全国英语演讲比赛优秀演讲稿
A Scene to Remember
Gu Qiubei
Shanghai International Studies University
Advisor: Gong Longsheng
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Today I would like to begin with a story.
There was once a physical therapist(临床医学家) who traveled all the way from America to Africa to do a census(调查) about mountain gorillas(大猩猩). These gorillas are a main attraction to tourists from all over the world; this put them severely under threat of poaching(偷猎) and being put into the zoo. She went there out of curiosity, but what she saw strengthened her determination to devote her whole life to fighting for those beautiful creatures. She witnessed a scene, a scene taking us to a place we never imaged we've ever been, where in the very depth of the African rainforest, surrounded by trees, flowers and butterflies, the mother gorillas cuddled(拥抱) their babies.
Yes, that's a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies, called Gorillas in the Mist, based on a true story of Mrs. Dian Fossey, who spent most of bet lifetime in Rwanda to protect the eco-environment there until the very end of her life.
To me, the movie not only presents an unforgettable scene but also acts as a timeless(永恒的) reminder that we should not develop the tourist industry at the cost of our eco-environment.
Today, we live in a world of prosperity but still threatened by so many new problems. On the one hand, tourism, as one of the most promising industries in the 21st century, provides people with the great opportunity to see everything there is to see and to go any place there is to go. It has become a lifestyle for some people, and has turned out to be the driving force in GDP growth. It has the magic to turn a backward town into a wonderland of prosperity. But on the other hand, many problems can occur---natural scenes aren't natural anymore. Deforestation to heat lodges is devastating Nepal. Oil spills from tourist boats are polluting Antarctica. Tribal people are forsaking their native music and dress to listen to U2 on Walkman and wear Nike and Reeboks.
All these appalling(令人震惊的) facts have brought us to the realization that we can no longer stand by and do nothing, because the very thought of it has been eroding(侵蚀) our resources. Encouragingly, the explosive growth of global travel has put tourism again in the spotlight, which is why the United Nations has made 2002 the year of ecotourism, for the first time to bring to the world's attention the benefits of tourism, but also its capacity to destroy our eco-environment.
Now every year, many local ecoenvironmental protection organizations an: receiving donations--big notes, small notes or even coins--from housewives, plumbers(水管工人), ambulance drivers, salesmen, teachers, children and invalids(残疾人), Some of them can not afford to send the money but they do. These are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in hospitals, who are suffering from ecological damage in their neighborhood. Why? Because they care, because they still want their Mother Nature back. Because they know it still belongs to them.12