【推荐1】“I want to work full-time in China, honey.” An overseas call awakened the wife from sound sleep. “Why?” asked the wife with surprise, in a drowsy (昏昏欲睡的) voice, from the other side of the ocean.

In the United States, he had a great future ahead. At the age of 36, he became the youngest professor in the history of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, for his academic achievements. At 40, he became a tenured (终身的) chair professor at Princeton.

When everything seemed perfect and admirable to others, he firmly decided to say goodbye to Princeton University, to an affluent life in the United States, and return to China.

The news spread explosively. Many expressed confusion, many persuaded him, many made fun of him, and still many waited to have a good laugh at him.

He said patriotism is the plainest feeling of a person. Who doesn’t love his motherland, after all? In his heart, the American dream is already something past; the Chinese dream is rising.

After returning to China, he devoted all his energy, worked like crazy, and determined to do something big. He formed a life science research team. Every day, he works 12 to 16 hours at his laboratory. He is Shi Yigong, nicknamed “Da Niu” (someone with extraordinary achievements) by Tsinghua students. His given name, Yigong, comes from an idiom that means “devoted to public interest whole-heartedly”. “So far as I’m concerned, awards are of no special meaning.” Shi says calmly.

In his 18 years of study in the United States, he never forgot his Chinese dream. In the next 18 years, the Chinese dream will be more beautiful and greater by the efforts of Shi Yigong and the likes of him.

【推荐2】In 2015, Professor Wang Zhenyi, who specializes in treating acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) (急性早幼粒细胞白血病), received a letter of thanks from America. The writer of the letter was Mrs. Berna- dette Giandomenico, who once suffered from APL but was cured with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) (全反式维甲酸), a treatment developed by Wang and his medical team.

Working at Ruijin Hospital, Wang has been devoting his life to the treatment of leukenia. He received the country’s highest honor in science and technology in 2010.

Born in 1924 in Shanghai, Wang was inspired by a family friend’s experience of pursuing a career in medicine as a child. His grandmother’s death caused by typhoid (伤寒) further strengthened his resolve (决心) to fight against diseases and rescue patients. With outstanding academic performance, Wang became a doctor at Guangci Hospital, today’s Ruijin Hospital,

In 1978, a research paper from Israeli experts gave Wang inspiration on studying how leukemia cells could become normal. His research didn’t progress as expected, though. In 1983, another research paper shed light on his study. As the paper suggested, after being treated with 13-cis-retinoic acid, white blood cells in patients with APL could become normal. Considering the difficulties and high cost of producing a drug made from 13-cis-retinoic acid, Wang’s team decided to replace that ingredient with ATRA, and they verified its positive effect after several months’ experiments. In 1986, the drug was first adopted in treating a five-year-old patient. It turned out successful. After eight years of research, Wang’s team eventually made the first breakthrough in the battle against APL.

To make sure every APL patient could afford the medicine, Wang has not patented (获取专利权) his research result to date. “One cannot be a real doctor if one does not have expertise in medicine,” Wang said in an interview. “However, without a kind heart, a skilled doctor may cause harm to patients.”

Having worked in the field of hematopathology for over 70 years, Wang has been well recognized for his remarkable contribution to saving lives.

【推荐3】Oscar Wrigley, a two-year-old child with the same IQ as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, has become the youngest boy in Britain to be accepted into Mensa.

A leader at the Gifted Children’s Information Centre said Oscar, with an IQ of at least 160, is one of the brightest children they have ever come across.

Oscar’s father Joe, 29, an IT specialist, said, “He is always asking questions. Every parent likes to think their child is special but we knew there was something very unusual about Oscar. I’m fully expecting the day to come when he turns around and tells me I’m an idiot(白痴).”

Mother Hannah, 26, told The Daily Mail, “He surprises everyone. We knew at 12 weeks he was quite bright. He was unusually quick in mind. The other day he said to me, ‘Mummy, sausages are like a party in my mouth.’ His vocabulary is surprising. He’s able to make complex sentences.”

Dr Peter Congdon, who tested Oscar, said he was a “child of very superior intelligence (超常智力)”. He showed outstanding ability. “Oscar shows great gift. Changing that gift to success is the challenge for his parents and we are pleased that they have chosen to join the Mensa network for support”, he said. Exactly speaking, Oscar was accepted at the age of two years, five months and 11 days.

The youngest British girl to join Mensa is Elise Tan Roberts, from Edmonton, North London, at two years, four months and 14 days, with an IQ of 156.

【推荐1】Adding to the achievements of a remarkable year, Taylor Swift has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023.

Already a superstar before 2023, Swift’s career has reached new heights thanks to the beginning of her Eras Tour that brought her 3.5-hour performance to 66 shows in 23 cities across North America, Argentina and Brazil. Promoted by her tour, Swift has been named the most-streamed female artist in the history of Spotify and Apple Music. According to Billboard, the tour made about $900 million (about 6.4 billion yuan) in 2023. In addition, the tour’s movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour became the biggest concert movie of all time, taking more than $250

As she was declare a billionaire by Bloomberg in November, a hidden “Taylor Swift economy” also promoted sales for business owners across the US. From soaps to a cruise inspired by her different “eras”, interest in Swift-related products went way up.

Apart from her financial contributions, Swift made a significant cultural impact by taking back control of her music. In 2019, her old record label, Big Machine, sold the master tapes of her first six albums (专辑) to Scoot er Braun. The sale meant that she didn’t have the rights to the albums. In response to this, Swift began re-recording her first six albums, tagging (加标签于) them “Taylor’s Version”. This move stressed her belief that artists deserve to own their work. “It’s all in how you deal with loss,” she told Time. “I respond to extreme pain by resisting.”

Heading into 2024, Swift will start the Eras Tour again in Japan and Australia. As USA Today noted, “Her current top has been a long time coming, but it may also be just beginning.”