Crossing the Sea

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The title of our speech today is "Crossing the Sea".

An English poet by the name of Rudyard Kipling once wrote in his poem "We and They":

"All the people like us are We

And everyone else is They

We live over the sea

While They live over the way

We eat pork and beef with cowhorn-handled knives

They who gobble their rice off a leaf

Are horrified out of their lives."

When these lines first caught my eyes, I was shocked-how could two peoples remain so isolated and ignorant of each other in the past? Today's society, of course, is an entirely different picture. Those people who used to eat with cowhorn-handled knives might be very skillful in using chopsticks, and those people who used to gobble their rice might be as well have taken to fish and chips.

Indeed, just take China as an example: Our modern life has been influenced by Western style of living in so many ways that it's no longer surprising to see teenagers going crazy about rock-and-roll, whole families dining out at McDonald's and even rather elderly people dressed

in Apple Jeans.

However, these are only some expressions of the cultural changes taking place in our society today. What is really going on is a subtle but significant restructuring of the nation's mentality. Just look around.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we live in a great epoch when the global integration of economy and the information revolution have brought cultures of the world closer than ever before. We live in a particular era when countries, East and West, find themselves in need of readjusting their traditional values. We live, at the same time, at a critical juncture of our evolution because such problems as ethnic conflicts and regional unrest are increasingly posing a threat to the peace and happiness of the whole human race. To cope with such an era and to embrace an even brighter future, we need to learn to live more harmoniously in a world community which is becoming smaller and smaller.

My dear teachers！Our command of the English language renders it possible for us to gain an insight into Western culture while retaining our own cultural identity.

Therefore, it is our sacred responsibility to promote the cultural exchanges and hence the mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world.

It is my happiest dream that the new generation of Chinese will not only grow up drinking Coca-Cola and watching Hollywood, but also be

blessed with the far-reaching benefits of multiple cultures; benefits that our forefathers had never, ever dreamed of.

To end my speech, I would like to quote Rudyard Kipling again:

"All the people like us are We

And everyone else is They

But once you cross over the sea

You will end by looking on We

As only a sort of They" Thank you.

译文:穿越海洋

女士们、先生们，晚上好。今天，我演讲的题目是:《穿越海洋》。

英国诗人罗得雅德.吉卜林曾写过一首诗，名叫《我们与他们》，其中写道:

像我们的人是我们

其余的人是他们

我们生活在海这边

他们生活在路那边

我们用牛角柄的刀叉吃猪牛肉

吞吃粽叶包饭的他们吓得要死。

第一次读到这首诗，我很震惊——过去两个民族何以如此疏

离、彼此陌生?当然今日的社会呈现出完全不同的情景:那些过去吃米饭的人们也开始喜欢吃鱼和薯条。

的确如此，就拿中国来说，西方的生活方式已经广泛地影响了我们的现代生活，以致对于年轻人对摇滚乐着迷，全家去吃麦当劳，老年人穿苹果牌牛仔裤，大家都已习以为常。

然而，这不过是我们当今社会中所发生的文化变迁的表面现象而已，真正发生的却是我们的民族心理开始了微妙而又有重大意义的重建，大家只要看看周围就会清楚。

女士们，先生们，我们恰逢一个伟大的时代:全球经济一体化、信息革命使得世界各种文化联系比以往更加紧密;

我们恰逢一个特殊的年代:无论是东方国家还是西方国家都意识到自身急需调整传统价值。与此同时，我们正生活在发展的关键时刻:种族冲突，地区动荡正越来越威胁着整个人类的和平与幸福。如何对待这一时代，拥抱更加灿烂的未来，我们需要学会在越来越小的世界大家庭中更加和睦地生活。

亲爱的老师们，我们掌握英语，得以了解西方文化，与此同时，又不失本民族的文化特征。

因此，促进中国与世界的文化交流与相互理解是我们神圣的责任。

我有一个美好的梦想，我梦想中国的年轻一代不仅仅在喝可口可乐、看好莱坞影片中成长，而且还受益于我们的父辈所从未梦想过的多元文化所带来的深远影响。

最后，再次以罗得雅德.吉卜林的诗作为我此次演讲的结尾: 谢谢。像我们的人是我们 其余的人是他们 然而一旦你们穿洋越海 就不会再把我们 看做仅仅是他们。

第二篇：初中英语演讲稿范文

初中英语演讲稿范文

hello, ladies and gentlemen. i’m angela zhang from class 4 grade 8. today, my topic is, “the shanghai world expo”.

first, i’ll say something about world expo history. as we know, the very first world expo, the great exhibition of 1851, took place in the crystal palace in london. uk. ever since then, the goals of world expos have been both high-minded as well as commercial. visitors are able to explore the world outside of their everyday experience—outside cultures, new scientific advancements, and new inventions. world expos have excited and inspired more and more people in the world.

on december3, XX, the bureau of international expositions (or call it bie) announced that shanghai will host expo2010. the bie had received bids from five cities to host expo2010. among the 5 nice cities, the bie chose shanghai at last! it’s really an exciting news for not only shanghainese, but also all of chinese people. here are some details about it.

look at this profile carefully. the title is “the 2010 world exposition ,shanghai, china ”. this is the logo.

and the theme is “better city., better life”.ok, let’s guess who is the image representative? yeah, you’re right, yao ming!

shanghai expo is the first comprehensive world expo held in a developing country. and it is also the first one that takes “the city” as its theme, hoping that it can push forward the city

development and help bring about a better urban living environment,

just like the theme: better city, better life.

i think, as a student in shanghai, we should learn to be a gentle person and keep good manners from now on. and try to practice english more in order to communicate with foreigners fluently in the near future. because, we’re a part of shanghai!