Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I would like to begin with a story.
There was once a physical 1) therapist who traveled all the way from America to Africa to do a 2) census about mountain 3) gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; this put them severely under threat of 4) poaching and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we've ever been, where in the very depth of the African rainforest, surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas 5) cuddled their babies.
Yes, that's a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies, called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs. Dian Fossey, who spent most of bet lifetime in Rwanda to protect the ecoenvironment there until the very end of her life.
To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a 6) timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our ecoenvironment.
Today, we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21st century, provides people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. But on the other hand, many problems can occur---natural scenes aren't natural anymore. Deforestation to heat lodges is devastating Nepal. Oil spills from tourist boats are polluting Antarctica. Tribal people are forsaking their native music and dress to listen to U2 on Walkman and wear Nike and Reeboks.
All these 7) appalling(令人震惊的) facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been 8) eroding(侵蚀) our resources.
Encouragingly, the explosive growth of global travel has put tourism again in the spotlight, which is why the United Nations has made 20xx the year of ecotourism, for the first time to bring to the world's attention the benefits of tourism, but also its capacity to destroy our ecoenvironment.
Now every year, many local ecoenvironmental protection organizations an: receiving donations--big notes, small notes or even coins--from housewives, 9) plumbers(水管工人), ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and 10) invalids(残疾人), Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in hospitals, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care. Because they still want their Mother Nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them.
This kind of feeling that I have, ladies and gentlemen, is when it feels like it, smells like it, and looks like it, it's all coming from a scene to remember, a scene to recall and to cherish.
The other night, as l saw the moon linger over the land and before it was sent into the invisible, my mind was filled with songs. I found myself humming softly, not to the music, but to some- thing else, someplace else. a place remembered, a place untouched, a field of grass where no one seem to have been except the deer.
And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it's lime for us to do something, for our own and our coming generation. Once again, I have come to think of Mrs. Dian Fossey be- cause it's with her spirit, passion, courage and strong sense of our ecoenvironment that we are taking our next step into the world.
And no matter who we are, what we do and where we go, in our mind, there's always a scene to remember, a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it.
Thank you very much.
Thanks,contestant#18.The topic for your impromptu speech is:Which is more important for you: knowledge from books or personal experience? Answer: Thank you. I remember, on my very first day of my beloved university, one of my professors said to me,“From now on, you’ll be on a journey between who you think you are and who yo can be.The key is to allow yourself to continue the journey in the ocean of the books.”And I do learn a lot from books: I know the geometry of Euclid, logic of
Aristotle, fable of Aesop known to children around the world. Well, no offense to all those great authors of the books, but during my three years at my university, I do realize that personal experience through practice means more to me. As we are in this global information age where both economic growth and individual opportunity are based on ideas, a commitment to providing all human beings the golden opportunity to develop themselves is so vital, not only to the people here, but all around. As we are in this transformational age where communications and commerce are global, investments are mobile, technology is almost magical, and the ambition for a better life is now universal, and I think this is why we are here today. We want to earn our personal experience through practicing our oral English, sharing our opinions of tourism and ecology with all the judges and audience here. And I think we are so lucky to be alive at this moment of the history. Never before have our nation enjoyed so much prospertity and so much social progress with so little internal crises.And never before have our young people had so much great opportunity to practice ourselves and, therefore, have a profound obligation to build a more perfect nation of our ancestor’s dream. And I think our government had provided us young people with the tools and condition to build the future of our dreams. Even if we know some rules, some regulations, or experiences from our books, we still simply cannot graft it onto today’s busier, more impersonal,complicated world. Instead, our challenges is to arrive at a consensus values and common vision of what we can do today individually andcollectively to build a strong family and strong community, and above all, make the world a better place for us to live. Thank you very much. Contestant#18, in your speech, you talked about ecotourism. Could you explain to us difference between ordinary tourists and e-tourists, or ecotourists?
Answer: Thank you for your question. And I think the key issue is the differences between our awareness. Fot example, if you want to go to a place to have a trip, enjoy your trip. And I think before you get on board, get on the bus, you can have the awareness that “I’m not a polluter, but an environment keeper.” We’re not go to all those scenic spots to estroy all those beautiful scenes but we to appreciate the Mother Nature giving us so much things. Thank you very much.
Contestant #18,now that information technology is becoming more and more accessible to people in China, do you think books will become less and less important?
Answer: Well, I think, maybe, umm, I don’t think that all those echnologies can replace the importance of books. We’re in our modern village where so many new industries—IT industries, tourism ndustries—crop up every day and this brave new world seem a little bit dehumanizing and inhospitable to a lot of people.The world can no longer be defined as a place on a map or list or people in organizations but I think the true value, the essence of our village remains the same.It is the network of values relationship that support our lives and we can learn those things from our books because books is the very first beginning stage of what we learn. Thank you very much.
I’d like to ask you a question about your prepared speech,please. You mention that the UN has declated the year 20xx, I think it was, “The Year of Ecotourism.” Do you think that such gestures really serve a purpose? Answer: And I think one of my teachers said to me, when I prepared my prepared speech, and he tells me that if we pay more attention to omething like environmental protection or ecotourism, it is more, it is better for us to bear in mind we should learn something in our hearts, we should have something about the awareness about how to pay more respect to our environment, not to talk about something orally but to bear something in our hearts. Follow our hearts, our environment can be better.Thank you very much.
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