【推荐1】Two very different movies were released on July 21 this summer in the West, bringing record numbers of people into cinemas as the “Barbenheimer (芭比海默)” trend took over social media.

Barbie and Oppenheimer have been huge hits around the world, with Barbie alone making over 1 billion US dollars just 17 days after release. This makes it Wamer Bros studio’s fastest movie to reach $1 billion and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig, the first-ever solo female filmmaker with a billion-dollar film.

Barbie and Oppenheimer are an interesting pair because of how different they are from one another. Barbie is about a famous toy coming to life and facing issues of sexism and finding her own identity. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer is a serious male-driven historical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb. The release of these two huge, wildly different movies on the same day led to the creation of countless memes (表情包) under the Barbenheimer hashtag. Filmgoers have even gone to see both movies one right after the other, with some dressing up in pink for Barbie going on to see Oppenheimer as well.

Meanwhile, people have found some of the “Barbenheimer” memes disturbing. Atomic bombs killed many people and they think the memes made light of a very dark time in history. But the films have brought a healthy boost to cinema ticket sales around the world, helping an industry that has faced many challenges in recent years. The increasing popularity of streaming services and the COVID-19 pandemic have kept people out of cinemas. Now, the strikes from writers and actors over concerns of pay and about the use of artificial intelligence by film studios are also having an impact. Add to that a public tired of yearly big movies about superheroes and fast cars, as declining ticket sales suggest.

Described as a historic moment for the movie industry. “‘Barbenheimer’ will go down as one of the biggest and unexpected milestones in the history of cinema,” Paul Dergarabedian at Comscore told CNN.

【推荐3】Thrown from his horse three times and repeatedly got wet to the skin while camping in a heavy rain, Chris Walker, the farmer from Gloucestershire was, at 55, the oldest of the competitors in this year’s 1,000 km race across the steppe (大草原). Despite the hardships of his eight-day journey, Walker was delighted to finish third in the annual contest.

The Mongol Derby, described as the world’s toughest horse-riding endurance race, began in 2009 as an annual event. Competitors race between checkpoints 35 km (22 miles) apart, where they change horses to ensure the animals are healthy. They spend nights at one of 28 stations, set up their own camp or enjoy the warm welcome of friendly Mongolian families.

Walker, was an hour ahead of his competitors as the race entered its eighth day but unfortunately he faced an hour and a half penalty because during one of the regular checks his horse had a high heart rate, which is forbidden during the contest.

Walker said he had gone to Mongolia to “give it a go” but realised that he stood a chance of winning after teaming up with Patrick Heffron, a competitor from Ireland, who finished third equal alongside his companion.

“The horses are quite wild. I got thrown off three times. I fell off in a marmot (土拨鼠) hole,” he said. “You’re going along and you suddenly disappear. You have to hang on to your horse for dear life or it goes off.”

Walker said it was important to form a team, mainly because falling off alone means that there was no one to help you with your horse. “Neither of us had prior desires to win this race but we realised: ‘We’re in front.’ So we pushed,” he said.

Asked whether he was attracted to return to see if he could win, Walker replied: “Probably, though I’m getting a bit old.”

【推荐3】On August 5, 2021, Chinese diver Quan Hongchan became China's newest diving superstar when she won the gold medal in the women's diving 10m platform final in style. Having turned 14 just four months before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Quan is the youngest athlete among China' s Olympic group, and won the country's 33rd gold medal in Tokyo.

She simply blew away the rest of the competitors, delivering three perfect—10 dives, and achieved a record—breaking overall score of 466.20.

Her great performance, where she hardly created a ripple (涟漪)on the water's surface during her five dives, left audience in surprise, with some saying that even dumplings make bigger splashes (水花)."

Covering her face with the gold medal, Quan gave thanks to her parents, saying that they had told her not to be nervous, "They said it doesn't matter if I get a medal or not. Just be myself. Those words really helped me."

Quan comes from a family in Guangdong. Her mother was hurt in an accident several years ago, and has to stay at hospitals. The family depends on her father, but she says she wants to help out with her mother's medical bill by practicing diving.

She began to learn diving at 7 and trained about four hours each day, practicing 400 dives. After entering the national diving team, she trained even harder. At the Tokyo Games, she broke the record of 447.70 held by Chen Ruolin. In the end, China won seven gold and five silver medals in diving. With newcomers like Quan, China can probably expect a lot more gold medals and a lot more broken records in the future.