英语三分钟演讲稿集锦

　　dragon boat festival

　　the dragon boat festival, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, has had ahistory of more than 2,000 years. it is usually in june in the gregoriancalendar.

　　there are many legends about the evolution of the festival, the mostpopular of which is in commemoration of qu yuan (340-278 bc). qu yuan wasminister of the state of chu and one of china‘s earliest poets. in face of greatpressure from the powerful qin state, he advocated enriching the country andstrengthening its military forces so as to fight against the qin. however, hewas opposed by aristocrats headed by zi lan, and later deposed and exiled byking huai. in his exiled days, he still cared much for his country and peopleand composed immortal poems including l

　　i sao (the lament), tian wen (heavenlyquestions) and jiu ge (nine songs), which ha

　　d far-reaching influences. in 278 bc, he heard the news that qin troops hadfinally conquered chu‘s capital, so he finished his last piece huai sha(empacing sand) and plunged himself into the miluo river, clasping his arms toa large stone. the day happened to be the 5th of the 5th month in the chineselunar calendar. after his death, the people of chu crowded to the bank of theriver to pay their respects to him. the fishermen sailed their boats up and downthe river to look for his body. people threw into the water zongzi(pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves) andeggs to divert possible fish or shrimp from attacking his body. an old doctorpoured a jug of reaglar wine (chinese liquor seasoned with realgar) into thewater, hoping to turn all aquatic beasts drunk. that‘s why people later followedthe customs such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and drinking realgar wineon that day.

　　dragon boat racing is an indispensable part of the festival, held all overthe country. as the gun is fired, people will see racers in dragon-shaped canoespulling the oars harmoniously and hurriedly, accompanied by rapid drums,speeding toward their destination. folk tales say the game originates from theactivities of seeking qu yuan‘s body, but experts, after painstaking andmeticulous research, conclude that dragon boat racing is a semi-religious,semi-entertaining program from the warring states period (475-221 bc). in thefollowing thousands of years, the game spread to japan, vietnam and britain aswell as china‘s Chinese Taiwan and hong kong. now dragon boat racing has developed intoan aquatic sports item which features both chinese tradition and modern sportingspirit. in 1980, it was listed into the state sports competition programs andhas since been held every year. the award is called "qu yuan cup."

　　zongzi is an essential food of the dragon boat festival. it is said thatpeople ate them in the spring and autumn period (770--476 bc). in early times,it was only glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed or other plant leaves andtied with colored thread, but now the fillings are more diversified, includingjujube and bean paste, fresh meat, and ham and egg yolk. if time permits, peoplewill soak glutinous rice, wash reed leaves and wrap up zongzi themselves.otherwise, they will go to shops to buy whatever stuff they want. the customof eating zongzi is now popularin north and south korea, japan and southeast asian nations.

　　on dragon boat festival, parents also need to dress their children up witha perfume pouch. they first sew little bags with colorful silk cloth, then fillthe bags with perfumes or herbal medicines, and finally string them with silkthreads. the perfume pouch will be hung around the neck or tied to the front ofa garment as an ornament. they are said to be able to ward off evil.