i'll have a english contest tomorrow in chengdu. it is held by canada. and this is my speech. Ro.Ro, support me! Summer 2006 A Neverland of Maple Leaves Good XX ladies and gentlemen. My name is Zhou Xiaoxia. It’s my honor to be here to make a speech. And my topic is A Neverland of Maple Leaves. When I was a little girl, like any other children, I used to fall asleep with grandma’s fairy tales. Every night grandma sat at the my bed, tenderly speaking without a book in her hand. There were maple leaves almost in every story. She always said “once upon a time, there was a neverland of maple leaves”.i stopped her for many times to figure out what neverland exactly meant. But everytime she just said “A neverland is somewhere with no pains but full of joy.” So I often have dreams about grandma’s neverland, where maple leaves were dancing in the air making the frame bright red. A lovely girl in a ballet white gauzy dress danced with the maple leaves fluttering. Her grandma sat under a maple showing tender affection with bright smiles. Unexaggeratedly speaking, I grew up with my maple dreams. And I can’t remember when I could fall asleep without grandma’s story. But I still believe there is a neverland in grandma’s heart. It was not until I began to know about a garden of maples on the other side of the Pacific Ocean that I stopped wodering whether the neverland really existed. Being baptized by snow every year, the garden is always clear as ice. She’s calm in her heart, just like the garden of peach blossom written in a Chinese antient prose by Tao Yuanming. The garden of peach blossom in prose does not exist in the real world while the neverland of maple leaves does. And she is called Canada. I have been thinking that the water of nature can not only nourish a land but also calm it. The five lakes calm Toronto, Saint. Laurence river calms Montreal.and the most important of all, the Arctic Ocean is to the north of Canada. A period of time a few years ago, I felt nothing’s on my way and almost gave up my hopes. But when I saw a lot of Canadian beautiful scenery in a Chinese teleplay called “Goodbye, Vancouver”, I really felt quiet in my heart and my sadness and worries were gone. Although it is a developed country, Canada is not so impetuous as other developed places. Here is a common Chinese saying “he who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and he who stays near ink gets stained black.” But I think Canada is different. Canada is located to the north of the USA but never assimilated by it. And I am wondering how Canadians did this. This made my neverland of maple leaves never fade away. A few days ago I asked my grandma why there was a neverland of maple leaves in each of her story. She told me “a maple leaf symbolize peace, quietness and the life that never dies. And the neverland of maple leaves does exist. It is called Canada.” I was surprised to know grandma also yearned for Canada. Then I asked her to tell me more about Canada. But she refused and said I should keep my own thoughts and seek my own neverland for myself. “but, why I seldom read about Canada in our history book?”I asked. “it is because your history book is mostly about wars.” Suddenly I realized, what maple leaves really stand for. At last, grandma said “study harder, to go to a good university and have a good job and make enough money, and you will be able to go to Canada.” I know this saying is so vulgar. But I know what grandma said is completely right. I’m trying my best to study and I believe I will be able to make grandma’s dream come true and so does mine. Finally, I want to say. My neverland of maple leaves never leaves. Thank you all!