For the past 20 years, the Touching China Annual People Award has honored people from all walks of life across the country. This year, 10 inspirational role models (榜样) were on the list. Let’s look at two of them. They both have the same quality: they dedicate to serve the country in their own way.

No matter where he has been, Yang Zhenning has always had his motherland in mind. In 1957, Yang was studying in the US. He and another Chinese student, Tsung-dao Lee, came up with a physics theory together. Months later, the two won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their theory. Their achievement proved that Chinese scientists could be on the global frontier (前沿).

However, the “frozen” Sino-US (中美) relations prevented Chinese scientists who received doctoral degrees (博士学位) in the US from returning to China.

Then, in 1971, Yang finally managed to return to China for a visit. Later, Yang sold a house in the US, donating the money to Tsinghua University. In 2003, Yang returned to China and also taught at Tsinghua.

Under his influence, many overseas Chinese have returned to China to make contributions.

“I am as proud of my Chinese heritage (传统) and background as I am devoted to modern science, a part of human civilization (文明) of Western origin.”

On Aug 12021, Su set a new record of 9.83 seconds in the Tokyo Olympics.

Men’s 100m semifinals, making him the first Chinese runner to enter the final in the event.

For a long time, there was an idea that Asian people were not physically built to succeed in sprinting. Su’s success made the idea sound ridiculous (荒唐的) and inspired many people.

But the way to success was never easy for Su. Because of an injury, Su had to stop running for several years. He even planned to retire (退役) in 2017. But the call to challenge himself brought Su back to the track. To increase his strength, Su trained even harder than before.

He realized that finishing the semifinal in less than 10 seconds would earn him the chance to enter the final competition. To encourage himself, Su set a personal goal of 9.89 seconds. He even made the number his personal password for his phone and computer. Luckily , his efforts paid off.

“I hope my performance today could serve as an inspiration for younger athletes in their sporting careers.”

Charles Darwin

One of the most famous scientists to study adaptations (适应) was Charles Darwin. He was born in England in 1809. He wasn’t the best student in his school, but when he was 16, his father sent him to a medical school. Charles liked spending time outdoors observing (观察) nature more than attending medical classes. He dropped out (退学) without graduating.

Next, Charles’s father sent him to school to become a minister (牧师). This time he made it to graduation. But he didn’t want to do the work of a minister. His friends encouraged him to follow his interest in science.

After graduation, Charles was invited to sail on the Beagle as an unpaid (无薪) scientist. He wasn’t the first choice, but he was the lucky one to go. The Beagle was to travel to South America and then around the world. The crew’s (全体船员) task was to make maps of the places they visited.

On December 27th, 1831, Charles Darwin sailed from England on the Beagle. The trip was planned to last two years. In fact, it lasted five years. During this time, he saw many amazing things. He collected lots of plants and animals and took them back to England to study.

Twenty-three years later, Darwin published an important scientific paper with another man named Wallace. Darwin described how some animals have adaptations that help them survive. They are passed on to offspring (后代). Darwin’s ideas about adaptations are still very important to the study of living things.

Leonardo da Vinci（莱奥纳多·达·芬奇）was a famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war, he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.

Leonardo was a strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times (时代). He never published (发表) scientific discoveries. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side.

Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.

Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.