speech
n
1 [U]
(a) power or act of speaking 说话的能力; 说话
Man is the only animal that has the faculty of speech. 人类是唯一有说话能力的动物.
We can express our thoughts by speech. 我们能以说话的方式表达思想.
His illness left him without the power of speech. 他病後丧失了说话能力.
freedom of speech, ie freedom to say openly in public what one thinks, eg on social and political questions 言论自由.
(b) manner or way of speaking 说话的方式
His indistinct speech made it impossible to understand him. 他口齿不清, 无法听懂他的意思.
She´s doing a study of children´s speech. 她正在研究儿童说话现象.
His speech was slurred
he´d clearly been drinking. 他说话含混不清, 显然喝了酒了.
2 [C]
(a) ~ (on/about sth) formal talk given to an audience 讲话; 发言; 演说
make/deliver/give a speech 发言
a speech on/about racism 关於种族主义的讲话
He made a very boring after-dinner speech. 他在宴会後的讲话很枯燥.
(b) (usu long) group of lines to be spoken by an actor in a play (通常指长的)台词
I´ve got some very long speeches to learn in Act 2. 第2幕中我有些大段台词要记.