7 . Make the Best of a Bad Situation

Since Covid-19 spreads all over the world, many people have to stay indoors and work from home. For most of us, it greatly challenges our lives and brings boredom. But for a few people, working at home brings more creativity. Here are three famous historical figures who let their creativity flow during past pandemics(大流行病).

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

When a plague(瘟疫) hit Florence in 1348, Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio lost his father and stepmother. In order to survive, he left the city and hid in the countryside. Inspired by the experience, Boccaccio wrote The Decameron(《十日谈》), a collection of short novels containing stories told by a group of friends, while he was quarantined(隔离) inside a house during the plague.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

In the early 17th century, a plague hit London, UK. When the number of deaths grew, the government postponed(延期) many celebrations and closed all the theaters. This meant that the entertainment industry at the time was paralyzed(瘫痪) for much of 1606. As an actor and dramatist, Shakespeare had to stop working in the theaters. But he didn’t waste a minute of his time. Instead, he used the time productively and wrote some of his most famous plays. Before the year was over, Shakespeare completed three plays—King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

In 1665, when English mathematician Isaac Newton was in his early 20s, one of the last major outbreaks of the plague hit the UK, and many classes were canceled. Newton, as a student, went back home to continue his studies.

He devoted himself to his studies. The young mathematician produced some of his best works during his year in quarantine, writing the papers that would later become early calculus(微积分学), and developing his theories on physics in his bedroom. While working, an apple dropped from the apple tree outside his window and hit him or the head, which may inspired his theory of gravity.

8 . The term “Iron Man” has many connotations, including references to a song, a comic book icon, even a movie. Yet only one definition of the term truly lives up to its name: the Ironman Triathlon held annually in Hawaii, a picturesque setting for a challenging race, which demands amazing physical prowess and the ability to swim, bike, and run a marathon, all in less than 12 hours with no break. Very few individuals are up to the task.

However, Gordon Haller is a notable exception. Growing up in the 1950s, Haller developed an interest in many sports categorized as endurance athletics and welcomed their physical demands. As he pursued a degree in physics he drove a taxi to pay the bills, but competitive training proved his passion. So when he heard about the race in 1978, the first year it was held, he immediately signed up.

The race originated in a somewhat amusing way. The members of the two popular sports clubs, the Mid-Pacific Road Runners of Honolulu and the Waikiki Swim Club of Oahu, had a long-standing and good-natured debate going over who made better athletes: runners or swimmers. However, some local bikes thought both clubs were wrong, claiming that they, in fact, deserved the title. Wanting to settle the dispute once and for all, they decided to combine three separate races already held annually on the island into one massive test of endurance. Thus, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim of 2.4 miles, the Around-Oahu Bike race of 112 miles, and the Honolulu Marathon of 26.2 miles were all put together to form the Ironman Triathlon.

Haller was one of only fifteen competitors to show up that February morning to start the race. He quickly scanned the few pages of rules and instructions, and on the last page he discovered a sentence that would become the race’s famous slogan: “Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life!” Haller took that to heart, and at the end of the day, he became the first Ironman champion in history. ____

In the approximately thirty years since that very first race, the Ironman has become a tradition in Hawaii and now boasts approximately 1500 entrants every year. The competitors who complete the race don’t have to be the first across the finish line to claim success: just finishing is a victory onto itself.

9 . Everybody has heard of Jimmy Carter. As president of the United States from 1977 to 1981, he oversaw a particularly _________ time in American history. Americans taken hostage in the Middle East, major gasoline shortages around the _______, and a poor relationship with a potential enemy – the Soviet Union – are hardly the stuff of pleasant memories.

Yet even though Carter held America’s most powerful office, he will probably be _______ more for the work he has done since he left the White House. His _______ on humanitarian issues around the world sets him apart as a caring, dedicated person who wants to see those of low economic or social status _______ from the great wealth, power, and generosity of this country.

One of the major _______ Carter has focused on throughout his career is peace in the Middle East. He _______ a national energy policy designed to reduce American dependence on foreign oil long before it was popular to do so and negotiated peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. _________, he was among the first to insist publicly on basic human rights for everyone around the world, and he founded a non-profit organization, The Carter Center, to work towards that end. In his opinion, this includes _______ modern health care to developing nations in order to contain disease and improve quality of life around the world.

However, Carter does not focus all his efforts abroad. He works actively to improve the standard of living __________ as well. He and his wife Roslyn are enthusiastic supporters of Habitat for Humanity. This volunteer-based organization devotes itself to building affordable but quality housing for those who ________ might not be able to buy a home. Voluntary workers come together in their own free time to construct, paint, and landscape simple homes, working side-by-side with the families that will ________ the residences. Habitat does more than build houses; it builds ________.

For all these reasons, Carter deserves respect for dedicating his career to public ________. Everyone can agree with his impressive charity and acknowledge his obvious __________ to all of humanity.

10 . Alibaba founder Jack Ma was never supposed to be a billionaire.

Harvard snubbed him. He flunked college entrance exams twice. Investors thought the serial entrepreneur was _______ when he started building an e-commerce site in China.

But Ma proved them all _______. Alibaba, which he launched in 1999 from his ______ Hangzhou apartment, is set for one of the largest IPOs in U.S. history.

Analysts _______ that Alibaba -- which does most things digital -- could be valued at $200 billion, roughly four times the market cap of Lockheed Martin (LMT).

How did an English teacher with a ______ translation business become a tech titan? It began with a drink.

Searching for "beer" and "China" during his first use of the Internet in 1995, Ma found nothing. But there was plenty of information about American beer and German beer.

_______an opportunity, Ma built a Chinese-language webpage. Within hours of _______, he was receiving enquiries from around the world. The Internet, Ma thought, is "going to change the world and change China."

A few years later, in 1999, Ma gathered 17 friends and acquaintances at his home again. They worked feverishly on a new__________: a website to connect exporters with foreign buyers.

Alibaba.com was born. The firm quickly outgrew Ma's apartment, eventually becoming the ________ tech company flourishing in China.

Ma, 49, has always been proud of his humble _______. When Alibaba launched, Ma had no money, no tech experience and a haphazard management style.

But he did have plenty of ________. Former executives say Ma's infectious optimism -- and his talent with languages -- helped sell the dream.

"He's funny! He can do standup in Chinese or English," said Duncan Clark, a former Alibaba consultant. "He can ______ to the audience ... he has the ability to make everybody in the room feel as if he were talking to just one person."

Ma, married with two kids, is also known to ______gut instinct.

"He cares more about what is in someone's heart than what is on their _____," said Porter Erisman, a former executive who made a documentary about the company. "Look at the senior managers -- at Alibaba, a lot of them had no prior business experience."

In Ma’s company, employees are called "Ali people," and managers are given nicknames taken from popular Chinese martial arts novels. Ma, as a Tai Chi devotee, sometimes draws ________ for company strategy from those books.