The Fujian final of the 22nd China Daily “Coco-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition was held on December 24 at Fuzhou University’s Xiamen Academy of Arts and Design. Two CFLC second-year students, Yang Zehui and Liu Xiang, finished 1st and 4th, respectively.
In the contest, which was themed on “Man and Technology: The Brave New World”, contestants were required to deliver a three-minute fixed-topic speech and a two-minute impromptu speech and answer questions posed by the panel of judges for two minutes.
In the impromptu speeches, Yang Zehui presented her opinion on whether machine or human translation has a brighter future, while Liu Xiang shared his views of artificial intelligence.
Both of them demonstrated their ability to remain poised under pressure, to think laterally enough to deliver a coherent speech, to maintain presentation posture, projection, and clear diction.
Finishing first in the Fujian final, Miss Yang will represent the province in the national semi-final in Beijing.
Launched in 1996, the China Daily “Coco-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition is the largest and the highest-level one of its kind in China. It provides a superb platform for students to demonstrate their command of English and for universities to promote cross-cultural exchange and nurture language talent. It also spurs CFLC students to greater progress and to relate China stories to the outside world.
