1 . Inventor, physicist, surveyor, astronomer, biologist, artist... Robert Hooke was all these and more. Some say he was the greatest experimental scientist of the 17th century. In the course of his work, he cooperated with famous men of science like Christian Huygens, Isaac Newton, and the great architect, Christopher Wren.

Hooke’s early education began at home, under the guidance of his father. He entered Westminster School at the age of 13, and from there went to Oxford, where he came in contact with some of the best scientists in England. Hooke impressed them with his skills at designing experiments and inventing instruments. In 1662, at the age of 28, he was named Curator of experiments at the newly formed Royal Society of London — meaning that he was responsible for demonstrating new experiments at the society’s weekly meeting. Hooke accepted the job, even though he knew that the society had no money to pay him!

Watching living things through the microscope was one of his favorite pastimes. He invented a compound microscope for this purpose. One day while observing a cork (软木) under a microscope, he saw honeycomb-like structures. There were cells— the smallest units of life. In fact, it was Hooke who invented the term “cell” as the box-like cells of the cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery.

Another achievement of Hooke’s was his book Micrographia, which introduced the enormous potential of the microscope. It contains fascinating drawings of the thing he saw under the microscope. The book also includes, among other things, ideas on gravity, light and burning that may have helped scientists like Newton when they were developing their own theories on these phenomena.

Hooke made a valuable contribution to astronomy too. A crater on the moon is named after him in honor of his services to this branch of science.

2 . The Nobel Prize is considered as one of the most recognizable and admirable awards possible, honoring people of the world for their outstanding achievements in different fields.

Alfred Nobel was born in 1833 to a family of engineers in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1850, he met Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerin (硝酸甘油) in Paris. Interested in its unpredictable nature of exploding under pressure or heat, Nobel started to find a way to control it and make a usable explosive. After years of efforts, in 1867, Nobel invented dynamite, which is much easier and safer to control than nitroglycerin.

During his lifetime, Nobel invented and patented various explosives. He built up his wealth from his 355 inventions, from which dynamite was the most important.

When Alfred’s brother Ludwig died in 1888, a French newspaper mistakenly published Alfred’s obituary (讣告). Reading his own obituary, Nobel was disappointed to find out his public image. The newspaper strongly blamed Nobel for inventing dynamite, giving him the nickname of “the merchant of death” and saying “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

To Alfred, this obituary was a warning. He spent his lifetime alone inventing things and was deeply concerned with how he would be remembered. This unfortunate event inspired him to make changes in his will, so as to improve his public image, and to be remembered for a good cause. In 1895, one year before his death, Nobel made the last will, saying clearly that his wealth would be used to create a series of prizes for those who have made great contributions to mankind in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. To widespread astonishment, Dr. Alfred Nobel gave away 94% of his total wealth to found the five Nobel Prizes.

The home crowd erupted when China’s Eileen Gu     1    (win) the Women’s Freeski Big Air gold in Beijing. Gu jumped into the top position with her third run,     2     (score) 94.50. Her total score was 188.25 in the event’s debut at the Winter Olympics. The 18-year-old, who also goes by her Chinese name, Gu Ailing, is a freestyle skier, model and grade-A student with     3    American father and a Chinese mother. She grew up in the United States. It was there     4     she grew to love skiing. By 2018, she was representing the US in the world cup for the sport. Then, she decided to switch from representing the US     5     representing China. The decision met with shock and    6     (confuse) from her growing fan base but Eileen Gu was more than     7     (determine), sharing her reasoning on Instagram at the time. “This was an     8     (extreme) tough decision for me to make...Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication and forge friendships between     9     (nation). If I can help to inspire one young girl     10     (break) a boundary, my wishes will have come true.”

Liu Genghong, a singer and composer,     1     (become) an online hit for livestreaming (直播) fitness routines from his home over the past months. Within one month, Liu’s livestreams have been viewed     2     (near) 100 million times,    3     his most popular session attracting over 44 million live views.

Chinese musician Jay Chou’s songs often serve     4     Liu’s background music. One of his most-watched fitness routines is set to “Herbalist Manual”(本草纲目) from Jay Chou’s Still Fantasy album. “I want to slap my leg whenever I hear ‘Herbalist Manual’ now,” shared a netizen.

In his livestreams, Liu and his wife appear     5     (energy), friendly, happy and super fit. They exercise and dance to up-beat songs while explaining and showing their moves, often encouraging those participating from their own living rooms.    6     Liu’s dance moves look simple, they are often too difficult for his audience     7     (follow). Plenty of     8     (netizen) even joked that the 49-year-old was facing a     9     (popular) contest with Li Jiaqi,     10     (know) as China’s “Livestreaming King”. “ Li Jiaqi empties our wallet, while Liu Genghong empties our body,” joked a netizen.