First, I want to ask you a question; What does family mean? Someone told me: It means Father And Mother, I Love You.
Today I am very happy to stand here to express my opinion to my dear parents. First, I want to say thank you to my mom and dady .Without you, I would not enjoy such a colorful life. You both love me for ever and never leave me alone when I was in trouble. Thank you. Mom and dady, thank you. When I was in my hard time, you are my tender sunshine which encourages me to hold on and never give up. And now I am too excited .I don't know how to express my true feeling with limited words. What I know is that without you my life will be filled with endless suffering and mistake .
Thank you!
I received a devastating blow to my self-confidence in the first interview of my college years. I applied to be a host in our Student Acting Troupe and felt confident that I would be accepted. But one of the panel members told me: "You seem inadequate and you are a little vertically-challenged." My life has never been the same since. I used bigger heels to complement my height and psychological maneuvers and tricks to hide my lack of confidence. But no matter how hard I tried to look the part, there was still something missing.
As president of English Club, I organized the rehearsal of Snow White for an English party. Unfortunately, we could not find an actor to be the last dwarf. It had to be someone who was humorous by nature and fluent in English. Suddenly, all eyes turned to me, and I knew I would have to be the dwarf. To my great surprise and delight, once on stage, I was totally absorbed in the performance and my humorous nature was put to full use. As the dwarf, I was a big hit.
Yes, each of us is only one among millions of others, but each of us is an individual and each of us is unique. Cultivating our individuality will transform our lives, making of them a kaleidoscope of new colors and textures.
A world deprived of diversity would be a bland and boring place. The real tragedy is not being short or shy or ugly, but having your identity lost in a world in which everyone is a clone of a model cool boy or a flawless charming girl.
Given a choice, I would rather be ugly than live in such a world. I'd rather be a genuine dwarf accompanying a Snow White than be a Snow White among nothing but Snow Whites. I would rather be myself. I would contribute my individual and unique colors to create a more diverse universe. Please, be yourself.
Hi everybody.
Beauty usually refers to what appeals to the eye. A nice and well built girl is regarded as beautiful. A bunch of vigorous flowers are also considered as beautiful. A splendid waterfall coming down from a mountain is as well looked on as beautiful.
Beauty also refers to what appeals to the mind. The virtue of the Chinese nation-industry and bravery are taken as beautiful, because it helped to produce such a magnificent culture in the world. Einstein's theory of relativity is also perceived as beautiful, for it explains many natural phenomena so perfectly.
Beauty is around us. If you keep an eye or pay some attention, it is never difficult to find something beautiful somewhere about you. Wonderful natural spots, historical relics,fine arts, splendid buildings, and kind people are just a few inches away.
thank you.
Let me begin my speech with a replay of scenes familiar to most, if not all, of those present here today. “Mum, I'm sorry, but I need 3,000 yuan for my tuition this year.”
“Mum, it is my friend's birthday tomorrow, I must buy her a present.”
“Mum, this jacket was out of fashion long ago, would you do me a favor? ”
Take. Take. Take. The relationship between a mother and a child always seems to follow such a pattern. I know my mother is always there for me, providing me with everything I need; from food to clothing, from tuition to pocket money. I never thought twice about all she did until one day she said, “Will there be a time that you'll say you have taken enough from me? ”
Like a child endlessly asking, we humans, throughout history, have been continually demanding what we desire from nature. We enjoy the comfort and beauty of our furniture, yet we never bother to think about the serious soil erosion caused by deforestation. We take it for granted that we must warm ourselves in winter times, yet we seldom realize the burning away of precious natural resources. We appreciate all the prosperity from the development of modern industry, yet few would give the slightest consideration to the global air and water pollution caused by industrial wastes. Our ruthless exploitation has permanently impaired our mother earth. As we tragically learned from last summer's floods. we cannot continue our carelessness.
The second door is the door to the outside world. Learning goes beyond classrooms and national boundaries. My aunt remembers her previous college days as monotonous and even calls her generation “frogs in a well.” But today, as the world becomes a global village, it is important that our neighbors and we be open-minded to learn with and from each other. I have many fellow international classmates, and I am applying to an exchange program with a university abroad. As for my aunt, she is planning to get an MBA degree in the United Kingdom where her daughter, my cousin, is now doing her master's degree in biochemistry. We are now taking the opportunity to study overseas, and when we come back, we'll put to use what we have learnt abroad.
The third door is the door to lifelong learning. As new ideas appear all the time, we always need to acquire new knowledge, regardless of our age. Naturally, my aunt herself is the best example. Many of my aunt's contemporaries say that she is amazingly up-to-date for a middle-aged woman. She simply responds,“Age doesn't matter. What matters is your attitude. You may think it's strange that I am still going to college, but I don't think I'm too old to learn.”Yes, she is right. Since the government removed the age limit for college admissions in 20xx, there are already some untraditional students, sitting with us in the same classrooms. Like these people, my aunt is old but she is very young in spirit. With her incredible energy and determination, she embodies both tradition and modernity.
The doors open to us also pose challenges. For instance, we are faced with the challenge of a balanced learning, the challenge of preserving our fine tradition while learning from the West, and the challenge of learning continuously while carrying heavy responsibilities to our work and family. So, each door is a test of our courage, ability and judgment, but with the support of my teachers, parents, friends and my aunt, I believe I can meet the challenge head on. When I reach my aunt's age, I can be proud to say that I have walked through dozens of doors and will, in the remainder of my life, walk through many more. Possibly I will go back to college, too.
Everyone is attracted by beauty and beauty is powerful. But what is true beauty? Perhaps you can get the answer from the following story.
This morning I went to the market to buy some vegetables with my parents. On the way we all highly praised a young man in western-style clothes and leather shoes who was riding by. But he rode so fast that he knocked an old lady down carelessly.Instead of stopping， he pretended not to see this and rode away quickly. We were all very angry with the young man. To our happiness， a girl in plain dress ran forward at once， helped the lady up and took her home. We all praised the girl.
From this we know we cannot judge a person by his appearance. A person who is dressed beautifully may not have a beautiful soul. Only a person who has a beautiful soul is really beautiful.
翻译：人人都被美和美所吸引，是有力量的。但什么是真正的美?也许你可以从下面的故事得到答案。
今天早上我去市场买了一些蔬菜和我的父母。路上我们都高度赞扬了一名年轻男子西装革履的骑着。但是他骑得太快了，他不小心撞倒了一个老太太，而不是停止，他假装没有看到这个，很快就骑走了。我们都很生这个年轻人的气。为了我们的幸福，一个穿着朴素的女孩立刻跑上前，帮助那位女士走了过来，把她带回家了。我们都表扬了那个女孩。
从这个我们知道，我们不能判断一个人的外表。一个穿着漂亮的人可能没有一个美丽的灵魂。只有拥有一个美丽灵魂的人才是真正的美丽。
Three months ago,twenty six boys and four girls gathered together on the ground of the university
Of Geosciences,At that moment ,they formed the class numbered 111112.
Time passed by,and I conclude one idea in my mind.Well ,this idea doesn’t only come from my unyielding
faith in the united spirit of the chinese people but it also comes from my own story.
I am an eighteen year-old boy who has never experienced being away from my parents for more than a month.At first,I thought I have to learn to be independent and I woulde have to overcome the difficulties with no one to depend on.
But a story changed my mind.
Five days ago,I got a heavy cold.Recalling that day’s event,I was in low condition and felt helpless in the bed,however,after knowing what had happened,one of classmates just say” I will accompany you along the way to the hospital and the way back to school.”That single moment of his words may not mean much.But it is where we start,it is where we all form the common belief that your guys’ shoulders will be ready for you whenever you are in need of help even though in the risky of falling behind in study.The class you are in will be your another family.
And there is also another story I would like to mention here,Our class ranked low in this month,but there are not blames,not critics,not anything like you should have done it better.We just say”We can,and we will do it better and better step after step.”
Well, I think the two things just reflect one spirit which has seared into my heart that we may come from different places and we may have different stories and we may move in the different directions towards different futures.But we all would give the world to make our class shine.we are not only the sum of its parts that out of many,we are truly one.
How to Be Popular
Most people would like to be popular with others, but not everyone can achieve this goal. What is the secret to popularity? In fact, it is very simple. The first step is to improve our appearance. We should always make sure that we stay in good shape and dress well. When we are healthy and well-groomed, we will not only look better but also feel better. In addition, we should smile and appear friendly. After all, our facial expression is an important part of our appearance. If we can do this, people will be attracted to our good looks and impressed by our confidence.
Another important step is developing more consideration for others. We should always put others first and place their interests before our own. It's also important to be good listeners; in this way people will feel comfortable enough to confide in us. However, no matter what we do, we must not gossip. Above all, we must remember to be ourselves, not phonies. Only by being sincere and respectful of others can we earn their respect. If we can do all of the above, I am sure popularity will come our way.
now none of this is to say that social skills are unimportant, and i'm also not calling for the abolishing of teamwork at all. the same religions who send their sages off to lonely mountain tops also teach us love and trust. and the problems that we are facing today in fields like science and in economics are so vast and so complex that we are going to need armies of people coming together to solve them working together. but i am saying that the more freedom that we give introverts to be themselves, the more likely that they are to come up with their own unique solutions to these problems.
so now i'd like to share with you what's in my suitcase today. guess what? books. i have a suitcase full of books. here's margaret atwood, “cat's eye.“ here's a novel by milan kundera. and here's “the guide for the perplexed“ by maimonides. but these are not exactly my books. i brought these books with me because they were written by my grandfather's favorite authors.
my grandfather was a rabbi and he was a widower who lived alone in a small apartment in brooklyn that was my favorite place in the world when i was growing up, partly because it was filled with his very gentle, very courtly presence and partly because it was filled with books. i mean literally every table, every chair in this apartment had yielded its original function to now serve as a surface for swaying stacks of books. just like the rest of my family, my grandfather's favorite thing to do in the whole world was to read.
but he also loved his congregation, and you could feel this love in the sermons that he gave every week for the 62 years that he was a rabbi. he would takes the fruits of each week's reading and he would weave these intricate tapestries of ancient and humanist thought. and people would come from all over to hear him speak.
but here's the thing about my grandfather. underneath this ceremonial role, he was really modest and really introverted -- so much so that when he delivered these sermons, he had trouble making eye contact with the very same congregation that he had been speaking to for 62 years. and even away from the podium, when you called him to say hello, he would often end the conversation prematurely for fear that he was taking up too much of your time. but when he died at the age of 94, the police had to close down the streets of his neighborhood to accommodate the crowd of people who came out to mourn him. and so these days i try to learn from my grandfather's example in my own way.
some friends are called fair-weather friends, because they are together just for entertaining themselves by eating, drinking, and gossiping. once there's nothing to eat and drink, their friendship is finished. some are spiritual friends who share common ambitions, pursuits and education. “they enjoy talking and laughing with the great talents and never make friends with the good-for-nothings”. the best examples would be yu boya and zhong ziqi of the ancient times who are famous not only for their lofty music but mainly for their lofty characters and mutual understanding and appreciation. they cared very little about material wealth, so their friendship is known as “gentlemen's friendship as pure as water”.the third type of friendship belong to those who show their utter devotion to each other. they are ready not only to share weal and woe but also to die for each other, like the three brothers liu, guan and zhang in the novel romance of the three kingdoms. . we all wish to have this kind of friendship, but it's of great difficulty for the ordinary people to be as devoted as they were.
fraternal love or friendship is wide-ranged and flexible. generally speaking, everyone is our friend, just as chairman mao says “our friends are all over the world”。 but transcend age, sex, nationality, state and economic conditions. to them the most important is common benefit, common interest and understanding. friendship is formed during the course of studying, working and fighting. the battle companions who have survived many hazards usually enjoy long-lasting friendship.
amatory love has been a mystery for ages. there's neither a criterion to judge nor a common rule to follow. nobody can tell the exact reasons why love emerges. it is not always because of beauty (the ugly doorkeeper quasimodo in the hunchback of notre dame is loved by the beautiful gypsy girl esmeralda),nor kindness (hitler also has his mistress),nor wisdom ( even the blockhead may sometimes marry a beautiful girl),nor strength (some love starts from sympathy).true love is like getting an electric shock, shaking our soul. it is a sweet dream, a kind of intoxication, indulgence, and endless passion.
true love doesn't need a long time to grow up, to make clear the family tree of the other, neither does it needs the time to look ahead and behind again and again. love is not marriage, which usually starts from love, but doesn't always depend on love to maintain. long-lasting marriage can eventually turn into a kind of family love, a kind of companionship which preserves the companion but loses the passion. love is often an wink of the eye, or a smile that hints mutual understanding. in spite of the great distance between them, people may fall in love incidentally. hence the saying “a distant marriage is tied up with a mysterious thread”. love needs passion, and it can stand bumps and stumbles, ups and downs, complaints and blames. when it turns into a pool of water, especially dead water, without any billows or waves, it's time for it to die.
this is no surprise though if you look at the insights of contemporary psychology. it turns out that we can't even be in a group of people without instinctively mirroring, mimicking their opinions. even about seemingly personal and visceral things like who you're attracted to, you will start aping the beliefs of the people around you without even realizing that that's what you're doing.
and groups famously follow the opinions of the most dominant or charismatic person in the room, even though there's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas -- i mean zero. so ... (laughter) you might be following the person with the best ideas, but you might not. and do you really want to leave it up to chance? much better for everybody to go off by themselves, generate their own ideas freed from the distortions of group dynamics, and then come together as a team to talk them through in a well-managed environment and take it from there.
now if all this is true, then why are we getting it so wrong? why are we setting up our schools this way and our workplaces? and why are we making these introverts feel so guilty about wanting to just go off by themselves some of the time? one answer lies deep in our cultural history. western societies, and in particular the u.s., have always favored the man of action over the man of contemplation and “man“ of contemplation. but in america's early days, we lived in what historians call a culture of character, where we still, at that point, valued people for their inner selves and their moral rectitude. and if you look at the self-help books from this era, they all had titles with things like “character, the grandest thing in the world.“ and they featured role models like abraham lincoln who was praised for being modest and unassuming. ralph waldo emerson called him “a man who does not offend by superiority.“
now i think at this point it's important for me to say that i actually love extroverts. i always like to say some of my best friends are extroverts, including my beloved husband. and we all fall at different points, of course, along the introvert/extrovert spectrum. even carl jung, the psychologist who first popularized these terms, said that there's no such thing as a pure introvert or a pure extrovert. he said that such a man would be in a lunatic asylum, if he existed at all. and some people fall smack in the middle of the introvert/extrovert spectrum, and we call these people ambiverts. and i often think that they have the best of all worlds. but many of us do recognize ourselves as one type or the other.
and what i'm saying is that culturally we need a much better balance. we need more of a yin and yang between these two types. this is especially important when it comes to creativity and to productivity, because when psychologists look at the lives of the most creative people, what they find are people who are very good at exchanging ideas and advancing ideas, but who also have a serious streak of introversion in them.
and this is because solitude is a crucial ingredient often to creativity. so darwin, he took long walks alone in the woods and emphatically turned down dinner party invitations. theodor geisel, better known as dr. seuss, he dreamed up many of his amazing creations in a lonely bell tower office that he had in the back of his house in la jolla, california. and he was actually afraid to meet the young children who read his books for fear that they were expecting him this kind of jolly santa claus-like figure and would be disappointed with his more reserved persona. steve wozniak invented the first apple computer sitting alone in his cubical in hewlett-packard where he was working at the time. and he says that he never would have become such an expert in the first place had he not been too introverted to leave the house when he was growing up.