I'm grateful that I've been given this opportunity to stand here as a spokesman. Facing all of you on the stage, I have the exciting feeling of participating in this speech competition. The topic today is WHAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE. If you ask me this question, I must tell you that I think the answer is a word---- responsibility.

　　In my elementary years, there was a little girl in the class who worked very hard, however she could never do satisfactorily in her lessons. The teacher asked me to help her, and it was obvious that she expected a lot from me. But as a young boy, I was so restless and thoughtless, I always tried to get more time to play and enjoy myself. So she was always slighted over by me.

　　One day before the final exam, she came up to me and said, "Could you please explain this to me? I can not understand it. I just want a good score". I started explaining, and finished in a hurry because I made an appointment with my friend to play computer games together. Not surprisingly, she again did very badly in the exam. After that, she began to dislike me and said no words to me. It let me feel very bad. Maybe it is a little thing to you now, but I was about eight or nine years old at that time, in a way, it was the very starting point of my life, for I began to understand the word "responsibility" and to learn to always do my duties faithfully. Gradually, I had learnt the truly meaning of the “responsibility”---- the mutual need and trust of people, the co-operation and inter-reliance.

　　Later in my life, I continued to experience many failures. But never again did I feel that regret for myself. I am satisfied with myself to fulfill my responsibilities as best I can.

　　Nowadays, this society has become more and more modern. New buildings, new commodities and new fashions appear every day. New ideas, new information, new technologies are be found every day, too. People can talk with each other from any corner of the earth in a matter of seconds. Society is becoming more competitive.

　　Yet we still face a lot of problems. We learn that crimes take place in broad daylight with crowds of people looking on and not assisting. We hear that there are still about 1 million children in this country who can't even afford to go to elementary schools while enormous sums of money are being squandered away on dinner parties and luxury cars. We buy shoddy medicines, or merely

　　worthless junk. Many people believe, is the most important thing in the world that must be made, even at the expense of morality and responsibility.

　　Today’s society determines that we are a generation with a keener sense of competition and efficiency and a greater readiness to think critically and act creatively. BUT, we all forget there is a most important thing is our responsibility, a responsibility to the society, a responsibility to our family, even a responsibility to ourselves. If we lose this thing that we will change into that person we once hate it.

　　Probably I'll be an ordinary man for the rest of my life. But this doesn't discourage me any, for I know that with my sense of responsibility and devoted efforts to always strive, for the best, it's going to be a meaningful and worthwhile life that I will be living.

　　Standing here now, I also remember my responsibility. Today, I must finish my speech, and tomorrow, I must study hard for myself. We cannot evade the responsibility, and we cannot let people down. So, everyone must embalm our own responsibilities, whatever they are small or big, now, right now, to accomplish our responsibility, and in the end, to realize our dreams. Because the responsibility is what we cannot afford to lost.