The Hugo Awards, the world’s top sci-fi awards,     1     on Saturday night at the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention. Chinese writer Hai Ya’s The Space-Time Painter     2     the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Hai created the story     3     by a painting masterpiece Qianli Jiangshan Tu (A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains) by Wang Ximeng from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), who painted the work at the age of 18.     4     on the life of Wang, Hai created a painter named Zhao Ximeng, a prodigy that painted for the emperor more than 1,000 years ago. After much misery and suffering, Zhao     5     his physical body and entered a space where a modern policeman that     6     a case concerning an ancient painting     7     his memory. The story, through the twists and turns in Zhao’s life,     8     the political struggles behind this marvelous painting and the struggles and fights of individuals against the torrents of time. Working in the financial industry and a sci-fi fan, Hai, now 33, started writing sci-fi stories in 2016 and     9     his first work in 2019. Pitying on Wang who was so talented but had such a short life, Hai     10     his life through sci-fi, he said in previous interviews.

Whether as a player or as a coach, Lang Ping brought glory and medals to China and is loved by fans    1    . While preparing for the 2015 World Cup, her team was    2     because of the loss of two important players.     3     with challenges, she didn’t    4     and finally led her players to being world    5    . Another living legend I admire is Michael Jordan, known as “Air Jordan”. Although his skills were    6    , it was his mental    7     that made him unique, making him a good example for us to follow.

Yuan Longping, a(n)     1     scientist renowned for his agricultural achievements, dedicated his life to improving the lives of rural farmers. Through a process of     2     and error, one of Yuan Longping’s greatest contributions is the development of hybrid rice. This groundbreaking approach     3     different rice varieties to create high-yielding crops that can grow in different soil conditions. Farmers eagerly     4     this new method, as it provides them with the tools to     5     production and meet the     6     growing consumption demands due to overpopulation.

The impact of Yuan Longping’s work has been     7    , feeding the hungry at home and abroad for     8     to come. His pioneering efforts have made his innovations readily     9     throughout the world, offering farmers the tools and knowledge to improve their livelihoods and contributing to world food     10    .

Jack London: A Fascinating Character

When one mentions Jack London, the most common contemporary references that pop to mind are The Call of the Wild and White Fang. However, upon a closer look at the author, the true depth of how varied and interesting his life and works were can really be     1    .

London is considered America’s best author by many. Most successful and at ease writing short stories, he was also the first author to become genuinely wealthy during his lifetime from selling his work. However, this did not happen overnight: in fact, London received 600     2     before his first story was published for a spread out payment of $5.

During his 40 years, London seemed to have lived 1000     3    . By the age of 18, he had already worked as a coal miner, worked on sealing ships and can factories, and been in a(n)     4     of beggars. At 17, he went to jail in Buffalo, NY for 30 days due to the latter, an experience which proved to be one that even the productive writer himself called     5    .

When he did return to his formal education, he completed high school and then attended UC Berkley, which had been a major dream for him. However, he stopped after just one semester as he ran out of money and carried on to     6     the Klondike Gold Rush with his brother-in-law. That would later be the       7     for some of his most famous works. It was also in the Yukon that London became very ill and began writing. When he returned home, he     8     to become a commercially successful writer and began to write 1000 words daily. He wrote of adventure, politics, humanity, survival, often     9     from a large number of him personal experiences.

London died at the age of 40, from a drug overdose. It is not known whether it was     10     or not, as he made many references to suicide throughout his works.

There is a wonderful quote by Thomas Edison where he said, “Many of life’s failures are people who do not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” This has always resonated with me, especially when I think of all the great successes in this world who had epic failures, but kept trying a little longer, and a little harder. Perhaps hearing some of these stories will inspire you, and let you know that even the people you     1    were always natural successes, had failures of their own first.

I will start with a story of Steve Jobs who is synonymous with Apple, as he should be, he was a founder! He was fired from his job with Apple, and then     2    to fail at the next two companies he headed up. When he was asked to return to his job at Apple, he built it up to be the most successful company in America!

Did you know that Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard? He dropped out, and his first company was a failure. However, he did not let this deter his belief in himself, and he     3    . He went on to form the company we now know as Microsoft, and was the youngest self-made billionaire we had ever seen. He always felt that his greatest lessons were not his successes, but rather his failures. Personally, I think his greatest success is the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation. They have     4    most of what they have made to help people around the world.

Stephen King was a troubled child, who lived in     5    , and with a lack of safety. He fell victim to drugs and alcohol as a means of coping with his unhappiness, and received a great deal of     6    early in his career. He made a     7    decision to focus his energies, and his coping into his work, and this change produced great rewards. To this day, he is one of the most     8    and successful writers of our time with many books and movies to his name.

Ludwig Van Beethoven once had a music teacher who told him that he was “hopeless”. Many did not know that he actually became deaf during his career, yet still managed to produce some of the most famous and     9    music of our time. He was able to “see” and “hear” the music in his head, and was someone who was     10    and awed(敬畏)by his colleagues during his lifetime. His music lives on so many years later, which is the greatest testament to its beauty and perfection.

Today I read about the early learning experiences of three famous people: Marie Curie, Charles Darwin and Nelson Mandela. Young Curie was frequently asked to     1     in front of visitors. In the beginning, she considered it a(n)     2     because she was a timid little girl. Fortunately, her father kept reading Polish     3     to the family on Saturday evenings. With the help of this great     4    , Curie gradually developed a taste for poetry and became willing to learn     5     and recite poems. Young Darwin acquired a nickname of “Gas” because he used to help his brother with his experiments in making gases and compounds in their laboratory. By doing this, he learned, in a(n)     6     way, the real meaning of experimental science. In a manner different from that of the other two, young Mandela learned a lesson from a(n)     7     incident with a donkey. It managed to unseat him while he was riding it. He     8     and felt embarrassed. He learned that he would not     9     his opponents by hurting their     10    .

Shackleton’s 1914 adventure, called the Endurance Expedition, was designed to cross Antarctica. His ship, the Endurance, was unfortunately stuck in ice and the     1     had to spend their days in complete darkness and     2     cold for eight months. When spring finally came, the ship, to their great disappointment, broke in the melting ice. They had no choice but to     3     ship. With three open lifeboats saved from the broken ship, Shackleton and his men eventually made it to Elephant Island. However, since the island was     4     from any shipping routes, it was unlikely that the men would be     5    . In order to save themselves, Shackleton,     6     by five most trusted men, left most of his men on Elephant Island and     7     for South Georgia, 810 miles away. The     8     in this part of the world can often reach 50 feet. Can you imagine that? They     9     in an open 23-foot boat! Almost three weeks later, Shackleton and his men, extremely tired and     10    , reached a whaling station after marching over the mountains of South Georgia. With help provided by the Chilean government, the captain finally made his way back to Elephant Island to save his men. Nobody died. Nobody!