侯昌玮

即使“我”演讲前做了充分的准备，但演讲效果仍不好。最后“我”明白了失败的真正原因是自己对于结巴的恐惧，从此“我”坦然面对自己的结巴，自信地应对每一次的公开演说。

主题语境：个人成长 篇幅：347词 建议用时：8分钟

1 I could not have been better preparedfor the talk， my first conferencepresentation as a PhD student. I hadlearned my speech by heart， and I hadpracticed the answers to potential audiences questions. The day before thetalk， alone in my room， I felt confident.But as soon as the moderator invited meon stage， I felt like I was walking the plank. I was overwhelmed by a fear I had experiencedtoo many times before—the fear of getting stuck because of my stutter （结巴）.

2 Looking for a strategy to deal with my stutter， I realized I could speak smoothlywhen I recited the text I had learned by heart. But this wasnt a realistic approach to theentirety of my university training. I needed another tool. I tried speech therapy， but the exercisesI learned there didnt make much of a difference. To stop my stutter from affectingmy new career， I would need a more serious intervention.

3 After much hesitation， I decided to finally try psychoanalysis （心理療法） to confrontmy deep feelings of shame related to my stutter. With the help of my therapist， I slowly realizedthe real problem was not the stutter itself; it was my fear of stuttering. I decided to getrid of that fear. It took me about a year to spit out during one of the weekly sessions that I love myself as I am. Stutter or not， I was going to pursue my desired career in science.

4 My first chance to test my newfound confidence by speaking in public arrived at a departmentalmeeting at the institute where I was a research assistant. I presented my data to25 or 30 people， and received compliments for my speech for the very first time. I returnedhome excited， relieved， and， most of all， proud.

5 Now， I no longer avoid public speaking; instead， I actively seek opportunities to beon the stage. It is rewarding and inspiring， and I feel excited to have a good story to share.And if I happen to stutter along the way， so be it.

Reading Check

Detail

1. Why did the author fail the first presentation？

A. He made no preparation for it.

B. He didnt answer the audiences questions.

C. He suffered the fear of stuttering.

D. He forgot all his speech on stage.

Detail

2. What really helped the author find his problem？

A. Practising speaking.

B. University training.

C. Speech therapy.

D. Psychoanalysis.

Inference

3. What did the author think of his speech in paragraph 4？

A. Exciting.

B. Successful.

C. Frustrating.

D. Ridiculous.

Detail

4. How does the author finally deal with his difficulty？

A. Just face it.

B. Recite the speech.

C. Cure it at last.

D. Always ignore it.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Useful expressions

learn sth by heart 牢记；熟记

walk the plank 走跳板

make much of a difference 发挥很大作用；有很大影响

relate to 涉及；与……有关

get rid of 除掉；摆脱

Ⅱ. Difficult sentence

Looking for a strategy to deal with my stutter， I realized I could speak smoothly when Irecited the text I had learned by heart. 在寻求应对我结巴的策略中，我意识到当我把熟记的文稿背诵下来时我能讲得很顺利。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。句中的Looking for a strategy to deal with mystutter为现在分词短语作状语；主句中，动词realized的后面是省略了that的賓语从句；连词when引导的是时间状语从句；I had learned by heart为省略了关系代词that或which的定语从句，先行词为the text。