Glories of yesterday, Opportunities of tomorrow--On the start-of-semester cultural development activities carried out by senior 2 students

　　Time flies, 2020 goes by in the blink of an eye. As 2021 comes up, senior 2 students are busy working on promoting the national spirit as well as setting up an international mindset. Senior 2 students showed their creativity and enthusiasm in the design of board and corridor.The COVID-19 pandemic has been continuously affecting our society for almost the entire span of last year, and still ongoing. Eventually, this and many other things marked 2020 as one of the most special years in history. However, we are indestructible. In this vast, civilized land of China, where unique and sophisticated culture strived for thousands of years, we are in this together. Our journey goes on.

　　Class 1 --- Reaching up for the bright new moon, looking out at the mysterious sky.The flag of China standing on the moon On December 3rd, 2020, 23:10, Chang'e-5's orbiter runs its 3000N rocket engine for around 6 minutes, delivering itself and its payload up to orbit. Before doing so, a mechanism was actuated which successfully planted the flag of China on the moon. This is the first time we have ever displayed our flag independently on the moon, marking the success of the system.Opening of the Heaven's Eye On January 11th, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope called ‘TianYan’ or ‘Heaven’s Eye’ was finally declared fully operational after three years of testing and commissioning. It is currently the world's largest and most precise filled-aperture radio telescope. This breakthrough opens more doors to the mysteries of space by providing high-resolution imagery to researchers.Thoughts: Even though we are late to the show, we still dominate the stage of science and technology, spreading Chinese wisdom all over the world.

 

 

　　Class 2 --- Accumulation of thoughts, flames of the future.The Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Louise Glück. Prize motivation：“for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal. Her works are very intense in emotion while having lots of mythological aspects. Her poems generally revolve around things like trauma, desire, and nature, thus frankly expressing sadness and isolation.The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic SciencesThe 2020 Nobel Prize in Economics is shared by Paul Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson ‘for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats’. Their discoveries in theory have improved auctions in practice,especially those that require unconventional sales techniques.Thoughts: The Nobel Prizes are prizes that are awarded‘to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind’. It has a spiritual value far exceeding the gold Olympic medal. The online awarding of the 2020 Nobel Prizes showed us the most talented and hard-working people of our time and served a great purpose in motivating us.

 

 

　　Class 3 --- Through the toughest storm, emerges the brightest jade.The hot topic in economics #1: the US injecting money into economyThe COVID-19 pandemic has set the world economy into a deep recession. As an attempt to stabilise the economy and prevent another economic crisis the US and others injected more money into the economy (essentially printing cash). This was done to an extent never seen before and will continue for quite a while.The hot topic in economics #2: 2020 breakthroughsChina’s GDP in 2020 exceeded 100 trillion CNY, making it likely the only major economic entity that is achieving a positive rate.Thoughts: China is one of the most contributing countries in the battle against the coronavirus. So far we have been awarded the name ‘Brightest star of the world’ in both recovery and treatment. We have also effectively contained the pandemic and on the path of a slow but steady recovery. 2021 is the first year of The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan and is already seeing progress, at this rate full recovery is just a matter of time.

 

 

　　Class 4 --- Upcoming the miles of a spring breeze, hoping for the cherry blossoms that come with it.2020 COVID-19 pandemicAfter first going viral in Wuhan, the coronavirus quickly spread around the globe while mutating into several traits. Countermeasures such as quarantine were eventually employed in multiple places all over the world, which severely impacted or even completely inhibited the operation of factories and other production facilities. This caused a huge shortage of supplies and might induce a huge increase in pricing. The economy is in danger. China contributed massively in containing the pandemic, Dr. Zhong Nanshan and Prof. Li Lanjuan risked their lives entering epidemic areas providing support.Thoughts: The impact of the pandemic can only be temporary, it might even trigger a massive change in the economy. Eventually, all the damage is ephemeral but the brave hearts of human beings stay the same. We fight through whatever hardship the virus puts us through and will come out at the top.

 

 

　　Class 5 --- A life never complete without exercise, paying off eventually in the long run.2020 is one of the most devastating years to sports fans: Death of Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter retiring, delaying of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games, Sun Yang suffering a 3-month ban…etc. The COVID-19 pandemic closed many doors for the sports community and the deaths and retirements of superstars immobilised almost every major event. During what could be a massively important year for sports, what we have now are tragic events one after another, breaking everyone's hearts. Nothing will ever be the same. However, with sorrow and loss, there's always triumph and victory, there's always hope. In 2020, even though the atmosphere is dark and toxic, the spirit of the community will always strive. The darkness has already lifted, and in 2021, we'll be sure to create our own miracles.

 

 

　　Class 6 --- A thousand words worth of thought, an action worth the ultimate peace.The PLAN’s training sortie involving Taiwan According to the Ministry of National Defense, on September 19th, multiple 3rd generation fighter aeroplanes of the PLAN entered Taiwan’s so-called ‘air defense identification zone’. If their reports are factual, then the PLAN’s backbone fighters and derivatives are all used for reconnaissance over Taiwan, different types of aeroplanes most definitely fall under command of multiple different departments, which indicates these sorties were performed in conjunction with by said departments.Conflict at the borderSomewhere during June 2020 the Indian military blatantly ignores agreements with China and waged war. Regimental commander QiFabao stepped forward to intervene and suffered attacks by Indian soldiers. Standing before them are countless Indian soldiers, while behind them is the boarder, which our soldiers defended risking their lives.Thoughts: Peace is not a birthright, but a privilege we must work for. Our soldiers are defending that privilege with their lives.

 

 

　　Class 7 --- Lifeless objects silently observes, channeling the liveliness of spring as winter fades.Wildfire: Australia’s wildfire burnt for 210 days, from 2019 to 2020, causing the deaths of 33 human beings and more than twelve hundred million wild animals. Over 2,500 houses were destroyed. Millions of civilians are engulfed in smoke and dust. Over 117,000 square kilometres of land got destroyed. Airborne debris has spread across the globe.

　　Locust infestation: Tens of trillions of locusts emerged from Africa and traveled to as far as India and Pakistan. According to statistics provided by the FAO, more than 2,600 square kilometres of farmland have fallen victim to this plague and left over 23 million people starving, just Ethobia alone has 8 million of them.Thoughts: A healthy Earth is the basis of economic development. We exist because of it, and we must coexist with it properly. Nature can only maintain itself to a certain extent. If we take too much and give back too little things will go wrong. To keep that from happening, we should do our best to preserve what we already have left behind by our ancestors while leaving behind better things on top of that for our successors.

 

 

　　Class 8 --- Goodbye poverty, hello prosperityEver since the Reform and Opening, the Chinese government has been putting huge amounts of work into poverty alleviation. Over the years they have standardised and had procedures developed for this operation, from the generic market-oriented industry development method to specifically targeting one or more counties, to targeting specific villages stuck in poverty, to eventually precision targeting as of today. This has shown great results and brought us much closer to the end goal. According to official statistics, we reduced people in poverty from the initial 770 million back in 1978 down to 55 million, a miracle.Thoughts: A massive drop in number, a miracle never seen before. The whole thing behind the project is the Chinese government’s dozens of years of effort. We as the new generation should live on our ancestors’ legacy and carry on this project. Gone are the sorrows of 2020, 2021 is destined to be blessed with more miracles. Creativity is much needed at times like this. We shall take to the skies our creation, progress forward in huge steps without looking back. Mistakes will happen, bad things will occur, stuff will go wrong, but the damage will always be ephemeral. We will always bring everything back together and bring the nastiest fight to any challenges that might materialise in our way. Nothing can stop us. All the classes of senior 2 showed great talent and coordination. To help quickly achieve a perfect harmony, accelerate the process of students falling into the position of everyday studying of the new semester, a project to design artwork for the back of the classrooms was started. Every submission was unique, informative, and educative. They feature good-looking imagery, intuitive charts, and cheerful colours. Some excel in literary work while others have phenomenal artwork. These submissions truly display creativity to the fullest.Lu Suo once said: ‘I deeply believe that only lawful, integral citizens can have their salute accepted by the motherland.’Achieve your dreams under the stars, day and night. Then, what used to be a dream might lead up to great things.

 

 

　　'Walking the path, keeping the faith, class 1 forever, together we set sail' resounds from our chests. We promote the spirit of learning and persistence. After almost two years of hard work, we achieved the following: Number 1 in average score for a total of 12 times, best performance award in the English culture festival, model class of military training, etc. We believe that at this rate, further achievements are just a matter of time.

　　--Senior 2 Class 1

　　‘Caution, preparation, meditation, occupation.’ These four words have always been what empowers us to journey far and wide. Not only were we blessed by the knowledge of science and literature, but we also got to experience what true friendship was like. No matter what we face, slowly but surely we will work through it. We periodically get rid of distractions from our mind, then with a pure heart, full of ambitions, we go on, chasing our dreams of blazing fire.

　　--Senior 2 Class 2

　　The internal buildup of our inner strength, the undeniable glory of our motherland The new semester has come up, as always we should stay true to our goal, keep in mind the national spirit while setting an international mindset. The end goal is right in front of our eyes, do not let down our youth, set forth, and obtain it. Life is all about being a vessel with a set destination, applying constant corrections to stay on course, even if we are put through the toughest of storms, we must not lose hope, remain faithful and eventually, with time, we will get through it. We have the responsibility to keep things going in our times. As students of the CFLS, we must not disappoint and build our own glories on top of our ancestors'.

　　--Senior 2 Class 3

　　‘The most magnificent tower starts from a singular brick, the greatest journey starts from getting out of bed.’ Here in class 4,we want everyone to settle down and never give up. We secretly hope for miracles from that future that is so close yet so far. In that future, in this dream we are devoting our lives to, all the time we have put in. Let us stand side by side, fight for our world we have always wanted.

　　--Senior 2 Class 4

　　We have chosen to have Western literature (primarily in English) as the theme of our submission. We've got a little bit of everything. Famous authors, awesome quotes, life advice... you name it. This will be our effort in delivering the sweet fruits of literature to everyone. To deliver hope to everyone. We will closely go by the statement ‘Pre-process but learn, trust but verify.’ In the coming days, we will work even harder towards our goal, never giving up.

　　--Senior 2 Class 5

　　This so-called ‘glorious past’ is nothing about the result. It is more about the struggle before that. The stubborn quest for that dream, before, anyone, ever cared. This is what we motivate each other with whenever we feel down. The summer of 2021 brings us to senior 3, the epilogue of our high school life. We believe that this struggle for all these years will come back to us as a bright future, all the tears we have shed will rain back down at us as our miracle rain. We will be the first to punch through the darkness of the night, ride the waves, head straight for dawn. We are indestructible.

　　--Senior 2 Class 6

　　Class 7 is awesome. We have many achievements ranging from the best choir during the Foreign Language Festival to the best performance in the show ‘Thunderstorm’, and stuff like best corridor poster design was nothing but a piece of cake. We are awesome. Between all of these connects all our amazing memories, which will surely accompany us for the rest of our lives. We advance together, steadily, step by step, moving forwards. The colourful flag on the map indicates our goal, we work towards it together. The message board will serve as a motivation to ourselves, constantly reminding us of the reason behind this hard work. At the end, we will all get to be what we always hoped for.

　　--Senior 2 Class 7

　　‘Hand in hand we fight this fight, overall obstacles we come out on top.’ We designed our board to specifically assist us in the upcoming college entrance exam. The design consists mainly of literature knowledge commonly involved in the exam, which can be used as some sort of knowledge handbook by everyone. To the left is our flag, graphically demonstrating our unstoppable strength and powerful team spirit. To the right is the leader board, which constantly motivates us in trying harder. Let us maintain this performance, achieve something you and I will not regret!

　　--Senior 2 Class 8

　　Perseverance is significant, because Rome is not built in one day.This event marks the start of the semester. The further you progress，the closer you become. Let this new beginning kick start the final fight.

Evaluation Result

　　After throughout, fair evaluation by the evaluation team, it was decided that the following classes will be awarded:

　　Senior 2 Class 4: 1st Prize

　　Senior 2 Class 1: 2nd Prize

　　Senior 2 Class 5: 3rd Prize

　　Time flies. Looking back, we are grateful. Looking forward, we are hopeful. Through the sweetness and bitterness of yesterday comes the destined success of tomorrow. 2020, dream building. 2021, life-changing!

　　New semester, a new beginning, new journey, new challenges. We should adopt how cows take their steps steadily, one at a time, but more importantly, their spirit of never giving up. We have a long journey ahead of us, the only way is forward! Let every student of the CFLS benefit from this spirit, embrace this new beginning, create their own miracles!

　　The Chinese character ’牛’ literally means cow, but it is also the designation of this year. It can sometimes mean positive things or some sort of compliment, thus used here as a pun.