From Walls to Bridges
I'm studying in a city famous for its walls. All visitors to my city are amazed by the imposing sight of the city walls, silhouetted by the setting sun with gold and shining lines. With old, cracked bricks patched with lichen, the walls are weather-beaten guards, standing still for centuries in protecting the city.
Our ancestors liked to build walls. They built walls in Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing and many other cities, and they built the Great Wall, which snakes through half of our country. They built walls to ward off enemies and evil spirits. This tradition has been maintained to this day as we still have many parks and schools walled off from the public. I grew up at the foot of the city walls, and I've loved them since my childhood. For a long time, walls were one of the most natural things in the world.
My perception, however, changed after a hiking trip to the Eastern Suburbs, a scenic area of my city. My classmates and I were walking with some international students. As we walked out of the city, we found ourselves flanked by taller and taller trees, which formed a huge canopy above our heads. Suddenly an international student asked me, "Where is the entrance to the Eastern Suburbs?"
"We're already in the Eastern Suburbs," I replied.
He seemed taken aback, "I thought you Chinese have walls for everything." His remark set off a heated debate. At one point, he likened our walled cities to "jails," while I insisted that the Eastern Suburbs were one of the many places in China that had no walls.
That debate had no winners, but I did learn a lot from this international student. For instance, he told me that universities like Oxford and Cambridge were not surrounded by walls; the campuses were just part of the cities. I have to admit that we do have many walls in China, and as we are developing our country, we must carefully examine them, whether they are physical or intangible. We will keep some walls but tear down those that impede China's development.
Let me give you an example.
A year ago, when I was working on a term paper, I needed a book on business law and found a copy in the law school library. However, the librarian turned down my request with a cold shoulder, saying, "You can't borrow this book, you are not a student here." In the end, I had to spend 200 yuan buying a copy; meanwhile, the copy in law school was gathering dust on the shelf.
At the beginning of this semester, I heard that my university has started not only to unify its libraries but also link them up with libraries of other universities, so my experience will not be repeated. Barriers will be replaced by bridges. Through an inter-library loan system, we will have access to books from any library. With globalization, with China integrated into the world, I believe many of these intangible walls will be knocked down.
I know globalization is a controversial issue, and it is hard to say whether it is good or bad. But one thing is for sure: it draws our attention to China's tangible and intangible walls and forces us to examine their roles in the modern world.
And how about the ancient walls in my city and other cities? Should we tear them down? Just the opposite. My city, like Beijing and other cities, is actually making a great effort to preserve the walls. These walls attract not only historians and archeologists but also many schoolchildren trying to study our history and cultural heritage. Walls have turned into bridges to our past and to the rest of the world. If the ancient builders of these walls were still alive today, they would be proud to see such great change in the role of their walls. They are now bridges that link East and West, South and North, and all countries of the world. Our cultural heritage will survive globalization.
Chinese intellectual revolution and sociopolitical reform movement. In 1915young intellectuals inspired by Chen Duxiu began agitating for the reform andstrengthening of Chinese society through acceptance of Western science,democracy, and schools of thought, one objective being to make China strongenough to resist Western imperialism. On May 4, 1919, reformist zeal found focusin a protest by Beijings students against the Versailles Peace Conferencesdecision to transfer former German concessions in China to Japan. After morethan a month of demonstrations, strikes, and boycotts of Japanese goods, thegovernment gave way and refused to sign the peace treaty with Germany. Themovement spurred the successful reorganization of the Nationalist Party and gavebirth to the Chinese Communist Party. See also Treaty of Versailles.
中国知识分子的革命和社会政治改革运动。1915青年知识分子的灵感来自于陈独秀开始鼓动改革和加强华人社会通过接受西方科学，民主，和学校的思想，一个目的是使中国强大到足以抵抗西方帝国主义。1919年5月4日，改革的热情，发现北京的学生对凡尔赛和平会议的决定，特许权转让前德国在中国对日本抗议的焦点。经过一个多月的示威游行，罢工，和抵制日货，政府给予的方式，拒绝与德国签署和平条约。运动引发的民族主义党成功重组，催生了中国共产党。又见凡尔赛条约。
ladies and gentlemen , good afternoon! i’m very glad to stand here and give you a short speech. today my topic is “youth”. i hope you will like it , and found the importance in your youth so that more cherish it.
first i want to ask you some questions:
1、do you know what is youth?
2、how do you master your youth?
youth
youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind ; it is not rosy cheeks , red lips and supple knees, it is a matter of the emotions : it is the freshness ; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life .
youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite , for adventure over the love of ease. this often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20 . nobody grows old merely by a number of years . we grow old by deserting our ideals.
years wrinkle the skin , but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul . worry , fear , self –distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust .
whether 60 of 16 , there is in every human being ‘s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living . in the center of your heart and my heart there’s a wireless station : so long as it receives messages of beauty , hope ,cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long as you are young .
when the aerials are down , and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old ,even at 20 , but as long as your aerials are up ,to catch waves of optimism , there is hope you may die young at 80.
thank you!
In our daily lives, we have many choices to make, such as what to eat forsupper,what clothes to wear, or what to do on weekends. at certain times in ourlives, we need to make even more critical choices, such as which school toattend, what job to take or who to choose as husband or wife. yes, life is amatter of choice. seemimgly, it means a choice of tangible things. but inessence, it means choosing a way of life. life is to be lived, savored, andenjoyed, not to be wasted or complained about.
Hardly can we forget the time when our society faced the grave threat fromthe life-and-death disease--sars. yet, even during those dreadful times, someafflicted people remained optimistic. instead of wearing neutral white masks,some people turned to colouful ones, and thus display a happy mood. and somecreative people dubbed sars to mean "smile and remain smiling." i was deeplytouched by their optimisim, nearly forgetting that we're still in a battle.people who survive these kinds of circumstances, (at some point)decide in theirminds to carry on in spite of the overwhelming odds.
Laid-off workers, typically regarded as the victims of economicadvancement, are subject to desperation that being unmeployed has brought onthem. but, encouragingly, we have witnessed some of them striving hard torebuild confidence toward life and discover new opportunities for demonstratingtheir values.
Although we cannot choose our appearance, inborn gifts and even avoidunexpected disasters and adversities, we do have the privilege to choose to liveoptimistcally,to love our lives, to have dreams, and to cherish hopes.
Every morning when we get up, we have a choice of how we want to approachlife that day. as for me, i choose to be cheerful.
A Scene to Remember
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen:
Today I would like to begin with a story. There was once a physical therapist who traveled all the way from America to Africa to do a census about mountain gorillas. These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; this put them severely under threat of 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 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. Diana Fossey, who spent most of her 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 timeless reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our eco-environment.
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 are 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 appalling 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 eroding 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 are receiving donations - big notes, small notes or even coins - from housewives, plumbers, ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and invalids. Some of them cannot 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 be remembered, a scene to recall and to cherish.
The other night, as I 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 something else, someplace else, a place remembered, a place untouched, a field of grass where no one seemed to have been except the deer.
And all those unforgettable scenes strengthened the feeling that it's time for us to do something, for our own and our coming generation.
Once again, I have come to think of Mrs. Diana Fossey because it is 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 minds, there's always a scene to remember, a scene worth our effort to protect it and fight for it.
Thank you very much.
the vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.
death. old age. are words without a meaning. that paby us like the idea air which we regard not. others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them-we "bear a charmed life“, which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. as in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward-
bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail!
and see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance; so, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations. nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. we have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag; and it seems that we can go on so forever. we look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseleprogress; and feel in ourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave. it is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedneof our feelings in youth, that (so to speak) identifies us with nature, and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. our short-lives connection with existence we fondly flatter ourselves, is an indissoluble and lasting union-a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation. as infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us0we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more-objects prearound us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death.
Good afternoon ，ladies and gentlemen!
I’m very honored to stand here and give you a short speech! To begin with ,I want to ask a question .Does everybody dream a good dream last night? Actually ,today I want to talk about dream with you. Of course, What I want to talk is not a dream you have last night,but a dream—— about life.
Everyone has dreams about life, different dreams at different life stage,and we need dreams to support us. Dreams are like the stars we never reach in the sky,but like most mariners(水手),we can chart our course by them. With the dream,we have a direction,with a direction, we were no longer confused.With the dream, there is hope,With hope, we have the strength to fight.
I have a dream: To be a doctor.，because doctor may relieve the pain of patients. May let the human change the health. At the same time, I believed that, those who help others may be able to obtain joyfully. Therefore, I hoped in the near future ,I might be a doctor.
But I know，life is tough,and there are always ups and downs, maybe we fail in the way to our aims,and we may feel depressed ,whenever at this time, the dream in our heart can always comfort us, encourage us ,and support us to move ahead .
Young!Fortunately, I am young now. Just due to it, I know that nothing is impossible.I firmly believe that nothing can stand in my way. If I can't realize my dream,it result from that I haven't work harder enough and I won't find other excuses. If no people believe you, you can make it to prove that you are right. If you think the god haven't blessed you and there is no truth here, you can become the god and create the truth.
"My breath swallows the sky and make the yellow river overflow, my sword is famous in Kyushu and it can collapse the five sacred mountains." At some time in the past I also had am bitious words and I had some achievements. Each achievement results from my hard work. I always believe that "If you want to have more achievements than others, you must work harder." In some extent, the dream is the hope. If you can insist on doing something, the victory will come.
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow. So my dear friends, think of your old and maybe dead dreams. Whatever it is, pick it up and make it alive from today. Let's--- move ----out!
Thank you for your listening!
Dream, everybody has. However, I think, the dream as the growth of the age, will change at any time!
The dream of the age of three
When I was 3 years old, although also just a girl, but, we also have a 3 years old dream! My dream is to every day can eat to the color seductive jelly beans! The kindergarten every day, dad and creak on his bicycle to pick me up, I will think, dad today will certainly bring color jelly beans to pick me up. But, want to return to, dad didn't often bring me eat jelly beans. At that time, I will run to dad's arms, with a peevish tone to dad said: "dad, are you to buy me some color jelly beans?" Father seems a little angry: "oh, don't buy, not buy, jelly beans to eat many will have decayed tooth!" I still don't give up: "I'm not eat every day, you can buy!" Sometimes, after my request for a long time, father finally agreed to me, I am happy to eat a dream at the age of 3, fruity! The food is delicious.
At the age of 8 dream
At the age of eight, I had been sitting in the third grade. Said dream, also won't go to jelly beans. At that time, I am addicted to reading.
Mother and I went to a backgammon supermarket, I entered the house, left flip, flip right, when turn to a book - the story character, I carefully looked up, I could see them forget all about eating and sleeping, even my mother told me to go home, I did not hear. Aunt until the store is closed, when I go home, I was pleased. After that, I often go to read a book, of course, I have mastered a lot of writing skills. The teacher also to me a thumbs-up! The book gives me knowledge and fun.
Dream at the age of 11
At the age of 11, I was in the sixth grade, my dream is as bigger, my dream is to enter key middle school at 1 or 4. Had the goal, to work harder. I write my homework every day, the remedial class around in my side every day, although very hard, very tired, but I still insist on, don't be difficult tripping, strive to succeed.
Because the dream with my growth, let me track on the road to success.
Everyone tries to achieve success in his/her career. But some finally attain their aims while others fail. Why? Some continue their cause to the end through long period of hard struggles， but others are easily disappointed and stop halfway.
Strong will， perseverance and diligence are the three essentials of success. A man of strong will and perseverance always has an inflexible spirit. He sticks to his cause no matter how tough it might be. Life is short and we have too much to do. Without diligence no one can achieve anything.
I believe that where there is a will there is a way， and that success belongs to those who can make constant efforts.
Don't be afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living， and your belief will help create the fact.
Good morning,everyone!.
From all the warm applause, i am of my classmates have hope. i will be with perseverance and tenacity to laugh last!
what is life? is patience, tenacity, perseverance is perseverance, perseverance is a kind of toward the goal diligently pursue the process, a destination never give up the spirit!
life is not easy, there are test; life is not smooth, often need to exercise. cannot persist in their pursuit for ideal, can't keep on carving to efforts, will be without a single success.
the development of training, in the face of10 meters of rock climbing and bungy jumping, all the students without fear, the courage to climb, especially some female students to overcome the physiological and psychological aspects of persistent limit, climb, bent upward; we are going forward, courageously try to be the first performance, and take concrete actions to interpret the essence and connotation of perseverance!
one persistent tenacity is strong from the need of necessary conditions. in the face of adversity is from, in the face of difficulties do not bow their heads, is a heroic performance. ancient cloud: adversity makes a man wise, what makes a hero. the setback and the attack for the strong is the driving force and pressure, is succeand victory! as everyone knows, he was arrested and his book; zhong ni and qu yuan banished for spring and autumn; ode to a left thalamic blindness, mandarin; sima qian; the" historical records" prison; beethoven wrote" moonlight sonata". be too numerous to enumerate examples, but the truth is only one, it is perseverance!
in his daily sailing kolumb diary is always written with such a sentence:" we keep going!" this sentence may seem trivial, but contains a profound truth. with this advance courageously spirit, they marched towards the vast sea, acrothe tempestuous waves, after savage wilderness, overcome go through untold hardships, finally found a new continent, completed the history of an amazing feat!
have one words of song, everyone for having heard it many times," no experience of wind and rain, how to see rainbow!" the road of life is not smooth, but carries a beautiful dream, just stick to the direction of life, they will be able to create their own or even human miracle!
finally, i would like to use a poem:ugly bat with thousands of years of hard work was to win the praise of the poet a buffalo with a million works won the painter's green eyes,we are not born for fame and live to die，we are for the faith and to fight song!
Thank you.
In Calaveras, California, there lived a man whose name was Jim Smiley. Jimenjoyed betting somuch that he would bet on anything. If anyone said goodmorning to him, he would bet themthat it was not a good morning. Whenever therewas a horse race or a chicken fight, Jim wouldbet on it. He didn’t care whichside he bet on, as long as he had a bet.
One day, Jim showed a frog to a stranger who had just arrived in Calaveras,and bet thestranger forty dollars that the frog can jump farther and faster thanany other in CalaverasCounty. The stranger said he didn’t see anything about thefrog different from any other, and ifhe had a frog he would bet Jim. Jim lefthis frog with the stranger and go out to find a frog forthe stranger. Meanwhile,the stranger took out a bag of gunshot, forcing the frog’s mouthopen and pouredthe shot into it.
Soon Jim returned with a frog for the stranger.The two frogs were put onthe floor, and theneach man gave his frog a push. The stranger’s frog hopped offsmartly. But Jim’s frog just satthere, unable to move an inch. Jim had nochoice. He gave forty dollars to the stranger, whotook the money and startedaway. Jim picked up his frog, and found it extremely heavy. Heturned it upsidedown, and the gunshot came out. He knew he had been fooled and, like a madman,started running after the stranger.
As he ran, he passed one of his friends, who asked him where he wasgoing.
"To catch a thief!" shouted Jim. "No matter how fast he may run, I'll catchhim. I'll bet you fivedollars!"
在加利福尼亚的卡拉维拉斯县，有个人名叫吉姆?斯迈里。他好打赌，见什么赌什么。要是有人跟他说“早上好”，他会说，这天早上不怎么样，不信就打个赌。只要有赛马和斗鸡，他都要去赌。在哪一边下注他不在乎，有机会赌就行。
有一天，吉姆见到一个来到卡拉维拉斯县的陌生人，就把自己的一只青蛙给他看，说这是卡拉维拉斯全县跳得最快最远的青蛙，不信就打个赌，赌40块钱。陌生人说他看不出那只蛙有什么非凡之处，如果他手头有一只蛙，就赌一赌。听了这话，吉姆就把自己的青蛙交给陌生人看管，出去为陌生人找一只蛙来。他不在的时候，陌生人掏出一口袋***，掰开青蛙嘴，把***灌了进去。
不久吉姆就给陌生人带了一只青蛙回来。两只青蛙在地上摆好，然后各人将各自的青蛙轻轻一推。陌生人的青蛙一下子就跳起来，跳得好快好远。但吉姆的蛙却呆在那里纹丝不动，像钉在地上似的。吉姆无奈，只得交出40块钱。陌生人拿了钱就走了。吉姆把自己的蛙拿起来，觉得沉甸甸的。他把蛙倒提起来一抖，***掉了出来。他知道自己上了当，就像疯子似的去追陌生人。
正跑着，一个朋友瞧见他，不问他风风火火地去干什么。
“去抓贼!”他吼道，“无论他跑得有多快，我都要追上他。不信打5块钱的赌!”
Money and Honor
the duality of money has been puzzling people since its first appearante. on the one hand, clean money can sweeten your life, help you succeed and be your lifelong faithful companion. on the other hand, dirty money may posion your mind, ruin your happiness and discard you suddenly as a false friend.
the market economy tells us that everyone should earn a living by selling something. professors sell their knowledge, workers sell their labor, farmers sell their produce. money now appears more powerful than anything else and drives people crazy. the temptation of money often challenges one's honor. we are not ashamed to make more money to have a better life by our sweat. however,there is a widespread concern that millionaires become the heroes no matter whether they make any contribution to our society. some people try desperately to make big money, which, more often than not, end up with degradation, corruption and crime.
though money is indispensable to our life, dirty money may drag us into hell. there are many things no money can buy. we will keep our honor intact at any cost because it is our soul. love of money is the root of all evil. for myself, i would rather die than dishonor myself for money.
It is quite usual that one meets failures, for one's life can never be plain sailing. However, different people hold different attitudes towards failure. Some people think it a heavy blow to fail in achieving something and they can not endure failure.
When they meet failure, they will be seriously dejected and can never pluck up their courage to try again.
However, others think it natural to meet failures in one's career. Therefore, they are psychologically prepared. When they meet failures, they will not be frustrated. Instead, they will continue to meet new challenges. As to me, I'm in favor of the latter view. Failure is really a terrible thing but it is also the mother of success. If one draws lessons from failures, in most cases he will get success in the future. Furthermore, one's life can never be smooth sailing; it must be full of difficulies and setbacks. If one is daunted by difficulies and frustrations, he will always be a failure. However, if one holds a positive attitude toward failure, he will overcome difficulties and frustrations to win victory.
Failure is so common in our life. No one can avoid it. When we fail in doing something, we often feel so depressed that we have no interest in other things. Sometimes failure can also make us lose heart. Therefore, no one wants to be a failure.
Success is what we all hope for, because it can bring us a sense of pride and a good reputation. The moment we succeed, we always feel so proud, as if having everything in our hands. If one enjoys his continuous success in his career, he will be famous and worshiped by others.
However, failure is the mother of success. One failure doesn’t mean you can never be successful. It depends on what we do to deal with failure. Those who are always afraid of failure and can’t go through it will never win. But as long as we can get some lessons and experience from our failure, we’ll be sure to succeed.