this is a glass of water, tasteless, right? however if you add sugar, it will taste sweet, but if you add vinegar, it will become bitter. the same is true with our life____ the flavor is created by our choices.
if kindness is added to a strange you will have a friend; but if hostility is added, you will have an enemy. if love is added to a pile of red bricks you will have a home, but if hatred is add to those bricks , you will have an concentration camp.
so my dear friends, never complain that life is boring and the world is disappointing. if don’t like the taste of your life, change the ingredients.
three year ago, i weighed more than 100 hundred kilograms which caused significant embarrassment and frustration in my life. like always failing my p.e examinations, like always being laughed at by girls, like being terrified to speak in public. it was my grandmother’s encouragement that revived from my passive attitude to become confident in myself. she said “ my dear, if you can’t change you figure, why not treat it as your own style. so i began to cautiously employ the new way of thinking. by choosing to change my outlook on life, i developed the confidence to make a difference and finally i found a totally new world.
so my dear friend, if faith, hope, love, endurance are added to your life, you will find the confidence to conquer your limitation and embrace new challenges. and hopefully with my speech included, you will have a fantastic speech contest.
i have a dreamevery one has s own dream. when i was a little kid ,my dream was even to have a candy shop of my own .but now ,when i am 16 years old ,standing here ,my dreams have already changed a lot.i have got quite different experience from other girls. wle they were playing toys at home, wle they were dreaming to be the princesses in the story .i was running in the hard rain, jumping in the heavy snow, pitcng in the strong wind. notng could stop me ,because of a wonderful call from my heart -- to be an athlete. yeah ,of course ,i'm an athlete, i'm so proud of that all the time .when i was 10 years old ,i became a shot-put athlete. the training was really hard ,i couldn't bear the heavy shot in my hands .but i always believe that "god only help those who help themselves". during those hard days, i find i was growing more quickly than others of the same age. to be an athlete is my most correct choice. but, i quit my team after entering gh school because of a silly excuse. i really didn't want to stop my sports career anyway.today i say to you my friends that even though i must face the difficulties of yesterday ,today and tomorrow .i still have a dream .it is a dream deeply rooted in my soul.i have a dream that one day ,i can run, jump and pitch just like i used to be.i have a dream that one day , i can go back to my dream sports and join the national team.i have a dream that one day ,i can stand on the ghest place at the olympicgames. with all the cameras pointing at me. i will tell everyone that i'm so proud to be a cnese athlete!ts is my hope .ts is the faith that i continue my steps with!!!with ts faith ,i will live though the strong wind and heavy rain ,never give up !so let victory ring from my heart, from all of you. when we allow victory to ring .i must be the one!in my imagination, i'm a bird ,a magical bird. i carry my dreams all with me by my big wings. i fly though the mountains ,though the forests ,over the sea, to the sun ,the warmest place in the aerospace!every night ,i have a dream ,i see a girl ---smiling~
good afternoon!
recently, ther is a heated debate in our society. the college students are the beneficiaries of a rare privilege, who receive exceptional education at extraordinary places. but will we be able to face the challenge and support ourselves against all odds? will we be able to better the lives of others? will we be able to accept the responsibility of building the future of our country?
the cynics say the college students are the pampered lost generation, which would cringe at the slightest discomfort. but the cynics are wrong. the college students i see are eagerly learning about how to live independently. we help each other clean the dormitory, go shopping and bargain together, and take part time jobs to supplement our pocket money.
the cynics say we care for nothing other than grades; and we neglect the need for character cultivation. but again, the cynics are wrong. we care deeply for each other, we cherish freedom, we treasure justice, and we seek truth. last week, thousands of my fellow students had their blood type tested in order to make a contribution for the children who suffer from blood cancer.
as college students, we are adolescents at the critical turning point in our lives. we all face a fundamental choice: cynicism or faith, each will profoundly impact our future, or even the future of our country. i believe in all my fellow classmates. though we are still inexperienced and even a little bit childish. i believe that we have the courage and faith to meet any challenge and take on our responsibilities. we are preparing to assume new responsibilities and tasks, and to use the education we have received to make our world a better place. i believe in our future.
Honorable Judges, fellow students:Recently, ther is a heated debate in our society. The college students are the beneficiaries of a rare privilege, who receive exceptional education at extraordinary places. But will we be able to face the challenge and support ourselves against all odds? Will we be able to better the lives of others? Will we be able to accept the responsibility of building the future of our country?
The cynics say the college students are the pampered lost generation, which would cringe at the slightest discomfort. But the cynics are wrong. The college students I see are eagerly learning about how to live independently. We help each other clean the dormitory, go shopping and bargain together, and take part time jobs to supplement our pocket money.
The cynics say we care for nothing other than grades; and we neglect the need for character cultivation. But again, the cynics are wrong. We care deeply for each other, we cherish freedom, we treasure justice, and we seek truth. Last week, thousands of my fellow students had their blood type tested in order to make a contribution for the children who suffer from blood cancer.
As college students, we are adolescents at the critical turning point in our lives. We all face a fundamental choice: cynicism or faith, each will profoundly impact our future, or even the future of our country. I believe in all my fellow classmates. Though we are still inexperienced and even a little bit childish. I believe that we have the courage and faith to meet any challenge and take on our responsibilities. We are preparing to assume new responsibilities and tasks, and to use the education we have received to make our world a better place. I believe in our future.
Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.
When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.
Good morning! My name is Chen Ying snow, carefree travel guide, today is a great pleasure to serve you, you can call me snow! Today we are going to visit the Great Wall of landscape is famous in the world. The Great Wall is the world's precious historical relics, hope everyone to love the Great Wall, don't litter scribble, oh!
The Great Wall has a long history, a history of more than 20xx years, the spring and autumn period and the warring states period, the warring states to mutual defense, has built the Great Wall in the dangerous place. According to records zuozhuan: in 656 BC, "chu mahjong layout" is about the earliest record of the Great Wall. Out the six nations after the unification of China, qin to defense the north south invasion of the huns, in 224 BC, the qin, zhao and yan in The Three Kingdoms of the north Great Wall, re-hung, coherent rise. Some west about (now min county, gansu province) north mountain, east to liaodong, which is commonly known as the "Great Wall", still remains. Since then, the han, the northern wei dynasty, their, beiqi, sui dynasties had built the Great Wall. The composition
In Ming dynasty, in order to defense the invasion of alien, built the Great Wall before and after 18 times, total length of 6700 km, east of shanhaiguan, west to jiayuguan, today we visit this section of the Great Wall is built in the Ming dynasty, is located in the badaling.
Now we have arrived at the foot of badaling. Tourists friends, please look up at the Great Wall: it is like a huge dragon, winding between mountains. Please follow me to the Great Wall, see: every three hundred meters on the walls of the Great Wall there is a square ChengTai, is an ancient fortress to station troops. It is said that war, between the ChengTai can mutual echo. On the top of the walls are covered with very flat square brick, like a wide road, probably ErSanTai car can be parallel. Outside the wall along with many more than two meters high, the rows of the crenel, for? With hope and shot. The composition
My friends, have a look at your feet? Guess what weigh? Tell you! This is a stone, a piece of have two or three one thousand catties! At that time, there is no train, automobile, also have no crane, is by the shoulder of countless countless hands, step by step, carry on the steep mountains. This is how many working people sweat and wisdom, to condense into the former does not see the head, after see the tail of the Great Wall!
This is the Great Wall! This is the west jiayuguan, east to shanhaiguan, which meet the sea sunrise and gobi desert sun, or turned on the peaks, or bent over in the valley, the ups and downs, stretching thousands of miles of the Great Wall. It is such a magnificent verve, Great Wall is a great miracle in the history of the world!
Dear visitors, today's visit here will be over, thank you very much for my support and cooperation. The majestic Great Wall forever awaits respectfully you the presence!
What College Education Means to Me
the title of my speech is “what college education means to me”.now reflecting on the past two and half years of my college experience, i come to realize how much it has shaped me.
for me, college education is a marvelous ship-builder who designed me from kneel plates up.
with great vision, college education has equipped me, first with a powerful propeller----the sophisticated knowledge in certain field and wide exposure to other disciplines. by dedicating myself to the engineering courses in the day and immersing myself in the rich banquet of the world literature at night, i’ve amassed the driving force for the future and enriched my soul.
besides, college education has also provided me with a precise compass----the sense of social responsibility. how can i best serve the interest of the public while achieving my self-fulfillment? my one year’s experience as a part-time english teacher has testified: to be valuable to society as well as to find my place, i have to possess some actual strength and the ability to function well in the most challenging situation. amid the hectic schedule that balances club activities, sports, and academic courses, i feel the rhythm and beauty in the intensity of my high-pitched life, knowing that i ’m on the right way.
and more importantly, college education has set up not only single ships, but also fleets with common destinations. by interacting with friends of common beliefs, i’ve acquired skills of relating to other people.
now ,as a ship about to make my maiden voyage ,i’m still not in the position to tell what’s waiting ahead of me ,but with a powerful propeller, a precise compass and ardent companions of sailing in the sea of society, i’m ready to be a great sea-explorer.
thank you.
good morning ,boys and girl,i`m jenny peng ,today my topic is :talk about a meaningful way we can use time.at first , let me ask you a question : what do you do in your spare time ,especially in your holiday ? do you just stay at home ,watching tv,eating,and sleeping?maybe you`ll feel relax at the first time ,but if we always do like this,you`ll feel much boring . so ,the meaningful way i`m going to introduce to you is taking part-time-job in your vacation.
yes ,you are right , the meaningful way of using time i`m going to introduce to you is taking part-time-job in your vacation.besides,the location we going to work is not in your hometown,in another words,it`s a completely strange situation . maybe you feel amazy and crazy when hearing it , but i think you can learn a lot from it . first , you can learn how to be a good worker : familiar with the work schedule , obey the rules and make friends with others . besides , learn how to promote yourself . company is a relatively open socialty , it need you to show yourself in front of others , and it will help you to find a good job in the future.
after the part-time-job , we`ll more cherish our time , and find out that how happy and freedom to being a student . we`ll work hard on our study , finish our homework efficiently and struggle for our dream . as the saying going that ：yesterday is history , tomorrow is mystery , but today is a gift . let`s cherish and make full use of every minutes of our life , and believe that what we did will make sense .
thank you.
早上好，男孩和女孩，我` m珍妮鹏，今天我演讲的题目是：谈论有意义的方法，我们可以利用的时间。首先，让我问你一个问题：你在业余时间做什么，尤其是在你的假期?你只是呆在家里，看电视，吃，睡?也许你会觉得`放松在第一时间，但如果我们一直这样做，你会感到很无聊`。所以，最有意义的方式我`要介绍给你的是以part-time-job在你的假期。
是的，你是对的，有意义的使用方法的时候我`要介绍给你的是以part-time-job度假。此外，我们将工作地点不在你的家乡，换句话说，它是一个完全陌生的环境`。也许你觉得amazy和疯狂的时候，听到它的，但我认为你可以从中学到很多东西。首先，你可以学习如何做一个好工人：熟悉的工作安排，遵守规则和交朋友。此外，学习如何推销你自己。公司是一个相对开放的社会，它需要你显示自己在别人面前，它会帮助你在将来找到一份好工作。
part-time-job后，我们`会更加珍惜我们的时间，并找出如何快乐和自由是一个学生。我们`会努力学习，完成我们的作业效率，为我们的梦想奋斗。俗话说：昨天是历史，明天是未知，但今天是个礼物。让`珍惜并充分利用每一分钟，我们的生活，并相信我们所做的有意义。
谢谢你.
asking the devotees of civil rights, "when will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. we cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. we can never be satisfied as long as a negro in mississippi cannot vote and a negro in new york believes he has nothing for which to vote. no, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousnelike a mighty stream.
出气就会心满意足的人将大失所望。在黑人得到公民权之前，美国既不会安宁，也不会平静。反抗的旋风将继续震撼我们国家的基石，直至光辉灿烂的正义之日来临。
but there is something that i must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. in the proceof gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterneand hatred.
但是，对于站在通向正义之宫艰险门槛上的人们，有一些话我必须要说。在我们争取合法地位的过程中，切不要错误行事导致犯罪。我们切不要吞饮仇恨辛酸的苦酒，来解除对于自由的饮渴。
we must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
我们应该永远得体地、纪律严明地进行斗争。我们不能容许我们富有创造性的抗-议沦为暴-力行动。我们应该不断升华到用灵魂力量对付肉体力量的崇高境界。
the marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
席卷黑人社会的新的奇迹般的战斗精神，不应导致我们对所有白人的不信任——因为许多白人兄弟已经认识到：他们的命运同我们的命运紧密相连，他们的自由同我们的自由休戚相关。他们今天来到这里参加集会就是明证。
we cannot walk alone.and as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. we cannot turn back. there are those who are.
as you slowly open your eyes, look around, notice where the light comes into your room; listen carefully, see if there are new sounds you can recognize; feel with your body and spirit, and see if you can sense the freshness in the air.
yes, yes, yes, it‟s a new day, it‟s a different day, and it‟s a bright day! and most importantly, it‟s a new beginning for your life, a beginning where you are going to make new decisions, take new actions, make new friends, and take your life to a totally unprecedented level.
in your mind’s eye, you can see clearly the things you want to have, the paces you intend to go, the relationships you desire to develop, and the positions you aspire to reach.
you can hear your laughters of joy and happiness on the day when everything happens as you dream. you can see the smiles on the people around you when the magic moment strikes. you can feel your face is getting red, your heart is beating fast, and your blood is rushing all over your body, to every single corner of your being!
you know all this is real as long as you are confident, passionate and committed! and you are confident, you are passionate, you are committed!
you will no longer fear making new sounds, showing new facial expressions, using your body in new ways, approaching new people, and asking new questions.
you will live every single day of your life with absolute passion, and you will show your passion through the words you speak and the actions you take.
you will focus all your time and effort on the most important goals of your life. you will never succumb to challenges of hardships.
you will never waver in your pursuit of excellence. after all, you are the best, and you deserve the best!
as your coach and friend, i can assure you the door to all the best things in the world will open to you, but the key to that door is in your hand. you must do your part. you must faithfully follow the plans you make and take the actions you plan; you must never quit and you must never fear. i know you must do it, you can do it, you will do it, and you will succeed! now stand firm and tall, make a fist, get excited, and yell it out:
i must do it! i can do it! i will do it! i will succeed! i must do it! i can do it! i will do it! i will succeed! i must do it! i can do it! i will do it! i will succeed!
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 existsin 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!
dear students :
hello everyone !
black mamba is a deadly poisonous snakes have , why do i get this name? because once i entered the stadium , i was deadly , like the black mamba same. so the next scene , i can joke , but once i entered the stadium , i'll be like a new person , like , engrossed on the pitch.
i am now 35 years old, went to be the second half of his career, like some of the injured are also commonplace. once injured , you think the world stopped, regardless of knee injuries, shoulder injuries , and so on . i know a lot of people have ruined the whole career , and some people even depressed , can not even return to the stadium. when that moment happened, i would look at himself in the mirror , "said bryant , what would you ? if you experience such pain you what will happen ? " you know, every time i see someone hurt, i saw a lot of people come back after the injury , i looked at himself in the mirror muttering , "is not it quit ? should not stop playing it?" i do not know yet whether the return game. i sit here and tell you now , i want a full recovery back on the court . but i can not promise , because a lot of the time i still have some doubts , but i think , this is to meet the challenges of significance .
to seize every opportunity to prove yourself to everyone , to prove that you can meet the challenge. to those who say you can never succeed , you will fail to prove , and this is my opinion. if someone says you are the injured , to slump , and for me, if someone suffered this injury might quit , but kobe can not do this . others say it under your die, i would say that you so that you may quit . so i have to prove it to them , especially to my fans who support me , love , i have to win their own , to win the pain , can return to the game . so as to allow those who doubt me rethink what is the impossible becomes possible. the importance of these scars is reflected in here , these scars are my shift reflects growing .
as a player, i was born with a passion to succeed , you want to win. but also the most important thing in life the hardest thing . as a player , you want to go to the stadium to meet the biggest challenge , i think the biggest challenge is to bring people into the team like a man as to constantly , constantly win, this is the biggest challenge the team of athletic competition , this is exactly my passion . for me personally, the most important thing is to continue to meet the challenge, and never afraid of challenges is extremely important.
but more important to maintain a constant curiosity of things , such as how to play better , how to improve the skills , how what is learned from others . in fact, i grew up to now has been looking for factors that inspire me from all aspects , not just from the body of michael jordan , earvin magic johnson from the body, but also from michael jackson , beethoven, leonardo da vinci, bruce lee's body, these who gave me great motivation, let me forward, so this is the spirit of the black mamba . not that you have to constantly attack others , but to never stop you from moving forward . life is a life-long learning , so it is extremely important to keep learning . you have to keep learning , study and study again , and talk to people , to understand , to learn, and not feel that you know everything . the only way you can become a better person , in order to further improve your skills . finally, there will be a by-product , to become a champion , become better yourself. for me, this is the spirit of the black mamba , my source of spiritual lies. so if i am able to pass this spirit to all of you , whatever you want to do, to become a basketball player , a writer or a presenter, no matter what your dream is , you must adhere to the dream of success from the front people who learn from the experience and knowledge to the success of all walks of life , some of them have in common makes them stand out, be successful, this is what i want to convey to you today positive energy .
good morning, everyone. my name is . i'm from cheng zhuang primany school. i'm a puiple.today i will tell you a story, the topic is the greedy mouse.
you know the cats eat the mice, and they are enimies. but there is a little mouse that don't know it, her name is jerry.
one day, that was jerry's birthday. that morning, jerry's father and mother got up earilier and said to her, "jerry, get up, get up" the little jerry was sleeping and said, "what's wrong?" "today is your birthday, we are going to buy some presents for you." "thank you, dady momy." then they went out.
but at that time, a cat was looking for food. his name is tom. he found jerry's father and mother went out, left their daughter only at home. he was very happy, said to yourself, "oh, now i have food."
then he called 7654321. jerry catched the telephone quickly, "hello" she said, "this is jerry, who's that?" "this is a tom. i'm a cat."
"a cat? what are you doing?" the cat said, "i hear today is your birthday, happy birthday to you. i have a present for you." jerry was happy, and said, "thank you. you may come here. see you later." "see you later."
then tom went to jerry's home with some flowers.
"who are you?" jerry said, "i'm a tom." "oh, welcome, welcome" the door was open. "jerry, happy birthday to you, here you are." "oh, how nice. thank you, thank you very much. come in, please. then the cat came into jerry's home.
jerry was very happy, she thought tom was friendly to her. she gave some bananas to tom, and said. "tom, please eat bananas." "no, thank you." tom said. "tom, please drink some tea." "no, thank you. jerry, where are your families?" "they are out." "really?" "yes." jerry was worried. then said, "tom, what are you doing?" "now i'm very hungry." "please please……" "no no……" "and what do you want?" "i want want want to eat you." "eat me?" "yes!" "no, help help"
then tom ate jerry. the little mouse was died. this is the mouse's fate.
the story is over. this story tell us no greed.
thank you.
“Once upon a time， there was a king who had a daughter as beautiful as a blooming rose. To all the suitors who came to the king's palace to ask for the hand of the princess, the old king assigned three tasks to be accomplished, each next to impossible. One day, into the king's palace came a handsome young prince…" Well, you know the rest. The three tasks may be different in different versions, but the main plot is always the same, with the prince claiming the princess's hand triumphantly.
And the ending is always the same, finishing with the line "And they live happily every after."
Why aren't we tired of something so fanciful, so unrealistic, and, I would say, so unimaginative? How can a story like that endure generations of repetition`? Because, I think, it is a typical success story. It is highly philosophical and symbolic. By implication, we see a 4-step definition of success: 1 ) a goal to be set. as represented by the beautiful princess; 2 ) challenges to be met, as represented by the three tasks; 3 ) the process of surmounting difficulties, as represented by the ordeals the youth goes through; and 4 ) the reward of success, as represented by the happy marriage.
The story not only caters to everyone's inward yearning for success, but also emphasizes the inseparability of the process and the result. The reward of success will be much amplified if the path leading towards it is treacherous, and vice versa. If a person inherits his father's millions and leads an easy life, he is not a successful person even in material terms, because there are no difficulties involved in his achieving affluence. The term "success", to be sure. will not sit still for easy definition. But as I understand it, the true meaning of success entails a combination of both the process and the satisfactory result of an endeavor. To clarify my view, let me give another analogy.
Wide sea diving, the days of the birds to fly. Everyone carries a dream of their own.
However, what is the dream? What is dream? Dream is looking forward to, and the dream is strong - is fleeting dream you insist on the ideal as their courage and perseverance, are you responsible for their own highest level. But ask yourself, how many of us to accomplish his original dream in mind?
Our dream is a simple belief, is a future and life of their own responsibility. Perhaps, is the Youth
grand ambitions; perhaps, is the adolescent confusion and impulsive; maybe just a plain desire, desire applause, eager for success. Countless "may," innumerable "hope" because of our youthful full of miracles, large and small dreams in our hearts, in every corner of life filled with fragrance.
Only the ideal but no effort is useless. If you want to be a teacher, you should to study hard. If you want to be a player, you should do more exercises. If you want to become a businessman, he should learn to get along with people. For example, my wish is to be a famous writer grew up, because I really love writing, so from now on, I should read more, more accumulate knowledge, and strive to improve writing level. No pains, no gains, because my efforts, so my article was punished in many newspapers , and in many composition contest, I see the success I'm happy, so, struggle is the bridge to the ideal.
Yes, my dream. to give my famliy a warm, give my friend happy. Yes, my dream. The podium from the first station began his love this place, started from the first published an article looking forward to the world of words, decided to stay here from the beginning, stick to bottom of my heart desire.
Years in our faces no matter how many additional traces, no matter how much things to us across the chest wounds, as long as we have the right to breathe, to have a passion for remodeling dreams! Oxygen to survive as long as we have to have the courage to create a passion!
Choose to continue, select the value, select the achievements of the passion of life, the brave hearts of the initial dream of success!
i have the answer to a question that we've all asked. the question is, why is it that the letter x represents the unknown? now i know we learned that in math class, but now it's everywhere in the culture -- the x prize, the x-files, project x, tedx. where'd that come from?
about six years ago i decided that i would learn arabic, which turns out to be a supremely logical language. to write a word or a phrase or a sentence in arabic is like crafting an equation, because every part is extremely precise and carries a lot of information. that's one of the reasons so much of what we've come to think of as western science and mathematics and engineering was really worked out in the first few centuries of the common era by the persians and the arabs and the turks.
this includes the little system in arabic called al-jebra. and al-jebr roughly translates to “the system for reconciling disparate parts.“ al-jebr finally came into english as algebra. one example among many.
the arabic texts containing this mathematical wisdom finally made their way to europe -- which is to say spain -- in the 11th and 12th centuries. and when they arrived there was tremendous interest in translating this wisdom into a european language.
but there were problems. one problem is there are some sounds in arabic that just don't make it through a european voice box without lots of practice. trust me on that one. also, those very sounds tend not to be represented by the characters that are available in european languages.
here's one of the culprits. this is the letter sheen, and it makes the sound we think of as sh -- “sh.“ it's also the very first letter of the word shalan, which means “something“ just like the the english word “something“ -- some undefined, unknown thing.
now in arabic, we can make this definite by adding the definite article “al.“ so this is al-shalan -- the unknown thing. and this is a word that appears throughout early mathematics, such as this 10th century derivation of proofs.
the problem for the medieval spanish scholars who were tasked with translating this material is that the letter sheen and the word shalan can't be rendered into spanish because spanish doesn't have that sh, that “sh“ sound. so by convention, they created a rule in which they borrowed the ck sound, “ck“ sound, from the classical greek in the form of the letter kai.
later when this material was translated into a common european language, which is to say latin, they simply replaced the greek kai with the latin x. and once that happened, once this material was in latin, it formed the basis for mathematics textbooks for almost 600 years.
but now we have the answer to our question. why is it that x is the unknown? x is the unknown because you can't say “sh“ in spanish. (laughter) and i thought that was worth sharing.
(applause)