Twins Coby and Cory Cotton, and their friends Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones and Tyler Toney, were roommates at Texas A&M University. One day, Tyler bet (打赌) Garret that he could make a crazy over-the-shoulder basketball shot. Tyler made the shot. Then the rest of the guys tried their own even crazier shots! Each of them was keen to (渴望) perform better than the others. One of them set up a camera to capture the action. He looked through the lens and commented, “Dude, perfect! (老兄,完美!)”

Little did the friends know that their video, which they posted online, would go viral. In just one week, it had hit 100,000 views. They decided to call their group “Dude Perfect” and began to try even harder trick shots. Soon, they had American talk shows asking them to air their videos on TV.

Today, “Dude Perfect” tops the YouTube (an online video-sharing platform) channel charts in the United States. In addition, the guys now have their own TV series, The Dude Perfect Show, popular toys named after them, and even an online store, featuring everything from T-shirts to backpacks. It is estimated that the group’s earnings from YouTube alone are about $2 million a year.

The “Dude Perfect” guys make most of their videos in a 25,000-square-foot building in San Francisco. Inside, there is a full-sized basketball court, a soccer field, an area for golfing, cool vehicles (车辆) they can drive around, lots of video-production equipment and more. While making their videos, they have spent time with some of the world’s best athletes and broke several world records. The secret to the accuracy (精准) of their shots is no secret at all — a lot of practice and a spirit of never give up.

Since “Dude Perfect” started, all five of the guys have got married, and three of them have had youngsters. Although all of them are now responsible adults, they’re still kids at heart, and that comes through clearly in their videos and TV shows.

Wang Yaping, together with Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, went into space by taking the Shenzhou XIII on Oct. 16, 2021. Wang became the first woman astronaut to enter China Space Station. During their six-month stay, Wang also did the first spacewalk by a Chinese woman, reported Xinhua.

Wang Yaping was born in 1980 in Shandong Province. Her space dream started in 2003, when China sent its first astronaut into space. She told herself, “China now has a man astronaut. When will there be a woman one?” At that time, Wang was a pilot in the Chinese army.

Hard work finally made her dream come true in 2013. She joined the team for the Shenzhou X mission（任务）.

Wang said that as astronauts, women have their own advantages, “Women are more patient and can better deal with loneliness. Women’s hearts are also easier to adapt to the weightless environment, making them more suitable for long-term missions.”

NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman sent a letter to Wang before the Shenzhou XIII trip. Coleman said, “When you look out of the window and see the stars and the earth, hundreds of millions of women will be looking out of that window with you.” Wang carries the dream of every young woman who dreams of something big.

When Yi Xiaoyang was two, he fell in love with skiing（滑雪）. His first time on snow, however, wasn’t successful. He slept on the ski lift until the coach found him. He started to learn how to ski from then on. Yi was a fast learner, and at the age of six, he began to ski in other parts of the world.

In 2015, Beijing got the chance to hold the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Yi felt it hopeful to take part in the Olympics. He decided to take training courses like a professional athlete（职业运动员）.

As a student, Yi has to take classes like others. At the same time, he has to train full day on weekends and half day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In summer, the training goes on.

At the beginning, that was a big challenge（挑战）. “When I started to train like an athlete, everything seemed to change,” said Yi, “I lost my interest. I even got angry with my coaches. They talked to my parents and decided to give me a one-week break from training.”

Luckily, during that break, he picked up his joy in skiing. “I found that skiing had already become one important part of me,” said Yi. After that, he moved back on his fight for his dreams.

“I might have dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion（冠军）before, but now it comes much clearer. I want to take part in the Olympics, and that will be my goal.”