How to Win a Debate Competition

    Debating doesn't mean that you can end up arguing with your opponents(对手). {#blank#}1{#/blank#}．The following tips on how to win a debate will further help you out.

    1 ){#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    This is very important. If you already know the debate topic that you are going to debate on, learn as much about it as you can. Research on it and then form opinions about it. Only if you know something in and out, will you be able to talk convincingly on it.

    2 ) Be confident.

    When you are putting your point in front of your opponents as well as the audience, be sure of yourself. Along with the words, your body language, voice modulation (语调) and eye contact, will play a major part in your success in debating. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    3 ) Give real life examples.

    While debating, make use of very simple language, which your audience can understand very easily. Give as many real examples as you can when making a point. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}．Thus, the judges and audience will find you much more convincing.

    4 ) Be descriptive.

    To win any debate, there is something about the human mind that you should be aware of. The thing with us humans is that if we see something, we believe and remember it much more than something we merely hear! {#blank#}5{#/blank#}．Tell you point of view in such a way that they can actually "see" what you are saying. If you are somehow able to pull this off, there is no doubt that you will be the winner of the debate competition!

    Follow the tips mentioned above, and with time, you will see yourself winning over your judges and audience.

    Age has its privileges in America, and one of the more prominent of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age — in some cases as low as 55 — is automatically entitled to dazzling array of price reductions at nearly every level of commercial life. Eligibility is determined not by one's need but by the date on one's birth certificate. Practically unheard of a generation ago, the discounts have become a routine part of many businesses — as common as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.

    People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them; yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent(有支付能力的). Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy” are synonymous (同义的). Perhaps that once was true, but today elderly Americans as a group have a lower poverty rate than the rest of the population. To be sure, there is economic diversity within the elderly, and many older Americans are poor. But most of them aren't.

    It is impossible to determine the impact of the discounts on individual companies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to revenue. But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they are a direct irritant in what some politicians and scholars see as a coming conflict between the generations.

    Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involve a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another sore point. Buoyed (支持) by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are declining the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job — thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers.

    Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have become a formidable economic privilege to a group with millions of members who don't need them.

    It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enhance the myth that older people can't take care of themselves and need special treatment; and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly are ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the essence of the very thing older Americans are fighting against — discrimination by age.

    The history of chocolate begins with a plant whose name is cacao. For centuries, people worldwide have been enjoying the rich favor of chocolate, a product made from cacao{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Americans eat an average of more than five kilograms of chocolate per person every year. The specialty shop shows the culture of chocolate and sells chocolates from different areas of the world.

    Historians believe the Mayan people of Central America first learned to farm cacao plants around 2,000 years ago{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they grew them around their homes. They cooked the cacao seeds and pressed them into soft powder. They mixed the powder with water to make a delicious chocolate drink. There are often images of cacao plants on Maya buildings and art objects. The rulers drank chocolate at ceremonies{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The Aztecs also valued chocolate in the Aztec culture. But the cacao plant could not grow in the area where they lived{#blank#}4{#/blank#}They even used cacao seeds as a form of money to pay or give as offerings to the gods. Only the very wealthy people in Aztec societies could afford to drink chocolate because cacao was so valuable.

    The explorer Christopher Columbus brought cacao seeds to Spain after his trip to Central America in 1502. The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed the chocolate drink{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nowadays, the English, Dutch and French all plant cacao trees in their own countries.

A. Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature.

B. The Mayan took the cacao trees from the rainforests.

C. Chocolate is especially popular in the United States.

D. Chocolate has been prepared as a drink for nearly all of its history.

E. So they had to exchange goods with other societies for cacao seeds.

F. Since then, the popularity of the drink has spread throughout Europe.

G. And even poorer members of Mayan society could enjoy the drink sometimes.

    Steel is a hard metal that people use to make many different products. Car bodies, bridges, building frames, and containers are just a few of the things made from steel. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But steel is better than iron in many ways. Steel is stronger but lighter than iron. Steel also lasts longer than iron.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they add carbon to the liquid iron. They may also add other materials to make different types of steel. For example, steel with added chromium（铬）is called stainless steel. It will not rust（生锈）or stain. Finally, workers use machines to cool the liquid steel into bars or long sheets.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People made the first steel as early as 1400 BC. Ancient people heated iron inside a pile of burning charcoal（木炭）. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The result was not the same as modern steel, but it was stronger than regular iron.

    In the 1800s people began to use huge ovens to make large amounts of steel. In the late 1800s builders used steel to make some of the first skyscrapers. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. In the 1900s new processes made steel-making easier. Today steel remains one of the most popular building materials in the world.

A. This added carbon to the iron.

B. Steel is quite different from iron.

C. The hardened steel may then be made into products.

D. Steel is basically iron mixed with a little carbon.

E. Then they will be cooled and put on the market.

F. To make steel, workers hear iron until it melts.

G. They also used steel to make large, modern bridges.

    There are some people who seem to always be surrounded by friends, and there are others who always seem to be standing on the outside, looking in at the crowds of friends. If you are one of the outsiders, it is time to break out of your shell and start making new friends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    ⒈Be yourself. Nobody likes a phony(虚伪的人). In fact, if you aren't yourself, others won't become friends with you. When the time comes that you feel comfortable enough to act like yourself again, you may not be well received, because you are a totally different person.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    ⒉Use technology. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For instance, Weibo is a great place to meet new people. It creates experiences and you get to meet like-minded people who share your interests.

    ⒊Start with people you know. Reach out and contact new friends, and reconnect with old friends you haven't seen in a long time. Don't forget about friends of friends. You may connect with some really cool people just by hanging out with your friends and their friends. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you stay home, you aren't going to meet people.

    ⒋Keep in touch. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} With the Internet and social media, there is absolutely no need to worry about that these days. Look up old friends and contact them.

A. There are all kinds of online groups that you can join.

B. Knowing others well is very important.

C. Therefore, let people get to know the real you.

D. If you are invited to go out, go.

E. All too often, people lose touch with one another.

F. Here are some tips that will help.

G. You need to trust yourself, whatever happens.

    Many of the most memorable ad campaigns nowadays tend to be funny. Advertisers use this strategy to attract customers to their products. Audiences like to be entertained not forced. People will pay more attention to a humorous commercial than a factual serious one opening themselves up to be influenced. The key to funny advertising is assuring the humor is appropriate to both the product and customers. The balance between being funny and being obnoxious can often be delicate, and a marketer must be certain the positive effects outweigh the negative before an advertisement can be introduced.

    The best products to sell using humor tend to be those that consumers think the least about. Products that are relatively inexpensive and often consumable can be represented without providing a lot of facts, and that's where there's room for humor. Candy, too, food, and entertainment-related products such as toys have got the most benefits from humor in their campaigns. One of the most important things to keep in mind is relevance to the product.

    Another point to consider when using humor in advertising is that different things are funny to different people. A commercial that may make one person burst into laughter may leave a bad taste in another's mouth. The target market must always be considered, what's funny in a client presentation may not be funny on an airplane, at a country club or in hospital.

    Humor in advertising tends to improve brand recognition but does not improve product recall message credibility, or buying intentions. In other words, consumers may be familiar with a good feeling towards the product, but their purchasing decisions will probably not be affected. One of the major keys to a successful humorous campaign is variety. Once a commercial start to wear out, it's impossible to save ii without some variation on the concept Humorous campaigns are often expensive because they have to be constantly changed. Advertisers must remember that while making customers laugh, they have to keep thing interesting because old jokes die along with their products.