大学生的英语演讲三分钟范文（精选3篇）
Development and the Environment
It is undeniable that the worsening environment has become the biggest concern of the present-day world. Land resources are dwindling because of water loss and soil erosion. Waste gases poison the air we breathe. The rivers and lakes are polluted by waste dumped in them from factories. It is probably no exaggeration to say that deterioration of the quality of the environment threatens the existence of mankind itself.
Some people are of the opinion that the environmental problem is the price we have to pay for economic development. But I do not think that this argument is valid. After all, what is the point of economic growth if people's lives are adversely alfected by worsening environmental pollution?
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
There is plenty of evidence to show that sustainable development can be achieved by balancing economic growth with protection of the environment. The key to achieving this is to make people aware of the seriousness of the problem. Both governments and ordinary citizens should join hands to make this world a better place to live in, not only for ourselves, but also for future generations.
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.“
but then we hit the 20th century and we entered a new culture that historians call the culture of personality. what happened is we had evolved an agricultural economy to a world of big business. and so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities. and instead of working alongside people they've known all their lives, now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers. so, quite understandably, qualities like magnetism and charisma suddenly come to seem really important. and sure enough, the self-help books change to meet these new needs and they start to have names like “how to win friends and influence people.“ and they feature as their role models really great salesmen. so that's the world we're living in today. that's our cultural inheritance.
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.
The first day of school our professor introduced a little old lady tous。
"Why are you in college at such a young age?" I asked later。 She jokinglyreplied， " I'm here to meet a rich husband， get married， have a couple ofchildren， and then retire and travel。"
"No seriously，" I asked。 I was curious what may have motivatedher to betaking on this challenge at her age。 "I always dreamed of having a collegeeducation and now I'm getting one!" she told me。
We became instant friends。 Every day for the next three months we wouldleave class together and tolk nonstop。 I was always listening to this "timemachine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me。
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to make a speech to our footballteam。 I'll never forget what she taught us。 As she began to deliverher preparedspeech， she dropped her note card on the floor。 A little embarrassed she simplysaid， "I'm sorry。 This whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back inorder so let me just tell you what I know。" As we laughed she cleared her throatand began:" We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because westop playing。 There are only four secrets to staying young， being happy， andachieving success。 You have to laugh and find humor every day。 You've got tohave a dream。 When you lose your dreams， you die。 We have so many people walkingaround who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference betweengrowing older and growing up。 If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed forone full year and don't do one productive thing， you will turn twenty years old。Anybody can grow older。 That doesn't take any talentor ab
ility。 The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change。Have no regrets。 The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did， butrather for things we did not do。 The only people who fear death are those withregrets。"
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree。 One week aftergraduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep。 Over two thousand college studentsattended her funeral to honorthe wonderful woman who taught by example that it'snever too late to be all you can possibly be。
开学第一天，教授把一位小个子老太太介绍给了我们。
随后我问道，“你为什么这么“年轻”还来读大学?”她开玩笑地回答：“我来这儿是为了认识一个有钱的丈夫，结婚，生几个孩子，然后退休去旅行。”
“不，认真点儿。”我问道。我很好奇，到底是什么东西让她在这个年纪还要理解这样一个挑战。“我一向梦想着上大学，此刻我就在读大学!”她告诉我。
我们立刻成了朋友。在随后的三个月里，我们每一天一齐离开教室，不停地交谈。我总是和历经了岁月沧桑的她一齐分享她的智慧和经验。
期末的时候，我们邀请罗斯给我们的橄榄球队讲话。我永远都不会忘记她教给我们的东西。就在她要开始进行她事先准备好的演讲时，她把写了要点的卡片掉在了地上。她有点儿尴尬，但只是说，“对不起。这酒可真要命!我没办法再准备好我的讲稿了，就让我把我明白的东西告诉你们吧。”我们笑了起来，她清了清嗓子，开始演讲：“我们并不是因为年老就不再玩耍;我们变老是因为我们不再玩耍。只有四个秘密能够让你持续年轻，快乐，获得成功。你务必每一天都开怀大笑，寻找幽默。你务必有一个梦想。失去了梦想，你就会虽生犹死。我们周围有很多人，他们已经‘死了’，自我却不明白。成长和长大之间有着巨大的差距。如果你此刻19岁，躺在床上整整一年什么都不做，你也还会变成20岁。每一个人都会长大，这不需要任何天赋和潜力。要不断地在变化中寻找机遇，这样才是成长。
不要留有遗憾。老年人通常不会为做过的事遗憾，而是为还没有做过的事情感到遗憾。只有那些有遗憾的人才会怕死。”
年底的时候，罗斯获得了大学学位。毕业一星期后，她在梦中安详地离开了人世。两千多名大学生参加了她的葬礼，来纪念这位透过自我的亲身经历来告诉我们永远都能够成就自我的理想的了不起的老人。