It's rare that the protagonist in a Chinese movie wins the audience's hearts with an emotionally uplifting message, rather than by showing off his or her good looks. But Wolf Warrior II is putting China in the global spotlight. It's also the first film to taste success both in terms of box office earnings and promoting Chinese values.

    Kung fu artist Wu Jing both starred in and directed the action movie. Since its release on July 27, it's earned an unimaginable 4.5 billion yuan, setting a record for domestic movies at the box office. The success of the film has surpassed the anticipations of all, including the production team.

    The film focuses on a rescue operation in Africa, led by former special forces soldier Leng Feng-played by Wu. Leng helps Chinese workers and local Africans flee a war-torn and plague-ravaged country. Wolf Warrior II links art to reality, and reminds people of the massive evacuation of Chinese people from Libya when civil war broke out there in 2011, and from Yemen in 2015, as well as the challenges the Ebola virus created in West Africa from 2013 to 2016. The film describes how the Chinese government aims to protect overseas Chinese citizens. Just as the message at the end of the film reads: “Citizens of the People's Republic of China. When you encounter danger in a foreign land, do not give up! Please remember, at your back stands a strong motherland.”

    Thanks to China's increasing participation in global affairs, now could be considered the right moment to introduce a modern Chinese hero.

    “Holding up a banner of peace, friendship and responsibility, Wolf Warrior II should be seen as a brave effort to promote Chinese values around the world,” columnist Zhu Ping wrote in China Daily.

    “It's time Chinese filmmakers produced films that tell good stories and carry the right spirit. Let us assume Wolf Warrior II has started that trend.”

    Runners who encounter visual and auditory distractions (干扰)may be more likely to suffer leg injuries, according to research by the Association of Academic Physiatrists in Las Vegas. Runners often seek distraction from the task at hand. Whether it be music, texting, daydreaming, taking in the sights, or propping a book up on the treadmill(跑步机), more often than not a distraction is welcome. But, researchers from the University of Florida have recently discovered those distractions may lead to injury.

    Daniel Herman, MD, assistant professor at University of Florida, and his team conducted research on the effects of visual and auditory distractions on 14 runners to determine what effect these distractions would have on things such as heart rate, how many times a runner breathes per minute and how much oxygen is consumed by the body.

    The runners were all injury-free at the time of the study and ran 31 miles each week. Dr . Herman's team had each participant run on a treadmill three separate times. The first time was without any distractions. The second time added a visual distraction, during which the runners concentrated on a screen displaying different letters in different colors with the runner having to note when a specific letter-color combination appeared. The third time added an auditory distraction similar to the visual distraction, with the runner having to note when a certain word was spoken by a certain voice.

    When compared to running without distractions, the participants applied force faster to their left and right legs called loading rate, with auditory and visual distractions. They also experienced an increased amount of force from the ground on both legs, called ground reaction force, with auditory distractions. Finally, the runners tended to breathe heavier and have higher heart rates with visual and auditory distractions than without any distractions at all.

    "Running in environments with different distractions may unfavorably affect running performance and increase injury risk," explains Dr. Herman. "Sometimes these things cannot be helped, but you may be able to minimize potentially cumulative(累积的) effects. For example, when running a new route in a chaotic environment such as during a destination of marathon, you may want to skip listening to something which may require more attention - like a new song playlist."

    Dr. Herman's team will continue to investigate the potential relationship between distracted running and leg injuries, and any effect this relationship has on different training techniques that use auditory or visual cues.

    To above prices, please add $3 for first book and $1 for each additional book for postage & handling. Foreign countries add $5 per book. Send orders to Quackwatch, P. O. Box 1747, Allen Avenue, NY 18105. The checks must be in US dollars. We cannot process credit card orders. Please use our order form from Amazon.com and include your email address.

    Mrs Smith trembled(颤抖)with excitement when she was told her fortunes(命运). "Somebody is coming home to you, " Mrs Gray said slowly. "He's carrying a rifle(步枪)on his back and he's almost there."

    Mrs Smith felt as if she could hardly breathe. "And there he is!"Mrs Gray cried, pointing to the road. They all rushed to the door to look.

    A man in a blue coat, with a gun on his back, was walking down the road toward the Smith farm. His face was hidden by a large pack on his back.

    Laughing and crying, Mrs Smith grabbed(抓住)her hat and her children and ran out of Mrs Gray's house. She hurried down the road after him, calling his name and pulling her children along with her. But the soldier was too far away for her voice to reach him.

    When she got back to their farm, she saw the man standing by the fence. He was looking at the little house and the field of yellow wheat. The sun was almost touching the hills in the west. The cowbells rang softly as the animals moved toward the barn(畜棚).

    "How peaceful it all is, "Private Smith thought." How far away from the battles, the hospitals, the wounded and the dead. My little farm in Wisconsin. How could I have left it for those years of killing and suffering?"

    Mrs Smith hurried up to her husband. Her feet made no sound on the grass, but he turned suddenly to face her. For the rest of his life, he would never forget her face at that moment.

    "Emma!" he cried.

    The children stood back watching their mother kissing this strange man. He saw them, and kneeling down, he pulled from his pack three huge red apples. In a moment, all three children were in their father's arms. Together, the family entered the little unpainted farmhouse.

    Later that evening, after supper, Smith and his wife went outside. The moon was bright, above the eastern hills. Sweet, peaceful stars filled the sky as the night birds sang softly.

    His farm needed work. His children needed clothing. He was no longer young and strong. But he began to plan for next year. With the same courage he had faced the war, Private Smith faced his difficult future.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028

    211-535-7710 www.metmuseum.org

    Entrances

    Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street

    Hours

    Open 7 days a week.

    Sunday-Thursday 10:00-17:30

    Friday and Saturday 10:00-21:00

    Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, January 1，and the first Monday in May. Admission

    $ 25. 00 recommended for adults, $ 12. 00 recommended for students, includes the Main Building and the Cloisters（回廊）on the same day; free for children under 12 with an adult.

    Free with Admission

    All special exhibitions, as well as films, lectures, guided tours, concerts, gallery talks, and family/children's programs are free with admission.

    Ask about today's activities at the Great Hall Information Desk.

    The Cloisters Museum and Gardens

    The Cloisters Museum and Gardens is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of Europe in the Middle Ages. The extensive collection consists of masterworks in sculpture, colored glass, and precious objects from Europe dating from about the 9th to the 15th century.

    Hours

    Open 7 days a week.

    March-October 10:00-17:15

    November-February 10:00-16:45

    Closed Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1.

    I attended a party one night. During the dinner a man told a humorous story based on the quotation: "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will."

    The storyteller mentioned that the quotation was from the Bible. I knew he was wrong. There couldn't be the slightest doubt about it. To get a feeling of importance and display my superiority, I appointed myself as an unwelcome committee member to correct him. He stuck to his guns. "What? From Shakespeare? Impossible! Absurd! That quotation was from the Bible." And he knew it.

    The storyteller was sitting on my right; and Frank Gammond, an old friend of mine, was seated on my left. Mr. Gammond had devoted years to the study of Shakespeare. So the storyteller and I agreed to submit the question to Mr. Gammond. Mr. Gammond listened, kicked me under the table, and then said, "Dale, you are wrong. The gentleman is right. It is from the Bible."

    On our way home that night, I said to Mr. Gammond, "Frank, you knew that quotation was from Shakespeare. "Yes, of course," he replied, "Hamlet, Act Five, Scene Two. But we were guests at a happy time, my dear Dale. Why argue with the storyteller? Why prove to him he is wrong? Why not let him save his face? Always avoid your sharp angle." I learned a lesson I'll never forget. I not only had made the storyteller uncomfortable, but also had put my friend in an embarrassing situation. How much better it would have been had I not become argumentative.

    Nine times out of ten, an argument ends with each of the contestants more firmly convinced than ever that he is absolutely right. You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it