Nora had to give a two-minute（两分钟的）/ˌtuː ˈmɪnɪt/ speech（演讲）/spiːtʃ/ about（关于）/əˈbaʊt/ a useful（有用的）/ˈjuːsfl/ school activity（活动）/ækˈtɪvəti/. She chose the reading（阅读）/ˈriːdɪŋ/ club（社团）/klʌb/ because it had helped her enjoy books. At first（起初）/æt fɜːst/, she wrote（写下）/rəʊt/ a long（长的）/lɒŋ/ paragraph（段落）/ˈpærəɡrɑːf/ and tried（试图）/ˈtraɪɪŋ/ to remember every word. During practice（练习）/ˈpræktɪs/, however（然而）/haʊˈevə/, she often（常常）/ˈɒfn/ lost（迷失；忘记位置）/lɒst/ her place and spoke（讲话）/spəʊk/ in a quiet voice（声音）/vɔɪs/. It was difficult to hold the audience（听众）/ˈɔːdiəns/'s attention（注意力）/əˈtenʃn/.

Her teacher advised（建议）/ədˈvaɪzd/ her to use a simple outline（提纲）/ˈaʊtlaɪn/ rather than（而不是）/ˈrɑːðə ðæn/ a full script（讲稿）/skrɪpt/ and focus（集中注意）/ˈfəʊkəs/ on three main points. Nora wrote three headings（标题）/ˈhedɪŋz/ on a small card（卡片）/kɑːd/: why（为什么）/waɪ/ I joined, what we（我们）/wiː/ do, and what I learned. Under each heading, she added two key（关键的；关键词）/kiː/ words. She practised in front of（在……前面）/ɪn frʌnt əv/ a mirror（镜子）/ˈmɪrə/ and then spoke to her partner（伙伴）/ˈpɑːtnə/. Her partner agreed with（赞同）/əˈɡriːd wɪð/ the new plan. “Your ideas（想法）/aɪˈdɪəz/ are clear now（现在）/naʊ/. Look at the audience after each heading and do your best（尽最大努力）/duː jɔː best/.”

On Friday（星期五）/ˈfraɪdeɪ/, Nora stood（站立）/stʊd/ on the stage（讲台；舞台）/steɪdʒ/. She greeted（问候）/ˈɡriːtɪd/ the class and began with a question. “Have you ever（曾经）/ˈevə/ enjoyed a book more（更加；更多）/mɔː/ after talking（谈论）/ˈtɔːkɪŋ/ about it?” Several students raised（举起）/reɪzd/ their hands（手）/hændz/. Nora explained（说明）/ɪkˈspleɪnd/ the club and gave an example（例子）/ɪɡˈzɑːmpl/ of a group discussion（讨论）/dɪˈskʌʃn/. Halfway（进行到一半）/ˌhɑːfˈweɪ/ through the speech, she suddenly（突然）/ˈsʌdnli/ forgot（忘记）/fəˈɡɒt/ her next sentence. She felt（感觉）/felt/ nervous（紧张的）/ˈnɜːvəs/ and stopped for a moment（片刻）/ˈməʊmənt/.

Nora looked at the card. The next heading was What I learned. She took a slow breath（一口气；呼吸）/breθ/, lifted（抬起）/ˈlɪftɪd/ her head, and continued（继续）/kənˈtɪnjuːd/. “I learned to listen to different opinions（意见）/əˈpɪnjənz/ and express（表达）/ɪkˈspres/ my own idea.” Her voice became（变得）/bɪˈkeɪm/ louder（更响亮的）/ˈlaʊdə/, and she finished on time（准时）/ɒn taɪm/.

After the speech, the class praised（表扬）/preɪzd/ Nora's clear example and calm（平稳的；镇定的）/kɑːm/ ending（结尾）/ˈendɪŋ/. Her teacher was proud of（为……感到自豪）/wəz praʊd əv/ her because she had used the outline instead of（而不是）/ɪnˈsted əv/ trying to repeat（重复；背诵）/rɪˈpiːt/ a script. Nora discovered（发现）/dɪˈskʌvəd/ that she could speak on her own（独立地）/ɒn hə əʊn/ without remembering every sentence.