A
MECHANICAL PENCIL
Kanazawa
Junior High School
Kabasawa
Mizuki
Hello, friends,
Most of you have mechanical pencils, don’t you? “How many mechanical pencils do you have?”
“How long have you used them?” I have asked those questions to my
friends. Most of them have several mechanical
pencils in their pencil cases. Five of
the six friends I asked have used theirs for one year or less. I was surprised at the results. Because I’ve been using mine for more than
three years. It fits me well and I like
it. I thought my friends use theirs for as long
as I have. Why don’t they use
theirs for a long time?
To tell the truth, I have six mechanical
pencils and about ten color pens in my pencil case. I thought they were necessary for
me before but I was wrong. I bought
them just because they are cheap or cute.
There are many extras and not used.
I think there are a few reasons for that. First, we want to use the newer, nicer or prettier ones and can
get them easily. Then we leave the old
ones and not use them. Second, adults
often give their children the cheap ones whether they need them or not. That is the reason why we get more and more mechanical
pencils in our pencil cases, and we lose them easily.
It is so wasteful.
When I start to think about what
we can do, I remember a Cambodian girl I read about in a book before. She was three years old and suffered from
malnutrition badly. As she started her
only meal one day, a hungry boy came to her.
He also suffered from malnutrition. Seeing the little boy, the girl gave him some of her porridge with
her hand. I felt very sad to know the fact that
a three-year-old girl had to care about others’ food. Even little children who don’t have enough
food help each other in that country. I
felt ashamed because I bought a lot of pens that I don’t need. We live in luxury and waste many things in
Japan.
I think there are little things
that we can do for the children directly. But we can collect the stationeries we don’t use and send them to
the children who do. I hear there are
thousands of children who can’t study due to lack of stationeries. I searched on the Internet to find
some groups which gather stationeries and send them to other countries. I found some groups and I don’t
think it is so difficult to send stationeries through them. Why don’t you try to use a mechanical pencil
or a pen for a longer time and send the remaining to the children who need
them? By doing so, we can make a big
difference.
Thank you for listening.
平成１８年度英語スピーチコンテスト参加論文
（第５７回横浜市立中学校生徒弁論大会）
The Ideal Classmate
Kanazawa Junior HighSchool Iida
Chihiro
Hello, everyone.
Today, I am going to talk about “The Ideal Classmates”
In our school life we deal with many different groups of people. How do you feel about your classmates? Are they friends that you can talk to about anything? Or are they just friends that you greet and eat lunch with every day?
I have a friend. Before, she was just like an acquaintance, this year we became classmates. So we began talking in the classroom and our relationship has greatly deepened.
I realized that our way of thinking was very similar. Without becoming classmates, I would have never come to this understanding. With so many different kinds of people in a class, there are often clash of opinions.
One day, I expressed my opinion to my classmates for the singing competition, but it was not done well. At that time, I really wanted to win the competition, so I was very hurt when no one worked together. Maybe my thinking was wrong so no one did what I said, I lost my self-confidence after that. I worry about this and wonder why others could not accept my opinion.
Later, I found out there were members who thought it was more important to have fun than to win the competition. I have forced my opinions on them, without understanding theirs first. Maybe, not thinking about others was the reason we did not get along well. I have learned from that experience.
Lastly, to me, “To understand one another, and to accept one another” is the way to become closer with your friends. “A classmate” is not just another person in the classroom. It is fate that we can share our years in school together. I treasure the chance of meeting my classmates. I will make the first move, by approaching everyone with the “I want to know you better” thinking.
Thank you very much.
「理想のクラスメイト」とはなんでしょうか。私は、自分自身の経験から、互いを理解し、認め合うという
ことが理想のクラスメイトであると学びました。縁があって出会えたクラスメイトが少しでも理想に近づくように、私は自分から行動していきたいと思います。
平成１６年度 英語スピーチコンテスト参加論文
（第５５回横浜市立中学校生徒弁論大会）
スピーチを聞く ……518KB
My dream
Kanazawa J.H.S
Kitami Amou
`Everyone around the world can live in hope for a better tomorrow.'
This is my dream.. What can I do? In the future,I want to be a nurse. When I read" the story of Nightingale," I wanted to help sick people not only in Japan but also all over the world.
But now what can I do to help? I found the following words on the internet. "No one can do everything,but every individual can do something." These are the words of Bob Pierce,a young American missionary who established "`World Vision' in 1950. And one of their programs was `Child Sponsor Ship'. Through World vision, we can support a child in a developing country. By sending \4500 each month,we not only support a child but also assist the child's family and contribute to the community development efforts.
At the same time we can receive information about our sponsored child,such as his country and then correspond with each other. That's it. I thought ! I had wanted to communicate with them directly to know the difference between our life and theirs, and what they needed. So my family decided to support a girl in Bangladesh. Her name is Tina. She is 11years old,as old as my younger sister. But while my sister is in the sixth grade, Tina is in the third grade. Because of lack of food, she couldn't grow up properly and she is smaller than the other children that are her age. We were also surprised to hear that she lived in a muddy wall house and helped her parents to draw water. They don't have water supplied to the house, you see. But I did find hope at the end of Tina's letter. "I will succeed in my future life if you continue helping me." I replied back and said, "Of course I will,Tina .And some day I want to see you too."
By the way, what do you think is the percentage, of children who can eat enough food and live peacefully? Only 13 percent all over the world. Maybe fewer because of the war. I'm one of the lucky children. So I'd like to make suffering people happy. One person alone can do little, but working together we can be a powerful force to change the world.
Thank you.
”世界中の人々がより良い明日への希望を持って生きることができる。”これが私の夢です。 そのために私は何ができるのでしょうか?将来は看護師になって世界の役に立ちたいと思っています。そして今はチァイルドスポンサ-シップを選び、そこでティナに出会いました。
平成１６年度神奈川県中学校英語弁論大会
兼 円宮杯第5５回全日本中学校英語弁論大会
スピーチを聞く ……８３２ＫＢ
Respect peace, respect history
Kanazawa J.H.S.
Hara Syoko
Do you like history? Of course, I like it very much. It has a lot of interesting events and legends, so it is still exciting for people. By the way, why do we study the past?
Firstly, we want to make a good future based on good wisdom from our predecessors. Do you know this sentence? “Wa wo motte toutoshi to nase.” It means “you should respect peace”. He also wanted people to know that thoughtfulness each other and harmony are very important.It was formed by Prince Umayato who is known for “Syotokutaishi”. This was the first article of the first constitution in Japan. It’s very simple, but it tells us the most important elements for all humans, doesn’t it? I like this sentence very much. And I like the fact that Japan has such a wonderful history and a good culture.
But sadly, there were not only bright stories in history. Last year I learned about the tragedies of the pacific war. There were many bad events, so I felt the need to cover my eyes. I, especially, got a shock with the fact that the old Japanese army had invaded Asian countries and killed many people. When I knew that at first, I couldn’t of believe the fact the Japanese had done so, even if a few executives of the army had ordered them to do so. But, that is just the truth. History doesn’t tell a lie. We shouldn’t close our eyes from the truth. We should accept the past consequences, even if it is painful.
We shall understand both the good and the bad aspects of our own country. And also consider what we do and hopefully never repeat the same mistakes. I think it is another reason for us to study histories.
It is painful to know the truth sometimes, but then we can discover new things. I want to discover the wonderful culture and history of Japan I think it will help other countries in the future appeal to one another.
Studying history is a big responsibility for international relations. We can study how the other countries developed up to, until now, and how Japan was connected with them in the past. Then we can understand and consider each other’s ethnicity. So that is the first step towards international peace.
Today exists because the past exists. Please understand your hometown’s history and embrace it and love it.
In the end, we should remember Prince Umayato’s constitution, “you should respect peace”. I hope this statement reaches all around the world not only Japan.
Thank you very much.
皆さんは、歴史が好きですか？私は大好きです。歴史には様々なドラマや伝説があり、今なお人々をかきたてるのです。ところで、なぜ私達は過去のことを学ぶのでしょうか？
ひとつは、先人たちの良い知恵を参考に未来を作っていくためだと思います。「和を以て貴しと為せ」・・・皆さんはこの言葉を知っていますか？これは聖徳太子として有名な厩戸皇子によってつくられた、日本初の法律の一文目です。シンプルでありながら、人間として一番大切なことを説いているように思いませんか？私はこの言葉が大好きです。そして、こんな素晴らしい歴史や文化のある日本が大好きです。
しかし残念なことに、歴史上にあるのは輝かしい物語ばかりではありません。私は去年、歴史の授業で、太平洋戦争の悲劇を学びました。目を覆いたくなるようなことばかりで、中でも旧日本軍が行ったアジア侵略や虐殺の実態はものすごくショッキングでした。このことを初めて知った私は、たとえ軍部の、しかもごく一部の上の人たちが命令した事であっても、同じ日本人がやったことなんて信じられませんでした。しかしこれは事実なのです。歴史は嘘をつきません。その真実に対して目をそむけるのではなく、例え辛い事でも自分の国の一部として受け入れる必要があります。自分の国のいい面も悪い面も知り、そして、２度と同じ過ちが繰り返されないように、私達は何をすべきか考える。それが、歴史を勉強するもうひとつの理由ではないでしょうか。
真実を知る事は辛いことです。が、同時に新たな発見も伴います。私は将来、日本の素晴らしい文化や歴史をたくさん発見して、ぜひ海外に向けてアピールしたいです。
国際交流の上でも、歴史の勉強は重要な役目を担います。他の国がどのように成り立ったか、自分の国とはどのような関係があったのか。それを知れば、他民族への理解が生まれ、思いやりがもてると思います。そして、それが国際平和への第一歩なのです。
過去があるから、今があるのです。どうか自分の故郷の歴史を大切にしてください。
最後になりましたが、あの憲法を忘れないでください。日本だけでなく世界中に、「和を以て貴しと為す」の一文が伝わる事を願います。
ありがとうございました。