On May 22, 2021, the whole nation was saddened by the news that Chinese scientist Yuan Longping died.
Dr Yuan Longping worked most of his life growing better rice. As a result of his research, the Chinese people are no longer worried about getting starved. His great work also helped the world produce more and more rice.
Yuan, born on Sept. 7, 1930. After graduating (毕业.) from Southwest Agriculture College, he worked as a teacher at an agriculture school in Hunan.
Several natural disasters (天灾) hit China in the 1960s. Yuan, saw many people die of hunger every day. Since then, he has researched how to grow much better crops.
In 1964 , he happened to find a natural hybrid rice (杂交水稻) plant that had great advantages over others. Yuan was excited about his discovery. He then began to study the parts of this unusual plant.
In 1973, he started to develop a type of hybrid rice species (种类) . It produced 20% more rice per unit than common ones. The seeding (种植) was very successful in the following year. This progress made China the world's leader in rice production.
More than 50% of China's total rice fields grow Yuan's hybrid species. People call him the "Father of Hybrid Rice".
Yuan once said he had two dreams — to "enjoy the cool under the rice crops taller than men" and that hybrid rice could be grown all over the world to help solve the food problem of the whole world.
Do you know Liu Xiuxiang? This name might be strange to you, but you must have herd about the story of him. He "carried" his sick mom to his university while studied in Shandong. His mom wasn't able to look after herself after his dad passed away. He had to support the whole family. Life was difficult, but he went on studying hard. Finally he got into the university.
Many years later, Liu was noticed by public again. He won the honor — the "May 4th" Medal of Chinese Youth. After he graduated from university in 2012, Liu refused many highly paid job and went back to his hometown, Guizhou Province. There he has been working as a teacher for 9 years. He said, "I hope to do something for more children whose lives are similar to mine."
In fact, Liu supported three poor children when he was in high school. Till now, he has helped more than 1,700 students and given more than 1, 00 speeches. His story has warmed many people. As the song sings "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." There is no doubt that he will give more hope to more children in the future.
After opening a free online Harry Potter center in April, British writer JK·Rowling brings even more good news.
In May, Rowling started writing a new story called The Ickabog, which was free to read online to help amuse people who stayed at home because of COVID-19.
The new story centers around a monster (怪物) known as the Ickabog, a fierce child-eating monster who lives in the northern tip of an imaginary land known as Cornucopia and has super powers.
Though the book is written for children, it is also fascinating to adults. It talks about many things, such as weak leadership, and suppression (镇压) of disagreement.
"The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse (滥用) of power," Rowling wrote on the website. "The themes are timeless and could be used in any era or any country."
Rowling put the first two chapters online on May 26, with daily writing to follow until July 10.
She is also planing to publish (出版) the book in print later this year and then give away the money from its sales to projects and organizations helping the groups most influenced by COVID-19.
"I spent my whole life doing one thing," Gu Fangzhou once said. Known as "the father of sugar pills (糖丸)", Gu passed away on January 2, 2019. Eight months later, he received a national honorary-title (荣誉称号) "the People's Scientist" for his polio (脊髓灰质炎) research.
Gu Fangzhou, a famous medical scientist, was born in June, 1926. Gu's family faced a difficult time with the sudden death of his father. He studied hard and finally entered Peking University as a medical student in 1944. After graduation, Gu made the decision to work to help improve public health.
In 1955, polio broke out in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. It paralyzed (使瘫痪) 1,680 people, mostly children aged below seven. It spread to neighboring areas and resulted in 466 deaths. Gu was asked to lead polio research in 1957. "At that time the only way to prevent polio was to invent a vaccine (疫苗)," said Gu.
In 1959 Gu succeeded in developing the first polio live vaccine. Later, he developed the "sugar-coated pill" vaccine in the early 1960s. It not only tasted better but was more affordable and easier to keep. To test the vaccine, Gu tried the vaccine in person and later his one-month-old son was vaccinated. This inspired his team to vaccinate their kids. They became the first group of people in China to try a polio vaccine. "If we don' t believe in what we produce, how can others believe in it?" said Gu.
Gradually, the sugar-coated polio vaccine was made available in China. It saved millions of people, especially kids, from being disabled. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that China was already a polio-free country. "We feel satisfied. I can tell people that I tried my best, and your kids will no longer get polio," said Gu. "That's all we hoped for. "
① Gu Fangzhou himself. ② Gu Fangzhou's partners' kids.
③ Gu Fangzhou's parents. ④ Gu Fangzhou's son.
