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Most people in their 50s enjoy nothing more than a bit of peace and comfort, but that is not the case for Wang Jiangang, a man in his late fifties.
Wang was born and raised in Beijing. He said he has everything a man could want—a flat, a car, a successful business and a happy family. However, Wang decided to plant trees in the Gobi Desert. Now, he has lived in the desert in Inner Mongolia for about 10 years.
In June 2015, Wang went to Ejina of Inner Mongolia with his team. On the day they arrived, they got caught in a sandstorm. The sky got dark and was filled with sand. They had to hide in the cars, waiting for the sandstorm to stop. When the sandstorm finally stopped, he found there was nothing in the desert—no road, no grass.
Wang and his team started digging and planting trees in the same year. For years, they couldn't set up tents because of the heavy sandstorms. They had to drive about 200 kilometres to buy machine parts when their machines broke down, and they didn't even have enough water. But Wang didn't back down.
So far, Wang's team of about 100 workers has planted 20,666 hectares of trees in the desert. The first group of trees has grown to 2 metres tall, and one tree can fix 10 square metres of sand. Since 2015, he has invested more than 100 million yuan.
"I've always wanted to achieve something big. That's why I decided to create a forest in the desert," Wang said. "Human life is short, but trees can live for up to thousands of years. They will benefit our children and our children's children."
词汇
get caught in 陷入,被卷入 back down 放弃,认输
hectare /'hekteə(r)/ n. 公顷 invest /ɪn'vest/ v. 投资；投入
理解
1. What happened when Wang went to Ejina of Inner Mongolia with his team in June 2015?
On the day they arrived, they got caught in a sandstorm. The sky got dark and was filled with sand. They had to hide in the cars, waiting for the sandstorm to stop.
2. What impresses you most about the man Wang Jiangang?
I'm most impressed by his determination and perseverance. Despite facing numerous difficulties and challenges, such as sandstorms, lack of basic facilities and resources, he never backed down and insisted on planting trees in the desert, which is really admirable.
