CFLS -- Debate Competition

　　To welcome the centennial of the party as well as to exhibit our flaming youth, a debate competition was held. Organized by the sophomores, undertaken by the Lanyu Literature Club, the debate competition with the theme of ‘Warfare of words, facing up the wall of life’ came to a splendid end. In line with the spirit of ‘compete in fairness, advance in synchronous’, this debate competition was aimed at sharpening our competence in critical thinking, observing and presenting likewise our team spirit, guiding the formation of positive values and cultivating the political literacy as well as the emotion of “Family-country” of fellow students from CFLS.

 

 

　　Thoroughly engaged, all the Senior 2 students participated in and went all out for the debate. Only when students come up with their own issues can they immerse themselves in the debate. Therefore, in the spirit of ‘democratic topic selection; decentralised participation’，the selection of the debate topics consisted of four procedures: solicitation, initial selection, announcement and final selection of the propositions. Students wrote down their fondest ones. Since 109 topics were elected by the initial selection, after voting by evaluation experts, 14 topics were unveiled. After the class teachers organized the whole classes to vote, seven final debate topics were selected ultimately.

　　Preliminary Contest

　　Group A

　　Pros: Morality can better maintain the social order than law.

　　Cons: Law can better maintain the social order than morality.

　　Group B

　　Pros: When our dreams and reality collide, we ought to carry on our dreams.

　　Cons: When our dreams and reality collide, we ought to return to reality.

　　Group C

　　Pros: Get matters more than give.

　　Cons: Give matters more than get.

　　Group D

　　Pros: Family education acts a more pivotal part than school education.

　　Cons: School education acts a more pivotal part than family education.

　　Intermediary Heat

　　Group A

　　Pros;A hero is nothing but a product of his time.

　　Cons：Heroes decide the course of history.

　　Group B

　　Pros: Only when people have enough food and clothing can they pursue morality.

　　Cons: People can still pursue morality even if they don't have enough food and clothing.

　　Final

　　Pros: The status of English as a subject is supposed to be weakened.

　　Cons: The status of English as a subject is supposed to be strengthened.

　　A successful event takes all kinds of complicated and tiring preparation. Despite shinning individuals up stage,altruistic volunteers who devoted their time to preparatory work were regarded as the pillar of the competition. Students volunteered to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring smooth progress of the contest with passion and enthusiasm,depicting dynamic attitude as well as cracking moral cultivation of our flourishing school. Classes performed internal simulated debate scenarios for the selection of the final 4 debaters that would ultimately make the contest. It consists of three phases. Eight teams are assigned opponents and topics randomly. The great warfare of words is about to kick off!

　　Preliminary rounds consist of: Class 1 against Class 3, Class 2 against Class 5, Class 4 against Class 7, Class 6 against Class 8. During preliminary rounds, all participating teams dig deep into their topic, thoroughly preparing evidential information to back up their claims. Clashing in intelligence, colliding in knowledge, carefully prepared of every statement, not letting go a single phrase. Eventually, 4 of them got to proceed to semi-finals.

　　Group A

　　Pros: Morality can better maintain the social order than law. (Class 2)

　　Cons: Law can better maintain the social order than morality. (Class 5)

　　Group B

　　Pros: When our dreams and reality collide, we ought to carry on our dreams. (Class 4)

　　Cons: When our dreams and reality collide, we ought to return to reality. (Class 7)

　　Group C

　　Pros: Get matters more than give. (Class 8)

　　Cons: Give matters more than get. (Class 6)

　　Group D

　　Pros: Family education acts a more pivotal part than school education. (Class 1)

　　Cons: School education acts a more pivotal part than family education. (Class 3)

 

 

　　The four teams that passed through preliminary rounds were to be put through semi-finals two days later, topics are again selected randomly. The semi-finals consist of: Class 2 against Class 7, Class 1 against Class 6. Debaters, wielding their enhanced experience and knowledge as well as an even more perfected state of mind and comprehensive while convincing data, entered. With their awe-inducing language they touch the heavens, with their superior statements they collapse a dying star.

 

 

　　Five days after semi-finals, the finals kickstarted. Its brilliance busied people with comprehension. The finals consisted of but one match: Class 1 against Class 7. In this apparent by-fate duel of science against liberal arts students, eight debaters cite information from knowledge they’ve absorbed in the past few days, utilise their flawless logic and authoritative data, debated in a fierce but elegant manner. Eventually Class 7 came out on top and became the ultimate champion. Eight debaters presented a magnificent feast of both visual and acoustic treats. Members of the audience, in intense excitement, applauded the debaters.

 

 

　　After the final, Miss Gao and Mr. Chi made comments on the competition. "The meaning of debate is the construction and application of language and the development and promotion of thinking," said Gao Ying. To improve the ability to debate is to have independent thinking and judgment, and to develop the habit of reading and accumulation, which is the foundation of questioning and criticism. I hope you will look back on your youth many years later, with a little regret, but more pride and calm. " Mr. Chi said, "Grown-ups don't grow up overnight in physical age, but in a single experience of the mind. The clash of ideas and the collision of ideas that the students showed in the debate is the only way to mature in thought. At the same time, the students' discussion about foreign language in the debate was thought-provoking, which made us more clear about the responsibility of students of CFLS. Finally, he wishes all the students can carry their dreams forward, live up to the time and become the storyteller of China and the spokesperson of a charming China!"

 

 

　　Principal Wang Hao, alongside other high-ups of the school, joined the audience in person. Principal Wang issued the certificates himself, complementing students for their powerful enthusiasm. He gave us a speech: I’m very glad that we were able to perform this debate as part of our Adulthood Ceremony. In debate, speculative thinking is undoubtedly crucial. It requires us to maintain a rational and critical thought process. Every proposal, every piece of knowledge, every thought or opinion, has some truth to it, but everything is, to some extent, one-sided, and sometimes, it might even display some sort of discrimination. To engage in debate involving these require some ability and good practice in thought. More specifically, it requires speculative thinking. Every debate brings us closer to the grand truth, brings about a brilliant halo to our steps in advancement. As people of this day and age, we bear heavy responsibility. What is it? It is the process of our motherland’s rejuvenation. What are we supposed to do, what are we supposed to bear… Children, advancement towards the world is definitely not just a saying. Doing so requires our continuous process of speculative thinking, requires our deep and comprehensive consideration of life choices. I believe that every CFLS’er out there will strive to become brilliant beams of starlight shining down on the CFLS.

　　I attended as the general manager, host, and member of the organizing committee. Combined duties bring three-dimensional gains. Being the general manager brings me the duty of integrating the event with the grade director's various functional departments, this experience enhanced my abilities in crew coordination, team management, and crew resource management. All those lively people against actual problems, the combined effort of a team superseding individual work. Integrating host with the stage and audience, I did my best to find the sweet spot between a formal speech and a humorous conversation, to break boundaries of the individual, and achieve a better self. Integration with the organizing committee is sophisticated, I dedicated myself to this task and refined myself in fields of tolerance, meticulousness, and dedication. I am truly grateful for the trust from everyone of senior 2, the enthusiasm of all our students, the gift of the debate, and the absolutely amazing support from the CFLS. I hope next year’s debate between the will-be senior 2 students be even more awesome and brilliant!--Zhao Yushi, President of the Lanyu Literature Club

　　I really want to thank every school leader and teacher. Without their support, there won’t be such an awesome platform for me to debate upon. Through every exchange, not only did I strengthen my guts and became more capable of expressing my opinions to people, but also got a better understanding of team spirit----debate was never a task to be performed by an individual, it is the manifest of teamwork. What’s more important is, through every dive into the topic, I slowly understood more and more about my way of life, and actually achieved the slogan of ‘facing up the wall of life’.

　　--Top debater Lin Tongnan (Class 7)

　　This is my first time participating in such a contest. Even though our journey abruptly ended in the preliminary rounds, the experience of preparation and the actual debate really taught us a lot. From the gathering of materials and referencing past debates for ideas, to actually expressing them during the debate, colliding with the opponents’ mental model……all of these help me break through the service ceiling of our wielding of words. The only way to understand the awesomeness and touchingness of this is to experience it in person. No matter what, I am grateful that I was given this chance to do this.

　　--Top debater Kaoru Sugimori (Class 8)

　　This debate is not only part of the ceremonial process of the Adulthood Ceremony, but also a challenge of youth. To the individual debater, be it pre-contest anxiety, or the rapid processing during the contest, all of that leaves a deep impression in my heart. We feel the power of youth as well as the responsibilities and thought process of us as youngsters during this process. Mr. Lu Xun once said: ‘May the Chinese youths break free of coldness. The only way is up…do everything you can do; say everything you can say. Possess your internal energy, radiate it off as light.’ And now, hopefully we can internalise the energy of the Earth, aim for the far and wide, be the youths of the new age.

　　--Top debater Shi Yuning (Class 1)

　　The comprehensive knowledge, healthy psychological status, and professional debating skillset of the debaters made me, as the host, marvel at the talent of the students of the CFLS. From the president to the debaters, from the preliminary round to the final round, the collision of mental model and mental model in this hot summer day stimulated the students' thought process and left a good memory for this summer! While I admire the wonderful performance of the debaters, I also thank the teachers and students for their hard work.

　　--Host Yan Ding (Class 3)

　　I am honoured to be the president of the debate tournament, but I am also aware of the many responsibilities I have. As the president, I should have the attitude of controlling the whole situation and the ethics of coordination and balance, which I lacked before. Through the experience of this event and with the help of my teachers and classmates, I have gradually made up for these deficiencies, so I am very grateful for what this debate competition has brought me.

　　--Debate competition president Nie Zhiqing (Class 3)

　　What impressed me most about this debate was not only the moment of awarding the prize, but the intense preparation process of the debaters and the collision of ideas on the field. Although we were only working behind the scenes for the debate, we still benefited a lot from the process. I hope that as CFLS’ers we will one day truly internationalise and become world-facing human.

　　--Organising committee Zhang Ning (Class 3)

　　First of all, we need to express our gratitude: towards the school, student office and all of the grade’s teachers’ contribution to this event, their effort in helping students find their standpoint and express their opinion is invaluable. Next it is to say how moved I am! All of the participating teams demonstrated unparalleled teamwork by pooling their collective wisdom, working together in preparation, performing excellent crew resource management and giving their best during the debate. Finally, remarks. We’re lucky to be championed again in this tournament. Before every round, our debaters carefully went over their arguments and thoroughly tested them against each other, iteration after iteration. This not only demonstrated the logical abilities of science students but also improved them along the way. ‘Our next generation is respectable, keen to learn and ready to be taught.’ I hope all our children get to obtain their best memories in this adulting time. Grow towards the sun and strive to advance!

--Class 7 head teacher Liu Ying