Dawson was an angry old man, and everyone knew it. He had the best apples in town, but kids knew they couldn’t go into his yard to pick apples ________ he would come after them.

One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her ________ Amy. They had to walk ________ Dawson’s house on the way to Amy’s house. As they got close, Janet saw him sitting in front of his door. So she suggested they should cross over to the other side of the street. Like most children, Janet was ________ of him.

Amy said Dawson wouldn’t hurt them and kept walking. When they got closer, Dawson looked up ________. But when he saw Amy, he ________ and said, “Hello, Amy. I see you’ve got a friend with you today.”

Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and that they were going to play games. Dawson said that sounded fun and gave them each a fresh apple.

They walked on for a while, and then Janet asked Amy, “Everyone says he’s not friendly. How come he was so nice to us?”

Amy said, “When I first ________ his house, he wasn’t friendly and I was afraid of him. But my grandma ________ told me that if I imagined he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, then sooner or later he would really smile.”

Growing up in a village in Sichuan Province, 25-year-old Zheng Huan has had a deep love for nature since she was a child.

“Sunshine, fresh air, water, all kinds of plants and animals... they are the most valuable things on our planet. However, without a price tag (价签) on them, not many people have realized this,” Zheng said. “What’s worse, climate change is affecting biodiversity (生物多样性) and the environment around us.”

Zheng decided to make a change. She set up the Youth Leader Fund under the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. They work with game companies, artists and programmers and make climate change a thing that can be seen, felt and dealt with.

Zheng has been working on a game called Guardians of Earth, which is like a biodiversity version of “Pokemon Go”. Players take pictures of different kinds of living things to earn points. The more points they get, the more they know about the earth. Zheng remembered one teenage user’s words. The kid said, “The game has changed my ideas toward plants and animals. They have all become alive and meaningful to me because now I know them.”

Another project Zheng is helping with is on digital (数字的) artworks about climate change. She invited artists around the world to create pieces based on each chapter of sci-fi writer Chen Oiufan’s new book, AI 2041, which talks about how artificial intelligence (人工智能) will influence the environment in the future, “Paintings are a direct form of art and online paintings can reach more people in a shorter time,” Zheng said, “I want to make people know more about climate change in beautiful and futuristic ways, and to increase people’s understanding of nature,” she added.

Zheng’s work has gotten wide attention and praise—she has been participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference since 2016. She hopes one day biodiversity and climate change will become old ideas—like something that is rooted in people’s hearts.

Chinese snowboarder Su Yiming, at just 18 years old, is already a household (家喻户晓的) name in China because of his excellent performance at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Su made history for China by winning the men’s snowboard slopestyle silver and the men’s snowboard big air gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Su won the first place with 89.5 points in his first round and 93 points in the second round of the final.   

Su started to practice snowboarding when he was 4 years old because his parents both love snowboarding. His first snowboard came from his father and it was a lot taller than Su was back then. However, Su almost fell in love with the sport immediately. Su used to be a child film star. But 7 years ago when China won the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, he realized this could be a life-changing opportunity (机会). So, Su decided to focus fully on snowboarding.

“I only have one word to describe my feelings for snowboarding; it’s love, deep from my heart,” Su said. “It’s my happiest moment when I stand on the snowboard. No matter how long I train, even for 7 or 8 hours in a row, I feel happy. Love is what has been supporting me all the time. And I want to tell teenage snowboarders, the most important thing is to go after their love. I hope my story could encourage more young people to take part in winter sports and face challenges in their lives.”

Xu Yuanchong, one of the most famous Chinese translators, died on Jun. 17, 2021.

Born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province in 1921, Xu studied under Qian Zhongshu, Wu Mi and other Chinese masters at The National Southwest Associated University from 1938. He went to University of Paris for further study after graduating from Tsinghua University. In 1951, he came back to China and worked as the English and French professor in some foreign schools. He had taught international culture course at Peking University until he retired in 1991.

Xu devoted himself to translation for more than 60 years. He translated about 120 works. He tried to make translated works as beautiful as the originals. Instead of directly translating words from one language to another, he changed wording in translation when necessary. Thanks to his translation, English and French readers are able to better understand Chinese literature.

Xu was a hard worker. He lived in an old house near Peking University. Every day, he would translate about 1,000 words, work until 3 or 4 am, then sleep for about three hours and get up at 6 am to continue working. He succeeded in translation and gained some prizes. In 2014, he got one of the highest prizes for a translator and became the first Asian winner.

To everyone, he once sent a wish: “Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better, and your better is best.”

Some Facts about Xu Yuanchong