Cheng Yongmao was born in a village in Huairou, Beijing and began to learn the skill of building under the     1     (guide) of his uncle in 1972. Although he didn’t receive a     2     ( high) education, his practical experience enabled him to readily take in the theories, which in turn     3     (improve) his skills significantly.

Cheng received his first Great Wall assignment in 2004. He led a construction team of dozens of members, most of     4     came from mountainous areas in neighboring Hebei province and were     5     (consequent) good at hiking up and down the peaks.

In 2016, he started to work on the Jiankou section, which     6     (consider) one of the most dangerous parts of the Great Wall in Beijing and is known by hikers as the “Wild Wall”. The toughest place is called Yingfei Daoyang (Eagle Flies Upside Down),     7     (suggest) that even an eagle would have to fly straight up,     8     its beak pointing up directly toward the sky to fly over this spot. Working there is dangerous, but under Cheng’s leadership, the workers adapted to the     9     (challenge) environment and built up their strength.

After years of efforts, the section has regained its historical appearance. “Protecting the Great Wall is my responsibility,” he said, “As long as I can climb up the mountain, I’ll do my best to lead my team, especially to assist them in gaining experience     10     making their due contributions.”

Yang Jiang was a well-known Chinese playwright, translator, and author. She belonged to     1     unique and beautiful existence in Chinese literature. She was the first Chinese academic     2    (translate) Miguel de Cervantes’ Spanish novel Don Quixote to Chinese and at that time, her translation     3     (honor) as the recreation of the original work       4     the basis of loyalty.

Yang was born into a rich family in 1911,     5    (original)named Yang Jikang. After eventually     6     (graduate) from Soochow University, she enrolled at the graduate school of Tsinghua University. She met her husband there, Qian Zhongshu, another acclaimed writer in China.

Other than translations, Yang     7     (author) many plays, novels, and essays during her writing career. Her short novel Mr. Wang,     8    (write) in 1984, was selected as an article in the textbook. In 1986, she got the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise, a famous Spanish civil order, for her     9     (achieve) in Don Quixote. Her bestseller was We Three in 2003,     10     sales exceeded 180,000 copies in two months. Yang passed away in 2016, at the age of 105.

7 . Huang Qinqin, a 29-year-old Chinese shoe designer, found her “personal legend” through her academic journey in China and the UK. She recently won the Culture and Creativity Award of Study UK Alumni Awards 2023-2024 for her contributions to arts and culture.

Huang’s education in both countries shaped her into what she is today. She started her own shoe brand, “ouvrir la boîte”, which means “to open the box” in French. Her designs have been featured in high-end stores and international fashion shows. Huang believes that the value of her products lies in the unique design philosophy itself.

Huang’s journey into design was unforeseen. She initially studied engineering but switched to international communications studies in college. It was during writing an essay on social sciences that she discovered her passion for shoe design. She went on to study design at Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion in the UK. To her astonishment, Huang discovered she was the only Chinese participant in the shoe design class. “While international luxury shoe brands like Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin are household names, Chinese brands are rarely seen in this field,” said Huang.

This finding fueled Huang’s determination to pursue her career as a shoe designer, hoping to fill the blank in the international market. She established her own brand and has been exploring her design concept of “the art of practical wear”. Her designs incorporate Chinese cultural heritage, such as materials from historical artifacts like jade (玉).

Looking back, Huang said that it took her a long time to find her lifelong passion. However, she believes that it is never too late to unlock one’s potential. Her diverse experiences, including garden design and dance, have become precious treasures in her life and have helped her develop self-directed learning abilities, which are essential skills for her startup business today.

9 . Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and thought, “Where is my life going?”

Patrick Mork, a former Google executive and tech marketer, hit that wall in 2017. He woke up one day terrified by the realization that what he had spent the past 20 years doing no longer excited him and that his passion for it was gone. Divorced, nearly bankrupt (破产) and at the edge of depression, his life and career were in ruins. Now, Patrick has become a successful entrepreneur, executive coach and motivational speaker and built a fast growing leadership development company based out of Santiago, Chile.

Step Back and Leap is an authentic and honest series of stories that trace the author’s life and challenges — from being bullied as a kid in Mexico, to becoming successful in a startup in Silicon Valley. Each chapter describes dramatic challenges Patrick faced and the 9 “keys” he used to overcome each challenge.

This book is for that person who wants to grow, and is willing to learn new tricks to help themselves in that struggle. Part workbook, and part story, this book provides a simple, but very powerful read promising to help the reader unlock their life. Less than a dozen chapters with 9 focused on KEY actions (find your purpose, uncover your values, unlock your goals, be accountable, ask for help, build a team, ask powerful questions, celebrate failures and manage your energy), each provides a concept to help the reader take a giant leap forward.

Interwoven through these chapters is Patrick’s own life story which serves to set up each lesson, and highlight the value of applying the lesson. Rather than focusing on a single aspect of his life, Patrick brings scenes into play that many readers will have been exposed to in their own lives.

A most thoroughly enjoyable, easy read that provided keen insight, had me read every word, and left me wondering for whom I would buy this book for this coming holiday season.

Dr Jian Zhou was a molecular biologist and virologist who worked with Professor Ian Frazer to develop the technology toward the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines (疫苗),     1     protect against viruses that cause cervical cancer.

Born in Hangzhou, China, Dr Zhou graduated from Wenzhou Medical College and went on     2     (obtain) a Master’s degree from Zhejiang Medical University. He studied for a PhD at Henan Medical University,     3     (complete) this in 1987. He received a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Queensland in 1994. Dr Zhou’s interest in human papillomavirus (HPV)     4     (bring) him to Australia in 1990 to join Professor Ian Frazer’s Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research at the University of Queensland. Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by HPV and it     5     (believe) that a vaccine against HPV might work. The vaccine required a particle that would stimulate an immune response to the virus,     6     causing an infection. This was a significant focus of Dr Zhou’s work with Professor Frazer and in 1990, working also with his wife, he succeeded in creating a virus-like particle that was now the basis     7     the Gardasil and Cervarix vaccines.

    8     (unfortunate), Dr Zhou died in 1999, at the age of 42. His work has had     9     huge impact on human health globally. The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is therefore delighted to establish an award in     10     (recognize) of Dr Zhou. The Jian Zhou Medal was made possible by a generous donation from the Frazer Family Foundation.