（主持人：孙秋淼、张逸瑞）

6月5日中午，初三年级“校友杯”英语演讲比赛在2号楼报告厅正式拉开帷幕。按照疫情防控要求，这次比赛线上线下同时进行。本次演讲的选手是初中三年英语学习成绩分别名列男女生前四名的代表，他们是英语学习的佼佼者，他们满怀自信，等待着一展风采的时刻。

本次校友杯的演讲主题为半命题题目“A World Without _______”，结合当下的形势，相信大家脑中第一个跳出的想法定然是“A World Without Diseases” “A World Without Death”之类的主题。而演讲者们则从不同的方面诠释了自己对于这一主题的理解。最终，凭借优异的笔试成绩和出色的演讲，初三2 班的高子逸和刘锡哲分别摘得此次演讲比赛桂冠。

王喆炜 1A“A World Without Superheroes”

余代黛 Aileen 1A “A World Without Walls”

高子逸 Delia 2B“ A World Without Mosquitoes”

黄梓薇 Emily 3B“A World Without Differences”

刘锡哲 Aaron 2A“ A World Without A Future”

孔象象 Johnny 3B“A World Without Mistakes”

吴卓城 Alex 3A “A World Without Imagination”

卢东 Alyta 1A “A World Without Travel”

初中外文组教研组长王凝迟老师为本次比赛作了精彩点评。她肯定了初三同学的学习成果，也对同学们今后的英语学习提出了建议和希望。

选手参赛感言：

这是一次神奇的经历。从真正弄清“校友杯”是什么，到比赛结束，期间只有短短几周的时间——延续了杭外干脆利落的一贯风格。通知，笔试，演讲：没有什么花里胡哨，有的只是真枪实弹。我从这次硬核的比赛中真的学到了很多，远不止是英文水平。最后还是感谢所有帮助过我的老师同学们，感谢爸妈，也感谢我的对手们，他们真心的鼓励和优秀的表现我都不会忘记。

初三2  高子逸

初到杭外，便听闻校友杯的大名，那时我还分不清“alumni”和“aluminum”。一年后亲眼目睹了学长学姐们的风采，初次见识了什么叫做杭外学子的气场。然而身边有160多位优秀的同学，似乎任何一位都能在演讲台前酣畅淋漓地演说，我只是其中的一员罢了。就这样慢悠悠地过去了两年，然而当我坐在选手席前，脑中回放着的却是一段2倍速的视频。初中时光飞速地流过，我竟已经到达了“远在天边”的初三下学期，到达了校友杯。

演讲结束以后，有人对我说：“你在台上和平时完全不一样。”我哭笑不得。站在听众与评委面前的Aaron，确实有别于生活中的艾伦。但如果说我是台上一套，台下一套，我不就成为“双面艾伦”了？玩笑归玩笑，获得参加校友杯演讲的机会，是无比的光荣。在美国加州时，我第一次亲眼见到远山被火光染红，我深受震撼。在校友杯的比赛现场，我听到了fellow speakers最深刻的思考和最真实的内心感触。它们可能与平日的我们完全相符，也可能有些矛盾。But you know，we’re teens。获得一个尽情表达的舞台，也许是校友杯的又一大魅力吧。最后，我想要感谢我的英语老师Ms.Chen（陈培君老师）三年以来对我的关心与付出；感谢2班大家庭里的小伙伴们提出意见，为我加油鼓劲；感谢HFLS对我的培育和滋养。Without you, I will not be the same.

初三 2 刘锡哲

当得知自己居然有幸入围Alumni Cup的时候，我其实有一种梦想成真的迷茫感。还记得初二那会儿，作为台下的观众，我为台上学长学姐优秀的英语热血沸腾，而转眼间，自己竟已成了台上演讲的人。太不真实了，我也不禁担心自己能力不够，不能给学弟学妹立个榜样。终于，幸好，我没有紧张到忘了词，也没有慌张到大脑死机，我尽最大的努力，给自己的初中三年写上了最后一笔。经过这次历练，我也找到了自己身上的漏洞，会继续努力，向诸位大佬们看齐！

                                                             初三 1 卢东

得知自己能参加这场杭外初中最高规格的比赛的时候，我心中其实是充满惊喜与意外的。虽然并未夺冠有些小遗憾，但在这次比赛中我感受到了杭外高手如云的氛围，也看到了自己的不足之处，尤其是在思想的深度和写作的眼界上，我离其他同学还有很大距离。我会在之后的学习过程中继续努力，也祝贺这次夺冠的同学！

                                                            初三 1 王喆炜

对并不擅长口语的我来说，入选校友杯如同“晴空霹雳”。我想过无数种演讲崩盘的可能，也想过干脆不来参赛，但最后对比赛和老师的尊重让我最终选择了面对。和同学交流演讲稿和模拟比赛让我学到了不少，虽没有拿到奖杯，但整个过程中我依然得到了不少收获。“只要能站上台，你就赢了。”有很多人对我这么说过，我认为他们说得很对。况且这只是我人生中第一场演讲比赛，理论上还有不少进步空间。感谢一直支持我的msc、家长和各位同学。

初三 1 余代黛

首先很荣幸能获得这次难得的机会，其实刚接到通知时我是很紧张的，毕竟竞争对手实力都很强悍，准备时间也不长，但在周围人的帮助下还是稳定心态面对这次挑战。准备过程中，在老师同学的帮助下，我学到了很多演讲方面的技巧，突破了自己，收获很多宝贵的经历，而最终的比赛也丰富了我的舞台经验。

初三3 黄梓薇

当我得知自己是校友杯演讲比赛的八名参与者之一的消息时，我一如既往地像在任何公开表演前一样感到非常紧张和不安。我从不认为自己是一位经验丰富的演讲者，英语发音是我的弱项。但是，在准备过程中，我惊讶地见证了自己的进步能力。尽管与其他选手充满魅力的表现相比我并不最为出色，但我为自己的尽力付出感到骄傲。

初三3 孔象象

很荣幸能参加校友杯。这次的比赛经历是我吸收经验、增长阅历、丰富生活的宝贵机会。从撰写演讲稿到一遍遍地练习演讲，我在努力中也学到了许多，也发现了自己在演讲方面的一些不足并加以改进。最后感谢学校能给我这个学习的机会。

初三3 吴卓城

这场“Alumni Cup”英语演讲比赛圆满结束。选手尽展风采，听众受益良多，整场活动烘托了学习氛围，体现了杭外特色。虽正值疫情期间，许多同学无法来到现场，但我们相信，这场比赛所传达出的对英语学习的热忱，对更好杭外人品质的追求，必定已经生动地展现在大家的眼中。回首初中岁月，展望高中年华，我们心怀憧憬，脚步坚定。Let's keep moving， HFLSers！

                                       （孙秋淼 张逸瑞 撰稿 李从心 摄影）

附获奖选手演讲稿

A World Without Mosquitoes

Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Delia.

When we hear the little buzzes and feel the annoying itches, we know that our old summer friend has come back—the mosquito.

Yep, mosquitoes. My dad and I have a hard time dealing with them. We have used a Swatter Hit, pesticide, and even the Vacuum cleaner to fight them. Yet after every fierce battle, we collapse on the bed and imagine “if only this was a world without mosquitoes!”

I often daydream like this, and I believe it’s the same for many of you. However, a world without mosquitoes would not be as good as we imagine.

Mosquitoes breed in almost every ecological environment. If they die out, the number of animals that feed on them will plummet, causing thousands of plant species to lose their major pollinators, and on and on. Additionally, regarding human economics, the whole mosquito-killing industry will close, and numerous people will lose their jobs.

That is how “a world without mosquitoes” is like.

Now, let's imagine the “mosquitoes” here represent the unsatisfactory things in our lives. We always dream of a world without homework, exams, troubles, and difficulties. Yet we always forget that, while they make us struggle, they also make us strong. Adversity always comes with instruction in its hand. Without blindness, Helen Keller wouldn’t have made her life so impressive and gained such a determined personality. Without the pandemic, the world wouldn’t realize how good it is to be healthy and wouldn’t realize how much we need to unite. Without the sorting exam, we probably wouldn’t study that hard to improve ourselves and take every chance we could to learn. Without, without, without….

The tipping point for success or failure is in what we choose to focus upon. Victory over discouragement means learning to process the trials of life. Though often misunderstood, difficulties, hardships, and trials are actually blessings in disguise. They characterize us and give us determination, endurance, and tenacity.

Thus, I urge us to embrace each day’s challenge as an opportunity. Stop daydreaming about “a world without!” Instead, always do your best and focus on the silver lining. Finally, spare some mosquitoes: the world can’t manage without them.

Thank you very much!

                                                   初三2 班 高子逸  

A World Without A Future

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. My name is Aaron. It is a great honor to stand here and give you my speech.

2020 is off to a bad start. Forrest fires in the Amazon and the global Corona Virus pandemic reveal that our rapid development has finally taken its toll on Mother Nature.

For thousands of years humans have lived on our beautiful planet, in harmony with countless living creatures. An Indian Chief called Seattle once made a speech,  “Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal”. But what we thought was changeless and eternal is now changing. The top 4 hottest years appeared in the last decade, and the honeybee is now officially on the endangered species list.

And I could go on giving numbers and facts for hours, but besides being horror-struck, what will you do? That is a vital question. What can we do? Sure, there are many ways to make contributions to the environment in our daily lives, like setting a timer on your air-conditioner so it won’t run all night and taking public transport instead of cars. We are well aware of these little tips to lead an eco-friendly life, and many of us may be practicing them every day.

But these little tricks are not enough. The scale of the problem is way beyond our daily reach. Do you how we fixed the hole in the ozone layer? In the 1970s, NASA’s satellite Nimbus-4 first found the irregularity in the ozone layer. Scientists around the globe took 10 years to track down the cause—Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs, which we will learn about in high school. Then came the task of developing a substitute to replace CFCs in air-cons and hair sprays. And because the graphs described the hole so vividly, everyone became aware of the ozone hole. After nearly 50 years, the hole finally began to heal.

Only with knowledge and awareness can we find a solution to climate change. As the American poet Wendell Berry said, “To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” It is our generation’s mission to renew our environment, to bring back vibrancy to the Earth. Many of us here may become scientists and politicians of the future. You will have the power to make a change.

Thus today, I am asking you to be aware of the coming challenge, and to study harder to better understand Mother Nature. If we continue to live this way, our world will soon have no future.  So be prepared!

Thank you very much for listening.

                                                   初三2 班 刘锡哲

A World Without Superheroes

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! It's my great honor to be the first contestant to start the speech contest. My topic is 'a world without superheroes'.

A world without superheroes would be an extremely dull one for those who are crazy about them, including me. I have always loved and believed in superheroes. I used to ask my mother: 'Mom, will Superman show up and help me?' Even to this day, it gives me a big thrill to watch heroes saving the world or imagine myself soaring in a cape.

However, all the illusions faded in the face of the pandemic. The virus made millions suffer, yet there are no stones that can reshape the reality. And here they came, dressed in white, covered in masks, with no incredible powers, and equipped only with hands. But it was they that successfully contained the virus and won the battle, and they were called doctors.

Though with no superpowers, what they have done truly explained what superhero means. Like superheroes they were separated from the people they loved. Wives left their husbands to go to the frontline, parents left their children to fight against the deadly virus. Like superheroes they suffered, long hours of tense work exhausted them, masks engraved wrinkles on their faces. Besides medical staff, superheroes shone here and there, millions of them. Construction workers built a hospital within a week, baristas kept their shops open to deliver the quarantined a cup of coffee. It was they that lit up a torch of hope in the seemingly endless night.

Certainly, without all these people risking their lives to protect us, the virus could have engulfed China. More families would have been torn apart, more would have lost their beloved ones. The lockdown could have been prolonged, and we might have been facing an unprecedented chaos. For sure, it would have been impossible for us to sit here and hold this speech contest.  

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to redefine superheroes. They are not only the 'capeless' fighting in the pandemic, but the ordinary who dedicate themselves to what they pursue. Being a superhero does not mean possessing extraordinary powers, but means willing to contribute, to spare no effort in making the world a better place. What makes superheroes great is the spirit of devotion, the courage to take actions, and most importantly, the love to the others. So, everyone can be a superhero, everyone is a superhero, including you and me.

                                                    初三1班 王喆炜   

A World Without Wall

At the very beginning of the speech, I’d like to raise a question: what is the necessary part of a house? The answer is wall. Without it, the house cannot exist. And now please imagine a world without the walls from the beginning of the civilization. The problem with dwellings would be serious, but I think the loss of walls could cause a cultural disaster. In my opinion, the walls are closely related to cultural identity, which brings together a group of people with the same culture.

First of all, I believe a world without walls is undisciplined. Look at the ancient Chinese character '国”, which is surrounded by walls. It suggests that our ancestors used walls to divide the unoccupied land into two parts :inside and outside ,and the first rule must be “don’t go out”. It means that walls led to the birth of rules. Instead, people in the world without walls are more likely to conquer the vast land, claiming it belongs to their country. The Mongolia Empire ruled by Genghis Khan is a case in point. His country quickly split into several smaller countries because the nomads had been living nomadic life without walls.

A world without walls is a discrete world, because people don’t think they are in a united civilization and don’t want to obey the rules. Thus, the weak cultural bonds between generations will lead to the collapse of culture. In our world, cities surrounded by walls would gradually become countries. In this process, their cultural essence has not changed, because walls surround them will give people a sense of security. It’s a place where they can freely plan and build. The tradition people formed in it will be passed down from generation to generation. But, in a world without walls, people cannot clearly mark the exact scope of a city. The confusing boundary will weaken the sense of belonging of people. They would not be motivated to build their country. They could hardly leave cultural legacy to the next generation, which would eventually lead to the trend of a gradual fade. There is a famous saying: the country is made up of tens of thousands of homes. But how can the country remain standing without walls?

Under the trend of cultural integration, if there is no proper way of communication, we are approaching the world without walls. Now, more and more young people are gravitated toward foreign cultures, some of whom even like them better than Chinese culture. Indiscriminate cultural integration like this is tearing down the necessary walls between cultures. Besides, the recognition of foreign cultural values can disrupt the cohesion of a nation. Cultural identity is the basis of differences between cultures, so we need to protect this wall in order to protect our unique culture inside it!              

                                                     初三1 班 余代黛  

A World Without Differences

Honorable judges, dear teachers and fellow students: good afternoon!

Have you ever imagined a world without differences? No races, no divergence, no contradictions. Thus, no racism, no inequality, no war. Isn’t that perfect?

In our world, we have differences everywhere: different in appearance, different in thoughts, different in everything. Admittedly, they have caused many problems.

Take the nationwide protests happening in America right now for example. Violent attacks take place between two groups of people holding different opinions, and caused so many injuries of innocent lives.

In human history, we have tried to avoid these conflicts caused by disagreement, but generally not in a proper way. An example is apartheid carried out last century. And in ancient China, ruling classes used to utilize literary inhibition to control people’s thoughts. Emperor wanted to prevent riots in this way. However, all of them just led to more violent conflicts.

This pursuit of uniformity reminds me of two books I read before.

“The giver”  and “A wrinkle in time”. These two stories have something in common. People are highly unified. In “The giver”, they relinquished colors. Everything was in black and white to avoid contradictions. And in “A wrinkle in time ”, all the residents did everything at the same time, even the rhythm they bounced the ball and the time they went back to home should be the same. Finally, these societies were overthrown.

We can see from these examples that pursuing hegemony to reach sameness can’t and won’t work out.

So, what’s the right thing to do?

We have to draw lessons from the past. Eliminating differences isn’t the solution. We actually have a wonderful example, that’s the Spring and Autumn period in ancient times. In that period, every school of thoughts contended for attention. Although they didn’t necessarily agree with others, none of them tried to control people with different opinions through hegemony and violence. Instead, they refuted each other, influenced each other, and learned from each others. This period is so dominant that it’s the first ideologicalliberation movement in Chinese history and it effectively promoted the development of Chinese traditional culture.

In conclusion, a world without differences will never exist. We need differences. They make us distinctive and unique. And through the collision of differences, we improve and progress. There’s an old saying in Chinese “Gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity.” So next time we face differences, try not to reject, but to embrace. When we do so, it’s not only about acceptance, but also respect for others.

初三3班 黄梓薇  

A World Without Imagination

Good afternoon. I’m Alex. My topic today is a world without imagination. Nowadays, advanced technology used in electronic products, artificial intelligence, art creation in music, painting and design are all based on imagination, which helps to create a world filled with color, beauty, convenience and progressiveness.

So, what is imagination? It is the ability to form new ideas or images in our minds. For example, when you see a picture of a box, you may only recognize it as a normal box. But imaginative people might start to think about what’s inside the box or what happens to the box, or even relate a story to it. Imagination provides creativeness and inspiration for our thoughts and actions which are essential for construction of human civilization.

Unfortunately, some people deny the value of imagination. They suppress their imaginations within themselves, depreciate those imaginative ideas and define them as immaturity, which results in the lost of their inspiration and even talents.

We cannot imagine a world without imagination.

First of all, we owe the world of updated technology to imagination. Without the imagination of Wright Brother stemming from birds, Newton hit by an apple, and other scientists, the world may be stagnated. More than two decades ago, no one can imagine internet, smart phones, AI and E-business which are nowadays prevalent globally because of those inventors’ unrestrained imagination for the future.

Secondly, we attribute the world of literature and art to imagination which adds great fascination to those works. For example, fantastic ideas of science fictions not only entertain the audience spiritually, but also leave cherished heritage for human beings. Without imagination, the world may be dull and rigid.

Einstein once said : “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

So, value the imagination, then imagine and take actions to turn imagination into reality, the reality full of color, beauty and inspiration.

                                             初三3 班 吴卓城

A World Without Mistakes

Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Johnny. The topic of my presentation is “A World without Mistakes.”

You might have played some role-playing games in which you may lose because of one wrong move. But if you’re fortunate enough to have just passed a respawn spot, none of the misery matters: you can simply be reborn at that point and make a right move this time.

If we could annihilate all our mistakes in reality, wouldn’t it be a great thing? We would be free from so many sufferings and embarrassments. However, we need to consider more carefully about this.

Firstly, if we could always avoid mistakes, most literature and art wouldn’t have existed. Most of their stories involve mistakes and consequences. If King Lear didn’t misjudge his daughters, there’d be nothing intriguing to see.

What’s more, in a world where everything carried out is right, the concept of right and wrong itself will become blurred. The great philosopher Spinoza wrote that the existence of evil and good depends on each other. If there weren’t evil, how could we know what good is?

Finally, if we always look behind to correct mistakes and avoid making more, we might miss the more important things. For example, the people on Easter Island were so skilled in agriculture that they nearly never made mistakes; after that they stopped developing new skills, and when the population grew rapidly, there eventually came famine and most of them died out. Once we’re free from mistakes in a field, we easily get overly satisfied with what we’ve already gotten, and we’ll never progress.

To sum up, a world without mistakes would be dull and unsustainable. Each time we regret something, we should be reminded of how bad it’d be if we could always undo. We should definitely not spend our time looking behind – we should look ahead into the future with a broader vision.

初三3 班 孔象象  

A world without travel

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! It’s my great honor to stand on the stage and give you my speech. I believe most of you have already been very tired so my topic will be very relaxing. It is “A world without travel”.

Have you ever imagined a world where scenery such as incredible waterfalls, sunsets and cityscapes can't be seen for ourselves but in pictures?

No more sushi in Japan, no more sunsets in Sydney Harbor, no more picnics in central park – no more travel. And right now, we are just trapped in such a hopeless situation. I had planned to go to a camp in Berkeley, California this winter. However, due to the outbreak of corona virus, I was locked at home. Thus, instead of enjoying my California trip and studying English abroad, I could only take boring online classes in my little room. Poor me!

From my point of view, if we live in a world without travel, it’s like our souls are locked. We can’t eat typical foods in local restaurants and learn about foreign cultures. However, if we get somewhere new, we can not only enjoy breathtaking sights but also let our hearts fly with wind. However, always staying in the same place only makes us more conservative and shortsighted.

Apart from our personal development, traveling does have an impact on the worldwide communication. Marco Polo’s prodigious journey has connected the world together and promoted the exchange between the East and the West. Also, traveling inspired literati to create excellent works that can strike a chord with us even after hundreds of years. Xu Xiake created his master piece Travels of Xu Xiake by walking through 21 provinces in China. Thanks to these writers, we can take our history and geography class now!
   Nevertheless, many people aren’t willing to travel on account of language barriers. But actually, it’s convenient to make foreigners understand you by using body language. For instance, when you are hungry, you can just point at your belly and said “gu-----gu----”. Without a doubt, people will understand. So after all, there’s no need to be afraid of traveling in another culture.

In a nutshell, traveling is an indispensable part of our daily life. We can not live without travel. Right now, if you are stressed and exhausted, why not go travelling to any place you want to? You are definitely going to discover a new world as you travel!
   Thank you for listening!

初三1班 卢东  

 （外文组 报道)