Acceptance Speeches

‘Thank you’ is a very polite thing to say when you are given something, and this is particularly important when receiving an award at a ceremony. But if you’re one of the lucky winners, ‘thank you’ is just the start of the most important acceptance speech of your life.

Film, TV and music award ceremonies are all about the acceptance speeches—they are an art form in their own right. They are a chance for an actor or performer to publicly thank people who’ve helped them.

Speeches are also used as a platform to make a political statement or just to raise someone’s profile (形象) — so it’s important to get the words right. 【小题1】 For example, at this year’s Oscars, nominees (被提名者) have only 90 seconds from finding out they’ve won to finishing their speech. John Bailey, president of the Academy, has told them they should “get up there and keep speeches brief.”

When the clock is ticking, it’s hard to say everything you want. Weeping can waste time; bumbling (结结巴巴讲话) costs valuable seconds. 【小题2】 At the 2019 Golden Globes, Olivia Colman was named the best actress for her role as Queen Anne in The Favorite and gave an excited speech that ended with her holding up her trophy (奖杯) and sending a message to her family: “Ed and the kids-look! Yay!”

You would expect an actor to be persuasive and able to perform on stage in front of an audience. 【小题3】When Japan’s Naomi Osaka won this year’s Australian Open final, she said “Sorry, public speaking isn’t my strong point so I hope I can get through this... I read notes before this but I still forgot what I was meant to say.”

【小题4】 It’s important to make notes that remind you to thank people, say some words of wisdom, and win over the audience. But if you’ve got nothing to say, accept your award graciously then get off stage before the music starts playing again — just remember to say “thank you”!

Having an off day when you feel stressed or sad is totally normal.【小题1】We’ve put together some different things you can try to help turn your mood around and get feeling like yourself again.

Take a few minutes to breathe deeply. The simple action of taking full, deep breaths can help you start to feel better. Deep breathing increases oxygen supply throughout the body. 【小题2】 Deep breathing also helps activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which produces a calming effect.

Start keeping diaries.【小题3】It is a way to cognitively deal with the circumstances behind how you are feeling. In fact, studies have shown that writing offers benefits of emotional well-being, including relief of emotional distress. Besides, adjourning has been shown to benefit the immune system.

【小题4】Emotional tears signal the body to let out endorphins or “feel-good” hormones to promote a feeling of calm and well-being. Not only does crying allow your body to let out stress hormones, but at the end of a good cry, the body assumes a calmer state with a lower heart and breathing rate.

Rely on your support system. Studies have shown the benefits of having a close support system of family and friends to whom you can turn. Social support leads to a sense of belonging and security rather than loneliness while dealing with emotional pain.【小题5】

“Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed down from one generation to another. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.

Did your mother ever tell you to eat carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration.Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic (蒜) is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.

Unfortunately, not all of Mom’s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.

Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales.After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated (积累) from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.