英语演讲稿18篇
通过对演讲稿语言的推究可以提高语言的表现力，增强语言的感染力。在社会一步步向前发展的今天，演讲稿对我们的作用越来越大，怎么写演讲稿才能避免踩雷呢？下面是小编为大家收集的英语演讲稿，仅供参考，欢迎大家阅读。
英语演讲稿1
nevertheless, things just happened in a casual way. when i caught a high fever again when young, mum had to send for the doctor home to treat me. i was so sick that i became quite drowsy and then slept. when i suddenly woke up in the afternoon, i found the liquid in the bottle had already flown over ,while mum and dad were not around. i yelled, but finally found it was of no use. so i jumped out of the bed and pulled up the tubule. in the nature of things, the blood came out and dropped along the way i went downstairs. things became different at the time i went down alone. i discovered that i could be independent. i was much stronger than i had thought. looking back on the girl who cried all day, i came to understand suddenly that the strong part of the inner myself had been existing all the time. seeing the anxious mum, i revealed a big smile to her. i could see that mum was trying to hold her tears back and scrubbed my blood on the hand. she didn't know that her little girl had stealthily grown up.
since then, i became stronger. as you see now, standing in front of you is a confident and sunny girl. in my grown-up life, i've never cried for being injured no matter how serious it is. i can even go to the hospital alone when mum and dad are on business. i came acroso many difficulties in life, while i've never thought of giving up. thanks to that extraordinary experience at my age of ten, i discovered a person inside myself who has been so important and unique to me. just like what dad had told me before, "people are like tea bags—you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are."
英语演讲稿2
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning! I’m very glad to stand here and give you a short speech.
Man’s life is a process of growing up, actually I’m standing here is a growth. If a person’s life must constituted by various choices, then I grow up along with these choices. Once I hope I can study in a college in future, however that’s passed, as you know I come here, now I wonder what the future holds for me.
When I come to this school, I told to myself: this my near future, all starts here. Following I will learn to become a man, a integrated man, who has a fine body, can take on important task, has independent thought, an open mind, intensive thought, has the ability to judge right and wrong, has a perfect .
Once my teacher said :” you are not sewing, you are stylist; never forget which you should lay out to people is your thought, not craft.” I will put my personality with my interest and ability into my study, during these process I will combine learning with doing. If I can achieve this “future”, I think that I really grow up. And I deeply believe kindred, good-fellowship and love will perfection and happy in the future.
How to say future? Maybe it’s a nice wish. Lets make up our minds, stick to it and surely well enjoy our life.
英语演讲稿3
I love English
My honorable teachers, my beloved schoolmates. Good morning everyone，
may I have your attention，please? I am glad to be able to give a lecture on this classroom. This once, I want to talk about English. My topic of conversation is that I love English.
As everyone knows, English is very important today. It has been used everywhere in the world. It has become the most common language on Internet and for international trade. If we can speak English well, we will have more chance to succeed. Because more and more people have taken notice of it, the number of the people who go to learn English has increased at a high speed.
But for myself, I learn English not only because of its importance and its usefulness, but also because of my love for it. When I learn English, I can feel a different way of thinking which gives me more room to touch the world. When I read English novels, I can feel the pleasure from the book which is different from reading the translation. When I speak English, I can feel the confident from my words. When I write English, I can see the beauty which is not the same as our Chinese...
I love English; it gives me a colorful dream. I hope I can travel around the world one day. With my good English, I can make friends with many people from different countries. I can see many places of great interests. I dream that I can go to London, because it is the birth place of English.
I also want to use my good English to introduce our great places to the English spoken people, I hope that they can love our country like us.
I know, Rome was not built in a day. I believe that after continuous hard study, one day I can speak English very well.
If you want to be loved, you should learn to love and be lovable. So I believe as I love English everyday, it will love me too.
I am sure that I will realize my dream one day! Thank you!
英语演讲稿4
as we all know, we will celebrate our 60th year of independence. years is a short history for any country, however, many people’s dreams have come true. as a middle school student , i’m very glad that i have the chance to celebrate the 60 anniversaries
in the past years , our standards of living really has changed dramatically. in the past, parents often worried about their children lacking eating and wearing. in that time, we did not see a number of overseas brands in china , and the pursuit of fashion become the subject of life. in the past, people often communicated by writing letters or taking telegram. today nearly every people use mobile phones to communicate with everyone at anywhere. a succession of changes has affected us , which leads us to live a more happier life.
in the past 60 years, china has scored impressive achievements in its development. china’s economy , especially in the latest 30 years, runs at an average of 9.4 percent，with its gdp jumping from 147.3 billion us dollars to over 1.4 trillion us dollars. as the same time, the technology of chain has improved rapidly. the “gold seven’ lunch is the best evidence. the most pride of china is the success of “ beijing olympic games”, which exhibits a harmonious china to foreigners.
in the end , let us bless our dear county to have a bright future together.
英语演讲稿5
With the development of science and technology,global warming is becomingthe focus of human measures should be taken to protect ourplanet.
To begin with,it's essential to save energy because of limited instance,turn off water tap after washing hands and turn offlights immediately if there is no person in the 's more,we'd better goout on foot or by bike,instead of using vehicles in order to reduce carbonemission,which is also good to our des,we are supposed to reducewaste,and reuse what we can be ,no littering and planting moretrees are good ways to beautify our environment.
In a ward,the earth is our only should take immediate action toprotect ever you do,no matter how small itis,counts!
英语演讲稿6
belief in yourself is the secret of success
from the moment we are born, our destiny had been set. it is the start of our life. as a little child, we go to school and are curious to everything in the world.
when we get older, we tend to understand the function in this world.
we start to think, sometimes wonder about life. next thing we know, we are growing up. the world is changing, and our life is changing everyday.
right now, this particular moment in our life, we think again.
we have we done in our life?
are we successful?
are we rich?
are we happy? and flashbacks starts, the memories took charge of our brain.
we reflect to ourselves, we question ourselves.
why are we not successful?
why are we not rich?
why are we not happy?
then, we need to ask how.
how to be successful?
how to be rich?
how to be happy?
with the questions, we figure out the answers. one of the dominating techqniue to be successful is first start from yourself. believe in yourself. if you don't believe in what you can do, then who else?
if you don't care about yourself, then who else? trust your feelings, believe that you can do it. and as long as you hold that thought, nothing, nothing can stop you.
the successful future right ahead of you are led by a pathway called belief.
英语演讲稿7
Good morning:Honorable judges, dear teachers and close friends.
I’m very glad to stand here to share my speech with you.
Today I’m going to talk about Love and Take care of er Nature is an exquisite and complex life-system.
Its charm appears in the trees, stream, soil, insects, moss and fungus, all the things on the earth in different shapes, which are interdependent.
When you get close to nature, please remember, each tree, stone and species of animals here has lived harmoniously for hundreds, thousands or even millions of years.
When we pass away, they will continue to live.
They are the real masters, while we are just the passer-by.
However, the conduct we unconsciously do, such as picking, lumbering, tramping and abusing can probably destroy the balance of their life.
Therefore, we must reduce our bad influence as much as possible.
While you are enjoying the nature, do not forget please, the beauty of the lives also needs to be concerned with and to be life on the earth has a long and touching evolutionary story.
From the origin, the lives of the human being are equal to those of others; they both are the composing parts of Mother Nature.
Nevertheless, for some inexplicable reasons, the human becomes the spirits of all creatures.
Of course, it is the result of the evolution, but still we should be grateful to all our companions in nature for the opportunity they spite of this, humans cannot live without earth.
They live on the earth, drink the sweet water, and enjoy the sunshine, the air, the sky, the fruit; the grains utilize the energy and so on.
In a word, the human being cannot live without nature, and Mother Nature makes us grow stronger.I do not like the word Pet, but preferring the word Animal instead.
I have been loving animal since I was just a little boy.
When thinking of the Pet Fashion, I always feel much annoyed.
For the animals will be given a shackle and lose their liberty if they become someones pets.
Their natural attribution can be deprived, to now, relying on their scientific power, the human have opened up too much and over developed nature, in order to fill up their growing appetites of wealth.
They destroy the balance of nature, however, they dont realize, their own development and existence will be threatened.
Therefore, our sights should be focused on nature and we should try to develop the concept of keeping human and nature in should lay emphasis on our education with consider cultural and natural emotion.
To use the vivid example to wake up the conscience in peoples love nature is to love our mankind.
As the new generation who enter the new century, we should make efforts to love and respect nature, to treat it well and protect it.
Only in this way can we have a beautiful nature to enjoy it!Thank you.
英语演讲稿8
good morning, everyone:
my name is , a lovely boy of thirteen. i’m very glad to stand here and share my dream with you.
different people have different dreams. some people dream of being rich or famous and others dream of staying young for long. i also have a lot of dreams. but my dream is to become a lawyer.
if i were a lawyer in the future, i would serve our country first because from tv, i learn the japanese seize our country’s islands. i can’t stand it when they even say these islands are theirs. so, i feel strongly that i must study hard and get back diaoyu islands by law when i grow up.
if i were a lawyer in the future, i would serve people heart and soul. i would offer free help for people in need.
if i were a lawyer in the future, i would let people live a happier life. of course, i know it’s difficult for me to achieve my dream now, but i’ll make it by my hard working. come on. just do it!
that’s all. thanks for all your listening!
英语演讲稿9
i have a dream today
i have a dream that one day every vally shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. wow, what a dream it has been for martin luther king. but the changing world seems telling me that people gradually get their
dreams lost somehow in the process of growing up, and sometimes i personally find myself saying goodbye unconsciously to those distant childhood dreams.
however, we need dreams. they nourish our spirit; they represent possibility even when we are dragged down by reality. they keep us going. most successful people are dreamers as well as ordinary people who are not afraid to think big and dare to be great. when we were little kids, we all dreamed of doing something big and splashy, something significant. now what we need to do is to maintain them, refresh them and turn them into reality. however, the toughest part is that we often have no ideas how to translate these dreams into actions. well, just start with concrete objectives and stick to it. don‘t let the nameless fear confuse the eye and confound our strong belief of future. through our talents, through our wits, through our endurance and through our creativity, we will make it.
hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. hold fast to dreams, for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow. so my dear friends, think of your old and maybe dead dreams. whatever it is, pick it up and make it alive from today.
英语演讲稿10
my dream
everyone has a dream. i often ask myself. when i was a little boy, i wanted to be a soldier with a gun so that i could defend our i am a young boy with a new dream——to be a doctor. i want to be a famous doctor, helping the sick and saving their lives.
i also saw some people who were suffering and dying of ill-nesses. i made up my mind to become a doctor, so that i can help the sick people and cure them of their diseases. china is a develop-ing country. she needs good medicine and good doctors, especially in the countryside and lonely villages.
i want to try my best to help the poor sick people of our country. i want to let them have an opportunity to receive excel-lent treatments for their illnesses without having to pay much or any money.
i'll do every bit to cure the incurable. i hope to see a world where there is no cancer, no aids, no fatal diseases. i'm confident that through the joint efforts of you and me, man will put an end to his bodily sufferings and this dream of mine will one day be brought into reality.
英语演讲稿11
today i am very glad to be here to share with you my ideas of success. what is success? it is what everyone is longing times success would be rather simple. winning a game is success; getting a high grade in the exam is success; making a new friend is success; even now i am standing here giving my speech is somehow also success.
however, as a person's whole life is concerned, success becomes very complicated. is fortune success? is fame success? is high social status success? no, i don’t think so. i believe success is the realization of people's hopes and days, in the modern society there are many people who are regarded as the successful. and the most obvious characteristics of them are money, high position and luxurious life. so most people believe that s success and all that they do is for this purpose. but the problem is wether it is real success. we all know there are always more money, higher position and better condition in front of us. if we keep chasing them, where is the end? what will satisfy us at last? therefore, we can see, to get the real success we must need something inside, which is the realization of people's hopes and ideals.
different people have different ideas about success; cause people's hopes and ideas vary from one another. but i am sure every success is dear to everybody, cause it is not easy to come by, cause in the process of our striving for success, we got both our body and soul tempted, meanwhile we are enlightened by the most valuable qualities of human beings: love, patient, courage and sense of responsibility. these are the best treasures. so now i am very proud that i have this opportunity to stand here speaking to all of you. it is my success, cause i raise up to challenge my hope.
what is success? everyone has his own interpretation as i do. but i am sure every success leads to an ever-brighter future. so ladies and gentlemen, believe in our hopes, believe in ourselves, we, every one of us, can make a successful life!
wish you all good success!
英语演讲稿12
i study in a high school now, this is my second year, i will be soon finishing my high school class.
after a year’s study, i have known clearly what i want, as a high school student, my expectation in high school is of course about my study. first, i want to learn english well. i love english, i want to choose it as my major when i go to college. comparing to other subjects, i don’t have much interest in math, geography and so on.
i find english interests me, when i see the movies, i like to see the original one, which means i will listen to the english. learning english well helps me understand the movie better. second, i want to go to college, so i must work hard to accomplish the dream. going to college is my future dream, i work so hard for it, so i must learn as more as i can to fulfill myself.
英语演讲稿13
Students, guests and teachers
Good morning !
my great pleasure to share my dream with you today. my dream is to become a teacher....
As the whole world has its boundaries, limits and freedom coexist in our life. I don’t expect complete freedom, which is impossible. I simply have a dream that supports my life.
I dream that one day, I could escape from the deep sea of thick schoolbooks and lead my own life. With my favorite fictions, I lie freely on the green grass, smelling the spring, listening to the wind singing, breathing the fresh and cool air and dissolve my soul in nature at last. Simple and short enjoyment can bring me great satisfaction.
I dream that one day the adults could throw their prejudice of comic and cartoon away. They could keep a lovely heart that can share sorrow and happiness with us while watching cartoon or doing personal things. That’s the real communication of heart to heart.
I have the belief that my dreams should come true. I am looking forward to some day coming when I am like a proud eagle, which flies to the blue and vast sky.
英语演讲稿14
belief in yourself is the secret of success
from the moment we are born, our destiny had been set. it is the start of our life. as a little child, we go to school and are curious to everything in the world.
when we get older, we tend to understand the function in this world.
we start to think, sometimes wonder about life. next thing we know, we are growing up. the world is changing, and our life is changing everyday.
right now, this particular moment in our life, we think again.
we have we done in our life?
are we successful?
are we rich?
are we happy? and flashbacks starts, the memories took charge of our brain.
we reflect to ourselves, we question ourselves.
why are we not successful?
why are we not rich?
why are we not happy?
then, we need to ask how.
how to be successful?
how to be rich?
how to be happy?
英语演讲稿15
When I first watch the news on TV,I was shocked so deeply that tears welled up in my eyes.
It was a bittersweet story that emerged from the Sichuan earthquake a house collapsed on a mother and her 4-month-old infant,the mother protected the baby’s body with hers by kneeling prostrate over the rescuers arrived 5 days later,on May 17,they found the mother had been crushed to death,but the baby was sleeping tly thereafter they found the mother’s cellphone,where she had written the text message to her baby that read “My dear baby,if you live,you must remember that I love you.”
It was the word ‘I love you’ that touched me rally speaking,people in China do not show their love by saying ‘I love you’ far as I am concerned,Chinese people prefer using a silent way of expressing love to using a direct show his love to a girl,a boy may treat the girl well and try hard to provide her with lifelong show their love to their teacher,students may bring a cup of tea or erase the blackboard show their love for their motherland,soldiers may guard the border without any the oriental culture,love is like still water,which is so reserved,so silent that it can only be felt after a long period.
However ,the Chinese mother realised that she hardly had time to show her endless love to her made up her mind to defend her baby even if it means risking her while,she leave the word’I love you’ to her baby.I think when the baby grows up,he may regard “I love you” as the most beautiful word in the world.
As a matter of fact,there are no such definition as western love and oriental long as it`s love,it motivate us to hold on and make long as it`s love,it makes our heart warm and helps us out of pain and long as it`s love,it moves `s why tears fell on my face when the story touched my soul.
Thank you !
英语演讲稿16
I hope my ideal school starts at 8.30 a.m. because l like to get up late. I hope my ideal school finishes at 4.30 p.m. So l can have lots of time to have a rest and do some after-school activities.
My ideal school is very large, it has three tall buildings , a big dining hall, a tennis court, a big playground and a park.
We have an hour for lunch, we can eat delicious food and chat with each other in the big dining hall. We can also listen to pop music here.
We have Math lesson everyday because l like Math very much. I also like English, so we have English everyday. We needn’t wear school uniform. The classes are quite small, there are about 15 students in each class.
We have activities after school once a week. At the weekend, we needn’t do much homework. Everymonth, we go on a school trip to Shanghai orSuzhou.
英语演讲稿17
Good morning ladies and gentlemen,
Today, I would like to introduce my beloved hometown—Inner Mongolia to all of you. It has been 57 years since the birth of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on May 1st, 1947.
Dominated by the Mongolian nationality, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located on the northern frontier of China. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region occupies an area of 1.18 million square kilometers and has a population of about 20 million people who represent a score of different nationalities. Every time when people talk about Inner Mongolia, they’ll come down to the vast grassland. Yes, the Inner Mongolian prairie area makes up a quarter of the total grassland area of the country. On the boundless expanse of the Inner Mongolian prairie are living numerous sheep, Cattle and horses, on which our Mongolian have lived for generations. That is why the grassland is eulogized as ―cradle of life‖.
There are two vast grasslands in my hometown—Hulun Buir Grasslands and Xilin Gol Grasslands which are both world-famous regions. People in Inner Mongolia are famous for their bravery, enthusiasm and hospitality. No mater where you are from, as long as you come to a herdsman’s house, you will be warmly entertained with roasted whole lamb and milk tea, and what’s more, you can also appreciate beautiful Mongolian songs and elegant dances. It is not exaggerating to say Mongolians are born singers and dancers. The moment you set your feet on the grassland areas you will discover it is indeed a real land of songs and dances.
Today’s Inner Mongolia still maintains her ethnic characteristics and at the dame time, she tries to keep pace with the development of the modern world. Ordus is a worldwide well-known brand, Yili and Mengniu are both the famous dairy industries, which have greatly improved the living standard of our Mongolian people. And I’m sure, our Mongolian people will make great effort to contribute to our hometown. As a college student, I know quite clearly that my mission is to master solid knowledge and one day do good to my beloved hometown.
英语演讲稿18
My subject today is learning. And in that spirit, I want to spring on you all a pop quiz. Ready? When does learning begin? Now as you ponder that question, maybe you're thinking about the first day of preschool or kindergarten, the first time that kids are in a classroom with a teacher. Or maybe you've called to mind the toddler phase when children are learning how to walk and talk and use a fork. Maybe you've encountered the Zero-to-Three movement, which asserts that the most important years for learning are the earliest ones. And so your answer to my question would be: Learning begins at birth.
Well today I want to present to you an idea that may be surprising and may even seem implausible, but which is supported by the latest evidence from psychology and biology. And that is that some of the most important learning we ever do happens before we're born, while we're still in the womb. Now I'm a science reporter. I write books and magazine articles. And I'm also a mother. And those two roles came together for me in a book that I wrote called "Origins." "Origins" is a report from the front lines of an exciting new field called fetal origins. Fetal origins is a scientific discipline that emerged just about two decades ago, and it's based on the theory that our health and well-being throughout our lives is crucially affected by the nine months we spend in the womb. Now this theory was of more than just intellectual interest to me. I was myself pregnant while I was doing the research for the book. And one of the most fascinating insights I took from this work is that we're all learning about the world even before we enter it.
When we hold our babies for the first time, we might imagine that they're clean slates, unmarked by life, when in fact, they've already been shaped by us and by the particular world we live in. Today I want to share with you some of the amazing things that scientists are discovering about what fetuses learn while they're still in their mothers' bellies.
First of all, they learn the sound of their mothers' voices. Because sounds from the outside world have to travel through the mother's abdominal tissue and through the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus, the voices fetuses hear, starting around the fourth month of gestation, are muted and muffled. One researcher says that they probably sound a lot like the the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher in the old "Peanuts" cartoon. But the pregnant woman's own voice reverberates through her body, reaching the fetus much more readily. And because the fetus is with her all the time, it hears her voice a lot. Once the baby's born, it recognizes her voice and it prefers listening to her voice over anyone else's.
How can we know this? Newborn babies can't do much, but one thing they're really good at is sucking. Researchers take advantage of this fact by rigging up two rubber nipples, so that if a baby sucks on one, it hears a recording of its mother's voice on a pair of headphones, and if it sucks on the other nipple, it hears a recording of a female stranger's voice. Babies quickly show their preference by choosing the first one. Scientists also take advantage of the fact that babies will slow down their sucking when something interests them and resume their fast sucking when they get bored. This is how researchers discovered that, after women repeatedly read aloud a section of Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" while they were pregnant, their newborn babies recognized that passage when they hear it outside the womb. My favorite experiment of this kind is the one that showed that the babies of women who watched a certain soap opera every day during pregnancy recognized the theme song of that show once they were born. So fetuses are even learning about the particular language that's spoken in the world that they'll be born into.
A study published last year found that from birth, from the moment of birth, babies cry in the accent of their mother's native language. French babies cry on a rising note while German babies end on a falling note, imitating the melodic contours of those languages. Now why would this kind of fetal learning be useful? It may have evolved to aid the baby's survival. From the moment of birth, the baby responds most to the voice of the person who is most likely to care for it -- its mother. It even makes its cries sound like the mother's language, which may further endear the baby to the mother, and which may give the baby a head start in the critical task of learning how to understand and speak its native language.
But it's not just sounds that fetuses are learning about in utero. It's also tastes and smells. By seven months of gestation, the fetus' taste buds are fully developed, and its olfactory receptors, which allow it to smell, are functioning. The flavors of the food a pregnant woman eats find their way into the amniotic fluid, which is continuously swallowed by the fetus. Babies seem to remember and prefer these tastes once they're out in the world. In one experiment, a group of pregnant women was asked to drink a lot of carrot juice during their third trimester of pregnancy, while another group of pregnant women drank only water. Six months later, the women's infants were offered cereal mixed with carrot juice, and their facial expressions were observed while they ate it. The offspring of the carrot juice drinking women ate more carrot-flavored cereal, and from the looks of it, they seemed to enjoy it more.
A sort of French version of this experiment was carried out in Dijon, France where researchers found that mothers who consumed food and drink flavored with licorice-flavored anise during pregnancy showed a preference for anise on their first day of life, and again, when they were tested later, on their fourth day of life. Babies whose mothers did not eat anise during pregnancy showed a reaction that translated roughly as "yuck." What this means is that fetuses are effectively being taught by their mothers about what is safe and good to eat. Fetuses are also being taught about the particular culture that they'll be joining through one of culture's most powerful expressions, which is food. They're being introduced to the characteristic flavors and spices of their culture's cuisine even before birth.
Now it turns out that fetuses are learning even bigger lessons. But before I get to that, I want to address something that you may be wondering about. The notion of fetal learning may conjure up for you attempts to enrich the fetus -- like playing Mozart through headphones placed on a pregnant belly. But actually, the nine-month-long process of molding and shaping that goes on in the womb is a lot more visceral and consequential than that. Much of what a pregnant woman encounters in her daily life -- the air she breathes, the food and drink she consumes, the chemicals she's exposed to, even the emotions she feels -- are shared in some fashion with her fetus. They make up a mix of influences as individual and idiosyncratic as the woman herself. The fetus incorporates these offerings into its own body, makes them part of its flesh and blood. And often it does something more. It treats these maternal contributions as information, as what I like to call biological postcards from the world outside.
So what a fetus is learning about in utero is not Mozart's "Magic Flute" but answers to questions much more critical to its survival. Will it be born into a world of abundance or scarcity? Will it be safe and protected, or will it face constant dangers and threats? Will it live a long, fruitful life or a short, harried one? The pregnant woman's diet and stress level in particular provide important clues to prevailing conditions like a finger lifted to the wind. The resulting tuning and tweaking of a fetus' brain and other organs are part of what give us humans our enormous flexibility, our ability to thrive in a huge variety of environments, from the country to the city, from the tundra to the desert.
To conclude, I want to tell you two stories about how mothers teach their children about the world even before they're born. In the autumn of 1944, the darkest days of World War II, German troops blockaded Western Holland, turning away all shipments of food. The opening of the Nazi's siege was followed by one of the harshest winters in decades -- so cold the water in the canals froze solid. Soon food became scarce, with many Dutch surviving on just 500 calories a day -- a quarter of what they consumed before the war. As weeks of deprivation stretched into months, some resorted to eating tulip bulbs. By the beginning of May, the nation's carefully rationed food reserve was completely exhausted. The specter of mass starvation loomed. And then on May 5th, 1945, the siege came to a sudden end when Holland was liberated by the Allies.
The "Hunger Winter," as it came to be known, killed some 10,000 people and weakened thousands more. But there was another population that was affected -- the 40,000 fetuses in utero during the siege. Some of the effects of malnutrition during pregnancy were immediately apparent in higher rates of stillbirths, birth defects, low birth weights and infant mortality. But others wouldn't be discovered for many years. Decades after the "Hunger Winter," researchers documented that people whose mothers were pregnant during the siege have more obesity, more diabetes and more heart disease in later life than individuals who were gestated under normal conditions. These individuals' prenatal experience of starvation seems to have changed their bodies in myriad ways. They have higher blood pressure, poorer cholesterol profiles and reduced glucose tolerance -- a precursor of diabetes.
Why would undernutrition in the womb result in disease later? One explanation is that fetuses are making the best of a bad situation. When food is scarce, they divert nutrients towards the really critical organ, the brain, and away from other organs like the heart and liver. This keeps the fetus alive in the short-term, but the bill comes due later on in life when those other organs, deprived early on, become more susceptible to disease.
But that may not be all that's going on. It seems that fetuses are taking cues from the intrauterine environment and tailoring their physiology accordingly. They're preparing themselves for the kind of world they will encounter on the other side of the womb. The fetus adjusts its metabolism and other physiological processes in anticipation of the environment that awaits it. And the basis of the fetus' prediction is what its mother eats. The meals a pregnant woman consumes constitute a kind of story, a fairy tale of abundance or a grim chronicle of deprivation. This story imparts information that the fetus uses to organize its body and its systems -- an adaptation to prevailing circumstances that facilitates its future survival. Faced with severely limited resources, a smaller-sized child with reduced energy requirements will, in fact, have a better chance of living to adulthood.
The real trouble comes when pregnant women are, in a sense, unreliable narrators, when fetuses are led to expect a world of scarcity and are born instead into a world of plenty. This is what happened to the children of the Dutch "Hunger Winter." And their higher rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease are the result. Bodies that were built to hang onto every calorie found themselves swimming in the superfluous calories of the post-war Western diet. The world they had learned about while in utero was not the same as the world into which they were born.
Here's another story. At 8:46 a.m. on September 11th, 20xx, there were tens of thousands of people in the vicinity of the World Trade Center in New York -- commuters spilling off trains, waitresses setting tables for the morning rush, brokers already working the phones on Wall Street. 1,700 of these people were pregnant women. When the planes struck and the towers collapsed, many of these women experienced the same horrors inflicted on other survivors of the disaster -- the overwhelming chaos and confusion, the rolling clouds of potentially toxic dust and debris, the heart-pounding fear for their lives.
About a year after 9/11, researchers examined a group of women who were pregnant when they were exposed to the World Trade Center attack. In the babies of those women who developed post-traumatic stress syndrome, or PTSD, following their ordeal, researchers discovered a biological marker of susceptibility to PTSD -- an effect that was most pronounced in infants whose mothers experienced the catastrophe in their third trimester. In other words, the mothers with post-traumatic stress syndrome had passed on a vulnerability to the condition to their children while they were still in utero.
Now consider this: post-traumatic stress syndrome appears to be a reaction to stress gone very wrong, causing its victims tremendous unnecessary suffering. But there's another way of thinking about PTSD. What looks like pathology to us may actually be a useful adaptation in some circumstances. In a particularly dangerous environment, the characteristic manifestations of PTSD -- a hyper-awareness of one's surroundings, a quick-trigger response to danger -- could save someone's life. The notion that the prenatal transmission of PTSD risk is adaptive is still speculative, but I find it rather poignant. It would mean that, even before birth, mothers are warning their children that it's a wild world out there, telling them, "Be careful."
Let me be clear. Fetal origins research is not about blaming women for what happens during pregnancy. It's about discovering how best to promote the health and well-being of the next generation. That important effort must include a focus on what fetuses learn during the nine months they spend in the womb. Learning is one of life's most essential activities, and it begins much earlier than we ever imagined.
Thank you.
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