第１４屆“２１世紀·聯想杯”全國英語演講比賽第三名演講作品：送奶工與郵遞員—今昔大不同

對于許多中國英語愛好者來說，“21世紀杯英語演講比賽”是個響當當的名號。今年4月，第14屆“21世紀·聯想杯”全國英語演講比賽在上海舉行。決賽的主題是“Our Changing Way of Living with the Times: Initiative vs. Convenience”，我們選取了本次大賽第三名的演講。這篇演講條理清晰，演講者語音也比較純正，不失為學習演講藝術的一篇范文。不過，演講中也出現了幾處口誤，編者已經做出修改。小括號中為應刪除內容，劃線部分表示錯誤內容，而隨后的中括號中則表示應添加或應修改的內容。請讀者朋友在閱讀過程中注意。

Good afternoon， ladies and gentlemen，

The topic of my speech is Milkman vs. Mailman.

With the development of society， change has

1)penetrated (into) every aspect(s) of our daily life. To illustrate that， I’d like to make a comparison of the milkman and mailman， whose differences indicate our changing way of living with the times.

Home milk delivery has almost gone 2)extinct in China now， also gone with it are the milkmen， who once delivered bottled fresh milk door-to-door. On the other hand， [the] mailman’s business or the 3)courier service has 4)thrived as online shopping gains popularity. Yet，

5)in retrospect， I realize something has been lost in this

6)transition， something Shakespeare would call (as) “7)the milk of human kindness” .

Like when I was a kid， milk wasn’t for sale everywhere. For the families who need it， they depended on the milkmen to take it from the local dairy farms to their houses. In our neighborhood， there was also such a milkman， whose arrival was much[greatly] anticipated by the children and always brought us laughter and joy. How did he do that? He knew the name of every kid and could easily see through our tricks. If we didn’t behave， he would side with our parents and threaten to rob us of the nutritious drink. And it worked every time. The entire neighborhood was acquainted with him; saw him as a member of the community， just like the many residents or street 8)vendors. Actually， there was a bond between all of us for what’s being transacted， with not only the commodities， but also a sense of caring and 9)dependability. And that small box fixed onto our door， other than being a drop-off point for milk， (it) served as a kind of communication 10)junction between the people as we took the initiative to reach out to others.

Fast forward to today， milk is 11)ubiquitous with no dedicated delivery system. However， the convenience level of our life[lives] has gone up a 12)notch. Almost everything is for sale online， which spares us all the travelling and talking. With a few ready clicks， the shopping is done. The rest is left for those speed delivery[courier] companies. Usually there will be a 13)grumpy mailman， who reaches us through cell phone， urging everyone to pick up their

14)parcels as soon as possible. And the minute the receipt is signed， we dash back to unpack， while the courier rushes to his next destination. There is barely a conversation carried out， nor do we feel the need to talk to such a stranger， who changes (from time to time) frequently. It seems that people are always in a hurry now， though we do have more convenience. Still， we run short of time to stand and stare， to speak and share.

Call me an old-timer， but I think the personal touch represented by the milkman is what’s been missing in the modern society. William Wordsworth once wrote that “Getting and spending， we 15)lay waste our power.” Modern technology may have multiplied our possessions or gave[given] us more convenience， but we run the risk of reducing our values if we lay waste our power of interpersonal relationships. Thank you.

女士們，先生們，下午好!

我演講的題目是《送奶工與郵遞員——今昔大不同》。

隨著社會的發展，我們日常生活的方方面面都發生了變化。為了充分地說明這一點，我打算將送奶工和郵遞員加以對比，他們的不同命運表明了隨著時代的發展，我們的生活方式發生了怎樣的變化。

如今，送奶到戶的服務在中國已經基本上銷聲匿跡了，同樣隨之消失的還有送奶工，他們曾經挨家挨戶地遞送瓶裝的新鮮牛奶。而另一方面，郵遞員的行當或者說是快遞服務卻由于網上購物的普及而興盛起來。然而在回顧往事時，我發現某些東西也在這種變遷中流失了——某些莎士比亞曾稱之為“人情味”的東西。

正如當我還是個小孩子時，牛奶并不是隨處都能買到的。對于那些有需要的家庭來說，他們只能依靠送奶工將牛奶從當地奶場送到他們家。在我們的社區里也曾有這么一位送奶工，孩子們總是熱切地盼望著他的到來，他也總能帶給我們笑聲和歡樂。他是如何做到的呢?他知道每一個孩子的名字，也能夠輕易地看穿我們的小把戲。如果我們不乖乖聽話，他就會站在我們的父母那邊，嚇唬說要搶走我們的營養飲料，而這招次次都挺見效。我們整個社區的人都跟他挺熟，將他看作是社區的一員，就如同許多住戶或街邊小販一樣。實際上，在我們的買賣之中有一條紐帶將我們所有人聯系在了一起，這紐帶不僅是各類貨物，還有一種關心和信任的感覺。而裝在我們家門口的那個小盒子絕不僅僅是一個投奶箱，它還充當了一種人與人之間相互交流的連接點，讓我們主動與他人接觸。

時光飛逝到了現在，牛奶已是隨處可得，不再需要專門的遞送系統了。而我們生活的方便程度又上了一個新的臺階。從網上幾乎什么都能買到，這節省了我們行走和交談的時間。只要輕松地點幾下鼠標，購物就完成了，剩下來的就交給那些快遞公司了。通常會有一個脾氣暴躁的郵遞員通過手機與我們聯系，催促每個人盡快取走他們的包裹。一簽完收條后，我們就會沖回家去拆包裹，而快遞員則會沖向他的下一個目的地。在這一過程中很少會有什么交談，而我們也覺得沒必要與一個陌生人交談，且快遞員還經常會換人。雖然現在我們的生活確實越來越方便了，但人們似乎總是來去匆匆，依然缺少時間停下來對視、交談與分享。

你盡可以管我叫老古董，但我認為送奶工所傳遞的人情味正從現代社會中慢慢消失。威廉·華茲華斯曾寫道:“無論是獲得還是消耗，我們都在損毀著我們的力量。”現代科技也許增加了我們的財富，或帶給了我們更多的便利，但如果我們損毀了人際關系的力量，我們就將面臨降低我們的價值的危險。謝謝!