“21世纪杯”全国英语演讲比赛：通往成功的入场券

The 22nd China Daily “21st Century Coco-Cola Cup” National English Speaking Competition and The 15th China Daily “21st Century New Oriental Cup” National High School and Primary School English Speaking Competition came to their conclusion on March 26 at Nanjing University.
第22届中国日报社“21世纪·可口可乐杯”全国英语演讲比赛和第15届中国日报社“21世纪·新东方杯”全国中小学英语演讲比赛于3月26日在南京大学落下帷幕。

To participate in one of the competitions, you are not just fighting for a championship, but also for an “entry ticket” to a wider range of opportunities.
选手们参加其中任何一场比赛都不仅仅是为了赢得冠军，还为了争取一张带来更多机会的“入场券”。

According to 100yingcai (百年英才), many key universities are authorized to run their independent enrollment (自主招生) programs. About 30, including Beijing Normal University and Tongji University, recognize the winners at the 21st Century Cup competition when evaluating applicants.
据百年英才网报道，许多重点大学都被获准开展自己的自主招生项目。包含北京师范大学、同济大学在内的约30所高等院校在评估申请人时，都认可“21世纪杯”演讲比赛的获奖选手。

If you are planning for a future career, the competition can also be of help if applying for a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Taking the national civil service examination (公务员考试) used to be the only pathway. But starting from this year, the ministry provides two alternate ways of seeking out talented students. As announced at the competition’s award ceremony, if you are from one of the 16 high schools acknowledged by the ministry, you can apply for a training program in the China Foreign Affairs University. This means you will receive four years of dedicated and intense training. If you are from the 20 universities that the ministry mainly recruits from, you may have the chance to directly take part in the selecting program.
如果你正在为将来的职业规划做打算，该比赛也能在你申请外交部职位时助你一臂之力。参加公务员考试曾是（进入外交部的）唯一途径。但从今年开始，外交部为招纳贤才另辟了两条蹊径。正如在比赛颁奖典礼上宣布的，如果你是来自全国有保送生资格的16所外国语中学的学生，你可以报考外交学院的“外交翻译专训班”，这意味着你将会受到四年高强度的专业培训。如果你是来自外交部20所重点生源院校的学生，你或许有机会能直接参加遴选。

Throughout the past 21 years of the competition, a number of ex-contestants have even gone on to become journalists and interpreters at the ministry.
在比赛举办的过去21年间，一批参赛选手已经成长为新闻工作者和外交部翻译。

The competition this year also attracted the attention of seven prestigious (有声望的) schools in the UK, including Harrow School, Kilgraston School and Pangbourne College. They sent recruitment (招生) officials to select potential students right on the spot (当场).
今年的比赛也吸引了哈罗公学、基尔格雷斯顿学校、潘格波恩学院等7所英国名校的关注。他们直接委派招生官来到现场，挑选有潜力的学生。

But for those who believe that great English skills alone guarantee a fast-track to the best jobs, there is a lot more to it than that. The competition tests so much more than a student’s language ability.
一些人认为只要英语好就能锁定好工作，但这场比赛绝不仅如此。比赛检验的内容要比学生的语言能力多得多。

According to Mu Zhouqing from the Department of Translation and Interpretation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was also one of the judges of this year’s college competition, the first two most important things he valued in a contestant’s speech were whether they had an original and distinct perspective (看法) on the question topic and how wide their sphere (范围) of knowledge was. “English ability only comes third,” he said.
外交部翻译司英文处副处长、今年大学组比赛的评委之一的穆周卿表示，他在选手的演讲中最看重两点：一是他们在演讲题目上是否有独特鲜明的观点；二是他们的知识面有多广。“英语能力只是排在第三位，”他说道。