thirtycollegestudentsacrossthecountryattendedthetenth21stcenturycupnationalenglishspeakingcontestinbeijingonapril10.eventually,xiapeng,fromnanjinguniversitywasnamedthechampion.thesecondandthirdplaceswenttozhangjing,asophomorefromchinaforeignaffairsuniversity,andzhangaxu,fromhongkongpolytechnicuniversity,respectively.morethan1000collegestudentsinbeijingareluckybirdstolistentothespeechesonthespotinfriendshiphotel.

　　justmaketoitthefinals,theyhadtogetpast60othersspeakingon“theimpactofglobalizationontraditionalchinesevalues”.thatwasatthesemi-finalonapril8-9.whatwillchinesecollegestudentsthinkabouttheimpact?eachcontestanthadhisowntakeonthesubject.xiasummedupglobalizationbysaying:“it’sjustcontroversialandhardtosaywhetheritisgoodorbad.”xiatooktheoldwallofhiscity,nanjing,asametaphor.hespokeabouttheconflictoverwhethertoprotecttheoldwallsortearthemdowntorepresenttheconflictofideas.hesuggestedthatpeopleprotectthewallasavaluablerelicwhiletearingdownthe“intangiblewalls”oftheirmindsthatpreventcommunication.whilesomeotherstudentsaremorefocusingontheimpactofglobalizationonfamilyrelations,attitudestowardslove,andjob-hunting.

　　overthepast10years,thenationalenglishspeakingcompetitionhasgivencontestantsachancetospeakonavarietyoftopicscloselyrelatedtotheirlives.chinesestudentsbecomemoreopen-mindedandreceivevariousideasandthinkingoverthedecade.diversitybecomesmoreobviousoncampus,studentshavemoreopportunitiestoexpressandshowthemselves.it’snotaneasytaskforthecontestantstowinthroughthefiercecompetition.owningtotheirpassion,hardworkandpersistence,theyfinallysucceededinthecontest.

　　liuxin,thefirstchampionofthenationalcontest,isnowananchorpersonofcctv-9.recallingthepassionofstudyoncampus,shesaid:“whenyouwanttoexpressyourideabyaforeignlanguagewithoutfindingarightway,you’rereallyupset.thenyouhavetoencourageyourself,andafteralongtermofbitterness,suddenlyyoufindyougettherightwaywithjoy.”withthechampiontitlein21stcenturycup,liuattendedtheinternationalpublicspeakingcompetitioninlondoninmay1996afterwardandgotthefirstprizehistorically.