I couldn't believe it was true when I heard what the headteacher had told me. But it was true.  She guessed I was the very person she wanted to take part in the School Debating Competition for Class One. But I didn't think so. In fact, I had no experience in debating. Although I had got superficial1 knowledge about debating from the television or books, I didn't know how to face a real debating competition. However, you know, I couldn't make my teacher  disappointed in me. So I told myself: Just have a try!
       First I invited three classmates to be my partners—two boys and a girl. Second, I checked the rules of the debating competition from the Internet. Third, we four had a discussion about what to do in the following days before the competition...Luckily, everything went all right. We did all the things in such a hurry, but we believed that our class could win.
       On the very day that the School Debating Competition was held, all our classmates came to cheer us，Class 1 vs Class 8. The topic for us was: Who is better, a versatile2 man or a specialist? We were the negative3 debaters, so we should fight for “the specialist”. (However, in my opinion, a versatile man is better.)

 Two Teams Showed Their Own Views．
　　The positive debaters opened the debate. What they said was just like what I expected. At that moment I thought they were just so-so, of course our team could win, I thought. After their speaking, it was my turn. While standing up, introducing myself, I felt my heart beating so fast. I spoke as loudly and clearly as I could in order to let others understand me, even agree with me. And in the same way, my partners did perfectly too. I knew they were trying their best. In this part, we only needed to read out the materials—so easy.

 Launching4 A Free Debate
　　Free speaking, the most important part of a debate, was what I was just afraid of, because we didn't know what the opponent5 would say or ask. The first debater from Class 8 gave some examples of famous versatile men. He showed that Darwin did not only do research into physiology, but also did well in musicology and botany. Then one of my partners, a sweet girl stood up and said: “I know da Vinci is a famous versatile man, but...” What? She said da Vinci? My god! I heard somebody was laughing and talking in a low voice. I tried to stop her, but the girl didn't realize it at all. She still went on. The opponent caught this chance and laughed at the girl. I felt very angry and wanted everyone to disregard the mistake. So I stood up and said: “Oh sorry. That's only a slip of the tongue. Thank you for pointing out the careless mistake. I still believe a specialist is better, because...” It seemed that everybody diverted their attention into my talk and didn't mind the slip of the tongue. At last, you could see our team had a really heated debate with the one from Class 8.

Summary And Result
　　In the last round, two teams made summaries. As the bell rang, time was up. All of us were anticipating the result. The head judge walked towards the microphone, with a big smile on his face.
       “I'm glad to stand here and watch such a wonderful debate competition. Now I will show you the marks of the two teams. Class 1, 83.5, and Class 88.5.”
        After hearing these words, I could clearly see the disappointment on my classmates' faces. We had to admit: We were the loser. I hid my sadness, smiling to the other team, hoping to show our elegant6 manner.
        We couldn't deny that we didn't prepare well enough. But this was the first time for us to try something new. I think if we try to learn more and master more, we shall certainly win next time. My dear partners, are you ready? The new competition is coming. Come on and try our best once more, I'm sure we'll be the winners this time!
 

1． superficial  adj．肤浅的，浅薄的
2． versatile adj． 多才多艺的，多面手的
3． negative  adj． 否定的，负的
4． launch v． 发动
5． opponent  n． 对手，反对者
6． elegant  adj． 文雅的，端庄的