

校园科技文化艺术节旨在展现七中学子风貌、促进学生个性发展和全面发展，本次英语演讲比赛恰好给学生提供了一个展示自我的机会，既丰富了学生的课余生活，又增进了学生对英语学习的热情，获得师生的一致好评。

Science and Art Festival aims to provide students with an opportunity to reveal themselves as members of Hefei No. 7 Middle School, to build their personality and to get an all-round development. As part of the festival, English Speech Contest just gave students such a chance, enriching their after-class life and promoting their learning enthusiasm, which was highly spoken of by both teachers and students.