1）.目前汽车带来的空气污染和交通堵塞等问题；

2）. 骑自行车的益处，如能环保有利健康等。

注意：1）.词数：120词左右；演讲稿开头已给出，但不计入总词数。

2）.参考词汇：低碳生活（low-carbon life）   节能 (energy saving)

Good morning, everyone,

    I am Li Hua from Xingguang Middle School. The topic of my speech is “Let's Ride Bicycles”.

    At thirteen, I was diagnosed(诊断) with a kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.

    In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.” She glanced down at me through her glasses, “You are no different from your classmates, young man.”

    I tried, but I didn't finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.

    In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn't get much education. But Louis didn't give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots(点), which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

    Wasn't I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?

    I didn't expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day—with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep trying?”

    A man walked into a small Irish pub and ordered three beers. Bartender was surprised, but he served that man three beers. One hour later the man ordered three beers again. The very next day that man ordered three beers again and drank quietly at a table. This repeated several times and shortly after the people of the town were whispering about the man, who was ordering three beers at once.

    A couple of weeks later, the bartender decided to clear this out and inquired: “I do not want to pry, but could you explain, why do you order three beers all the time?” The man replied: “It seems strange, isn't it? You see, my two brothers live abroad at the moment, one – in France and another – in Italy. We have made an agreement, that every time we go to pub each of us will order extra two beers and it will help keeping up the family bond”.

    Soon all the town have heard about the man's answer and liked it a lot. The man became a local celebrity. Residents of the town were telling this story to newcomers or tourists and even invited them to that pub to look at Three Beer Man.

    However, one day the man came to pub and ordered only two beers, not three as usual. The bartender served him with bad feeling. All that evening the man ordered and drank only two beers. The very next day all the town was talking about this news, some people pray for the soul of one of the brothers, others quietly grieve.

    When the man came to pub the next time and ordered two beers again, the bartender asked him: “I would like to offer condolences to you, due to the death of your dear brother”. The man considered this for a moment and then replied: “Oh, you are probably surprised that I order only two beers now? Well, my two brothers are alive and well. It's just because of my decision. I promised myself to give up drinking.”

    One of the most successful singers of the twentieth century, Ella Fitzgerald has made several different styles of her own. She was born in Virginia but was brought up in an orphanage in Yonkers, New York. Chick Webb spotted her in an amateur competition when she was sixteen. He engaged her to sing with his band and when he died in 1939, she took over.

    Unlike Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald taught herself the sentimental music so popular in the 1930's — songs like “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”— and her recordings became best-sellers. During the 1940's she developed her own “scat singing” — a breathless, nonsense—syllable style—for songs like “Flying Home” and “Lady Be Good.”

    Ella Fitzgerald was the perfect musical partner for her friend, the trumpeter Louis Armstrong, matching him in warmth and artistry. “I just like music, period,” she said. “To me, it's a story. There's only one thing better than singing…. It's more singing.”

    The Canadian red and white maple leaf (枫叶) flag is officially called the National Flag of Canada. The Canadian flag shows a stylized red maple leaf with 11 points on a white background, with red borders down each side. The Canadian flag is twice as long as it is wide. The white square containing the red maple leaf is the same width as the flag.

    The red and the white used in the National Flag of Canada were proclaimed the official colors of Canada in 1921 by King George Ⅴ. Although the maple leaf did not have its official status as a symbol of Canada until the announcement (宣告) of the national flag in 1965, it had historically been used as a Canadian symbol, and was used in 1860 in decorations for the visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada. The 11 points on the maple leaf have no special significance.

    In the early days，the Royal Union Flag，or the Union Jack, was still flown in British North America. In 1925 and again in 1946, the Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King tried to get a national flag of Canada adopted, but failed. In 1964，Prime Minister Lester Pearson appointed a 15-member, all-party committee to come up with a design for a new flag. The committee was given six weeks to complete its task.

    The committee studied 2,000 submitted(提交的) designs as well as 3,900 that had been gathered as a result of the 1946 committee's study. Those designs with a chance of being accepted were given to the full committee for further study.

    The suggestion of a red and white single maple leaf design for the Canadian flag came from George Stanley, a professor at the Royal Military College. After a heated discussion, they finally decided on his suggestion.

    Experiments under way in several labs aim to create beneficial types of genetically modified foods, including starchier potatoes and caffeine-free coffee beans. Genetic engineers are even trying to transfer genes from a cold-winter fish to make a frost-resistant tomato.

    A low-sugar GM strawberry now in the works might one day allow people with health problems such as diabetes (糖尿病) to enjoy the little delicious red fruits again. GM beans and grains rich in protein(蛋白质) might help people at risk of developing kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor, a disease caused by severe lack of protein, is common in parts of the world where there are severe food shortages.

    Commenting on GM foods, Jonathon Jones, a British researcher, said: "The future benefits will be enormous（巨大的）, and the best is yet to come". To some people, GM foods are no different from unmodified foods. "A tomato is a tomato," said Brian Sansoni, an American food manufacturer.

    Critics of GM foods challenge Sansoni's opinion. They worry about the harm that GM crops might do to people, other animals, and plants.

    In a recent lab study conducted at Cornell University, scientists tested pollen(花粉) made by BT corn, which makes up one-fourth of the U.S. corn crop. The scientist dropped the pollen onto milkweed, a plant that is the only known food source of a butterfly caterpillar(毛虫). Within four days of feeding on the leaves, almost half of a test group of caterpillars died. "This is a warning bell." said Cornell researcher Linda Raynor.

    Some insects that are not killed by GM foods might find themselves made stronger. How so? The insecticides are used on the crops to kill the pests. But GM plants produce a continuous level of insecticide. Insects relying on those crops may develop resistance to the plants and they may also develop a resistance to the insecticide.

    At the forum on GM food held last year in Canada. GM crops that have been made resistant to the herbicide might crossbreed with wild plants, creating "superweeds" that could take over whole fields.

    So where do you stand? Should GM food be banned in the United States, as they are in parts of Europe? Or do their benefits outweigh（胜过） any of the risks they might carry?

    Tulips(郁金香) are the national flower of Iran and Turkey. The European name for the flower is a misuse of the Persian word for turban(头巾), a mistake probably arising in the common Turkish custom of wearing flowers in the folds of the turban. Alternatively, the misuse may have arisen because this eastern flower, when not yet in full bloom, looks like a turban. In Persia, to give a red tulip was to declare your love for someone. The black center of the red tulip was said to represent the lover's heart, burned to a coal by love's passion.

    Originally growing in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), tulips were imported into Holland in the sixteenth century. When Carolus Clusius wrote the first major book on tulips in 1592, they became so popular that the tulips in his garden were stolen from time to time. As the Dutch Golden Age grew, so did this colorful flower. They were commonly seen in paintings and at festivals. In the mid-seventeenth century, tulips even created the first economics bubble（泡沫经济）, known as “Tulip Mania”. At that time, tulips were so expensive that they were used as money until the market for them crashed.

    Today, Holland is still known for its tulips and other flowers, often sincerely called “the flower shop of the world.” Tulips are planted in great fields of beautiful color, and transform the landscape into a sea of different colors. Tulip festivals are held throughout the country in spring. However, the most well-known tulip festival is organized in the Noordoostpolder, a province in the central Netherlands, each year. Held in the middle of the tulip fields, this flower festival runs from late April to early May. The Dutch people took their love of tulips abroad when they settled, and tulips and tulip festivals are now found in New York and Michigan, where the connection to their Dutch roots is still very strong.

    Last Sunday, I sat with Tony, my college classmate, in a well-known coffee shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As we1our coffee, two men entered and sat on an empty table beside us.

    They2the waiter and ordered three cups of 3, two on the table and one on the wall. We heard this order with great4and observed that they were served with two cups of coffee 5they paid for three. As soon as they6, the waiter pasted (粘贴) a piece of paper on the wall saying A Cup of Coffee.

    It 7that the matter was normal at this place. However, it was something8for Tony and me. Since we had nothing to do with the matter, we 9our coffee, paid the bill and left.

    After a few days, we again had a10to go to this coffee shop. While we were enjoying our coffee, a man entered. The way this man was dressed did not  11the standard nor the atmosphere of this coffee shop. Poverty was12from the looks on his face. As he13himself, he looked at the14and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.” The waiter served coffee to this man with15, politeness and warmth.

    After a few minutes, the man finished his coffee and left16paying. We were amazed to watch all this when the waiter 17a piece of paper from the wall and18it in the dustbin.

    Now it was no 19for us because the matter was very clear. Although the man didn't know about the one who was giving this cup of coffee to him, he would have a better understanding of the wall which had a great role between the 20and receiver.

    As we know, it is important to be honest with children. But there are some things in this world that simply aren't 1 . Sometimes it makes sense for parents to2to their children.

    I still remember my three-year-old daughter's face when we watched the 3that twenty children at Sandy Hook Elementary School had been killed. After a few minutes she 4and put her5arms around my legs and said, “I love you, Momma.” I was still 6whether or not to turn the TV off when she, 7, asked, “Momma, why aren't those kids OK?” I just 8that they were smart children,9 they did something wrong and got punished.

    We're not all 10of a little lie here and there. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Snow White are just a few examples of 11for parents to keep magic in the world. Magic, imagination and creativity are very essential in life, 12 for children. These stories battle against the negative aspects of the world and create 13. In the end children will be able to 14what is true and what was made to 15their lives. Out of five brothers and a sister I can happily report that not one of the children I grew up with was16when we discovered who all those17people really were.

    In life, a parent is the 18of knowledge, and it is up to the parent to decide what knowledge to teach and when. There's no 19to tell children all about the truth. As they become20, they will have a better understanding of the world.

Unchangeable Love

    One day I visited an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was expecting a quiet1 of the splendid artwork.

    A young2 viewing the paintings ahead of me3 nonstop between themselves. I watched them a moment and decided the lady was doing all the talking. I admired the man's4for putting up with her5 stream of words. 6 by their noise, I moved on.

    I met them several times as I moved7 the various rooms of art. Each time I heard her continuous flow of words, I moved away8.

    I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop making a9 when the couple approached the10. Before they left, the man11into his pocket and pulled out a white object. He12 it into a long stick and then tapped his way into the13 to get his wife's jacket.

    “He's a14 man.” the clerk at the counter said. “Most of us would give up if we were blinded at such a young age. During his recovery, he made a promise his life wouldn't change. So, as before, he and his wife come in15 there is a new art show.”

    “But what does he get out of the art?” I asked. “He can't see.”

    “Can't see! You're 16. He sees a lot. More than you and I do,” the clerk said. “His wife17 each painting so he can see it in his head.”

    I learned something about patience, 18 and love that day. I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without 19 and the courage of a husband who would not20 blindness to change his life. And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away, hand in hand.