常春藤生活英语【38】My First Speech Contest演讲初体

I still clearly remember what happened during my first speech contest. I was very nervous about talking in front of a large crowd. When it was my turn, I tried to stay calm and walked onto the stage with a big smile. Somehow, I tripped and fell. At that moment, everyone in the audience started laughing.

I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to run away. However, I told myself that things couldn't get any worse. So I got up, took a deep breath, and went on giving my speech. As soon as I finished it, I felt relieved¹.

At the end of the contest, I didn't expect to win anything. To my surprise, I was awarded a special prize for courage. When I held the prize and saw the audience cheering, I felt proud of myself.

我仍清楚记得第一次参加演讲比赛时发生的事。对于要在大批人群前说话，我感到非常紧张。轮到我时，我试着保持冷静，面带笑容地走上台。不知怎么地，我绊倒了。那一刻，所有观众都笑了出来。

我尴尬到想要逃走。然而，我告诉我自己事情不会更糟了。所以我爬起来，深吸了一口气，继续我的演说。我一讲完就觉得如释重负。

比赛结束时，我不期望赢得任何奖项。令我惊讶的是，我获颁了一座特别的勇气奖。当我握着奖座，看着观众为我欢呼时，我以自己为荣。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.nervous　a. 紧张的
Michael is very nervous about the exam.
麦可对考试感到很紧张。

2.somehow　adv. 不知怎么地
Somehow Molly was still able to smile after she broke up with her boyfriend.
不知怎么地，茉莉在跟男友分手后还笑得出来。

3.trip　vi. 绊倒
Move this box or someone might trip over it.
把这个纸箱搬走，否则有人可能会被它绊倒。

4.award　vt. 授予，给予
The school awarded Victor a scholarship.
校方颁给维多奖学金。

5.cheer　vi. 欢呼，喝采
After the show, everyone stood up to cheer.
表演结束后，每个人都站起来喝采。

Phrases for Learning²

go on + 动名词　　继续……
I'm too tired to go on jogging.
我累到无法继续慢跑下去。

参考字词

1.audience　n. 观众
2.embarrassed　a. 尴尬的
3.relieved　a. 松了一口气的

Tips In Use

To my surprise, I was awarded a special prize for my courage.
（令我惊讶的是，我获颁了一座特别的勇气奖。）

"to my surprise"表『令我惊讶的是』。"to + 所有格 +表情绪的形容词"可形成介词词组，作独立副词词组用，通常置于句首，修饰全句。

常见的尚有：
to one' regret 令某人后悔的是
to one's sorrow 令某人难过的是
to one's delight 令某人高兴的是
to one's satisfaction 令某人满意的是
to one's amazement³ 令某人惊异的是
to one's disappointment 令某人失望的是

To Lisa's sorrow, her father couldn't make it to her wedding.
（令莉萨难过的是，她父亲无法参加她的婚礼。）

1 relieved   

a.如释重负的

参考例句：

• You'll be relieved to know your jobs are safe. 现在知道你们的工作保住了，可以放心了。
• Your coming relieved me of the bother of writing a long letter. 你来了，省去我写长信的麻烦了。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。