Speaking Competition provided strong evidence to the contrary.

　　The competition drew to an end on March 20 at Beijing Foreign Studies University. None of the top three contestants were English majors. The grand champion, Zhu Xue, is a medical student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. And the runners­up named Cai Yao from Beijing Foreign Studies University and Li Zehan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong are both law students. Chen Mengzhu from New York University Shanghai won the fourth place and will be heading to London in May to compete in the International Public Speaking Competition on behalf of China. And guess what? Chen is not an English major either. She is a science student, majoring in interactive media art.

　　Their advantages may lie in the unique qualities and experiences that come with their majors. For example, Zhu managed to keep a cool head throughout the competition, a skill probably honed (磨炼) in her training as a medical student. She was even calm after she won the championship.

　　Qu Weiguo, a Fudan University professor and one of the competition's judges, believes it's no surprise that students like Zhu surged (蜂拥而来) ahead. "English majors may be superior at their language skills, but they may lack the knowledge from other fields to support their speech and enrich their arguments，" he said.

　　Throughout the past 20 years, contestants at the competition have transitioned (变迁) from focusing solely on language skills to placing more emphasis on the content of the speeches.

　　语篇解读：人们可能会认为英语演讲比赛应该是英语专业学生的天下，但是中国日报社"21世纪·可口可乐杯"全国英语演讲比赛结果有力地证明了这种看法是错误的。

　　1．The underlined word "dominated" in Paragraph 1 refers to "________"．

　　A．permitted　　　　　 B．controlled

　　C．hosted D．taught

　　解析：选B　词义猜测题。permit意为"允许"；control意为"控制；掌控"；host意为"主办；主持"；teach意为"教"。第一段第一句中提到来自其他专业的大学生都没有赢得英语演讲比赛的机会，由此可知，人们可能会认为英语演讲比赛都是英语专业的人获胜，也就是英语专业的人占有优势，这和control的意思相符，故选B项。

　　2．Who won the first place in the latest National English Speaking Competition?

　　A．Chen Mengzhu from New York University Shanghai.

　　B．Cai Yao from Beijing Foreign Studies University.

　　C．Zhu Xue from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

D．Li Zehan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.