21世纪英语演讲比赛初中组朗读练习材料

1、Natural ResourcesNature has provided us with many kinds of resources. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from Nature. The food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the concrete and bricks to build our houses, the materials to make bikes we ride, etc. all come originally from Nature.People have been making use of these natural supplies for thousands of years. With the development of technology and the increase of the population, the amount and range of materials taken has increased. It is estimated that this tread will continue in the years to come.However, natural resources are not in exhaustible. Some resources are already nearly used up. For example, the end of the world’s fuel is already within sight. Such an essential daily item as water is in short supply in many parts of the world. We can no longer thoughtlessly use the many resources provided by Nature. We must learn to conserve what remains.2、I Have A DreamLet us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.I have a dream today!I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.I have a dream today!I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."?This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.3、motherLet us take a moment of the time/ just to pay tribute and show appreciation /to the person called MOM /though some may not say it openly to their mother. There’s no one who coul d take the place of her. Cherish every single moment together with her. Though at times she may not be the best of friends, she may not agree to our thoughts, she is still your mother!Your mother will be there for you; to listen to your sorrows, your frustrations, etc. Ask yourself “Have you put aside enough time for her, to listen to her‘blues’ of working in the kitchen, her tiredness?”Show her your due respect, though you may have a different view from hers. Once gone, only fond memories of the past and also regrets will be left.Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart. Love her more than you love yourself, for life is meaningless without her.4、PinesThe pine, placed nearly always among scenes disordered and desolate, bring into them all possible elements of order and precision. Lowland trees may lean to this side and that, though it is but a meadow breeze that bends them or a bank of cowslips from which their trunks lean aslope. But let storm and avalanche do their worst, and let the pine find only a ledge of vertical precipice to cling to, it will nevertheless grow straight. Thrust a rod from its last shoot down the stem; it shall point to the center of the earth as long as the tree lives. It may be well also for lowland branches to reach hither and thither for what they need, and to take all kinds of irregular shape and extension. But the pine is trained to need nothing and endure everything. It is resolvedly whole,self-contained, desiring nothing but rightness, content with restricted completion. Tall or short, it will be straight.5、An Hour Before SunriseAn hour before sunrise in the city there is an air of cold. Solitary desolation about the noiseless streets, which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy, eager crowd, and over the quiet, closely shut buildings which throughout the day are warming with life. The drunken, the dissipated, and the criminal have disappeared; the more sober and orderly part of the population have not yet awakened to the labors of the day, and the stillness of death is over streets; its very hue seems to be imparted to them, cold and lifeless as they look in the gray, somber light of daybreak. A partially opened bedroom window here and there bespeaks the heat of the weather and the uneasy slumbers of its occupant; and the dim scanty flicker of a light through the blinds of yonder windows denotes the chamber of watching and sickness. Save for that sad light, the streets present no signs of life, nor the houses of habitation. (166 words)6、The Importance of Scientific ExperimentsThe rise of modern science may perhaps be considered to date as far as the time of Roger Bacon, the wonderful monk and philosopher of Oxford, who lived between the years 1214 and 1292. He was probable the first in the middle ages to assert that we must learn science by observing and experimenting on the things around us, and he himself made many remarkable discoveries. Galileo, however who lived more than 300 years later (1564 to 1642), was the greatest of several great men, who in Italy, France, Germany or England, began by degrees to show how many important truths could be discovered by well-directed observation. Before the time of Galileo, learned men believed that large bodies fall more rapidly towards the earth than small ones, because Aristotle said so. But Galileo, going to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, let fall two unequal stones, and proved to some friends, whom he had brought there to see his experiment, that Aristotle was in error. It is Galileo's sprit of going direct to Nature, and verifying our opinions and theories by experiment, that has led to all the great discoveries of modern science.7、The value of TimeThere is a third consideration which will also tend to warn us against loss of time. Our life is a brief span measuring some sixty or seventy years in all, but nearly one half of this has to be spent in sleep; some years have to be spent over our meals; some over dressing and undressing; some in making journeyson land and voyages by sea; some in merry-making, either on our own account or for the sake of others; some in celebrating religious and social festivities; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives. Now if all these years were to be deducted from the tern over which our life extends we shall find about fifteen or twenty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life. "It is astonishing" says Lord Chesterfield "that anyone can squander away in absolute idleness one single moment of that portion of time which is allotted to us in this world. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it!"8、Ways of CommunicationWhen you speak, write a letter, or make a telephone call, your words carry a message. People communicate with words. But do you know people also communicate without words A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you raise your hand in class, the teacher knows you want to say something or ask questions. You shake your head and people know you are saying "No". You nod and people know your are saying "Yes".Other things can also carry messages. For example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the wall of your school helps you to find the library. Signs on the doors tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed that there area lot of signs around you and that you receive messages from them all the timePeople can communicate in many other ways. An artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains, the blue seas and many other things. Books are written to tell you about all the wonderful things in the world and what other people are thinking about.9、Blood, Toil, Sweat and TearsIn this crisis I think I may be pardoned if I do not address the House at any length today, and I hope that any of my friends and colleagues or former colleagues who are affected by the political reconstruction will make all allowances for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act.I say to the House as I said to Ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, sweat and tears. We have before us anordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.You ask, what is our policy I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given up, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never10、Accurate or Polite"How far is it to the nest town " The American asked a man standing by the edge of the road. In some countries, because the man realizes that the traveler is tired and eager to reach his destination, he will politely say, "Just down the road." He thinks this is more encouraging, gentler, and therefore the wanted answer. So the American drives through the night, getting more and more angry, feeling "tricked". He thinks the man deliberately lied to him, for obviously he must have known the distance quite well.If conditions had been reversed, the American would have felt he was "cheating" the driver if he had said the nest town was close when he knew it was really 50 miles further on. Although he, too, would be sympathetic to the weary driver, he would say, "You have a good way to go yet; it is at least 50 miles." The driver might be disappointed, but he would know what to expect. Whether to be accurate or polite leads to many misunderstandings between people of different cultures. If you are aware of the situation in advance, it is sometimes easier to recognize the problem.。