12月4日上午，2022“外研社·国才杯”全国英语写作大赛决赛在“云端”顺利举行。本届写作大赛初赛和省赛吸引了来自全国近800所高校的20多万名选手参赛，最终90名选手脱颖而出，入围全国总决赛。他们和通过国才考试获得外卡赛晋级名额的29名选手，相聚总决赛的舞台挥毫泼墨，尽显才思。
在外国语学院方富民老师、潘珣祎老师和傅莹老师的指导下，来自英语专业的陆静文同学用扎实的理论基础、熟练的语言能力、深刻的思想内核展现了深刻的观点和独特的视角，最终荣获了特等奖季军的佳绩。同时，来自外国语学院翻译专业的童茁野同学也荣获了二等奖的优异成绩。浙江大学成为全国唯一一所在“外研社·国才杯”全国英语演讲、写作、阅读三大赛事中均有选手获得特等奖的高校。
总决赛中，选手需要在3个小时内完成一篇记叙文和一篇议论文的创作。今年的记叙文部分，选手要求创作一个现代版的“愚公移山”的故事，取材看似人所共知，实则极其考验选手“内功”。陆静文同学的作品将作为记叙文佳作在外研社网站上进行展示。议论文则通过观照现实的写作话题，引导学生关注国际形势和国家大事，辨证思考社会现实，开拓思维视野，成长为拥有世界胸怀与家国情怀的有为青年。
英语写作能力是国家未来发展对高端人才的基本要求，也是高端人才外语能力、思辨能力、交际能力、创新能力和国际竞争力的综合体现。一直以来，外国语学院十分重视英语学科竞赛等特色鲜明的第二课堂活动的开展，充分动员学生积极参加各项比赛，与新时代同向同行、共同前进，为大学生培根铸魂、启智润心，引导其深刻理解把握时代潮流和国家需要，追求卓越、永攀知识高峰，行胜于言、肩负时代责任，全面发展，成器成才。通过大赛，我校学生充分展现了英语综合应用能力，有效地促进了我校学生的综合素质的提升。
“外研社·国才杯”全国英语写作大赛凭借其权威性与专业度，入选了教育部中国高等教育学会发布的“全国普通高校大学生竞赛排行榜”。
外国语学院
大学外语公共基础课程教学研究中心
大学外语基层教学组织
英文写作教学研究中心
2022年12月19日
以下是童茁野同学在备赛期间的一篇习作：
Directions: Imagine yourself a traveler on the Silk Road in the Yuan Dynasty-era China and write a travelog describing your trip.
The Desert Roamer
“Why should the Mongol flute complain no willows grow?
Beyond the Gate of Jade no vernal wind will blow.”
These two lines echoed in my mind as I got onto my camel’s back and embarked on my long and arduous journey westwards. Nearly a year passed and I was facing the boundless, bleak desert alone, without a single tree in sight. I would soon arrive in Persia.
There were quite many travelers on the route, all looking down and keeping their thoughts to themselves. They were mostly merchants, and I could tell that they were carrying loads of silk and spices, enduring the long and lonely journey, and would come back a few months later with a wide spectrum of exotic goods.
I once had the priority to adore a delicate glass goblet, and later I learned it was from a distant nation on the other end of the route. That was when I got to know the Silk Road. It formed a vague image in my mind: a long road with bustling travelers and varied dialects and languages that would dazzle a polyglot. Later I became a merchant and joined those lonely travelers on the road. Gradually, I began to enjoy being a solitary merchant whose time was primarily spent on the road.
It was early spring and the air was still freezing cold. I had literally reached my destination and my thoughts were about to wander when someone approached and said hello. He looked like a Persian and I greeted him in Farsi. Then I looked around. The view was more vivid and dynamic: some locals showed up, and there were chats, laughs, and bargains. This man carried a wagon of produce and glasswork and his young son was swinging his legs happily and checking me carefully.
“How long does it to get here?” He was curious, apparently.
“I think…” I hesitated, “I have been on the road for fourteen months.”
“Fourteen months!” His eyes widened and his mouth formed an “O” shape, “You must be very lonely. Do you have anyone to talk to on the road?”
“N—” The word was at the tip of my tongue when I changed my mind all of a sudden. “Of course,” I replied, “Do you know that the moon is magical? We Chinese people often talk to the moon whenever we are homesick. So one night I looked at it and chatted with my family. I told them that this trip was fabulous and there were so many things that were new to me. I said my goods could sell at a good price, and asked them not to worry.”
“Does it work?” The young fellow asked, “Did you get any replies?”
“Yep,” I said, with my face wreathed in smiles, “I heard my wife say she looked forward to my coming home. I reckon my daughter must be missing me as well. This route has become my other home as I spend much more time on the road than at home, but I always hear the distinctive sound of the sand dunes which always reminds me that I am not home.”
I took my silk out and the boy and the man both gasped at its aesthetically appealing pattern and remarkably delicate texture. While they were scrutinizing and adoring it, I glanced around and I found a great many idiosyncratically Chinese elements: porcelains, tea, silk… It gave me a déjà vu as if I were at a bustling market in Changan. As if I were at home.
The Persians bought my silk and spices and I then filled my wagon with seeds, produce, and gems. Their faces wore a look of pure contentment and my heart swelled with pride. Then I looked back at where I came from, and murmured to myself: “Time to go home, to return to my beloved motherland.”
If I hurry on, maybe I would enter the Gate of Jade when spring is in full swing. By then, I will open my arms and embrace the warmth of the vernal wind.
