From October 4 to October 6, the National English Speaking Competition    1     (hold) in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. A total of one million people of different ages, from kindergarten kids to young professionals, took part in this year's event.

During the three-day event, young competitors expressed     2     (them) by delivering speeches about     3     (vary) topics, including History as a Mirror, The Promise of Youth, and The Power of Dreams. Besides showing their     4     (impress) English ability, they also shared their views on the world as a generation of being open-minded, individualistic, and     5     (social) responsible.

When the competition was first run in 1996, the goal was     6     (train) college students to master another language and communicate clearly with foreigners.     7    , in the past 25 years the competition     8     (go) far beyond this simple goal. It now plays a role in helping document every major step the country takes in its development,     9     (encourage) young people to share China's stories and providing a stage for those     10     will shape the future.