分类： 赛事资讯

本周是为期十周的挑战赛的第九周，我们收到了1230份投稿，并从中选出了两段视频和一篇短文作为获奖作品。它们分别来自Lilian Fu、Jun X. Ren和Ava Castillo。你可以在下方欣赏他们的作品。

Our Winners

First, Lilian Fu, 14, from Fort Lee, N.J., reacts to the episode of The Daily podcast “Why Do Some Memories Survive Dementia?”:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4IsREAtD6E

Next, Jun X. Ren, 16, from New York City, shares his thoughts on the July 29 article “Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment More Than 100 Times in Bitter Senate Hearing”:

The recent Fauci hearing brought back painful memories for countless Americans, including myself. I don’t remember exactly how many times I contracted Covid-19, but I do remember the scars it left on me, my family, and my community.

The article “Fauci Invokes Fifth Amendment More Than 100 Times in Bitter Senate Hearing” covers the ways Republicans drilled Fauci in a Senate hearing and the ways Democrats pushed back against Chairman Rand Paul. But beneath dramatic moments like the ousting of Fauci’s lawyer and his refusals to answer basic questions designed to humiliate him lies the quiet, unaddressed suffering of millions of families.

As residents of a majority Asian American neighborhood, my family felt the fear of racially motivated attacks hanging in the air throughout the pandemic. Stronger than our fear, however, was our anger at the way our highest leaders encouraged the blaming of specific groups over medical advice that could save lives.

While politicians bicker away in marble buildings, trained on scoring points for party agendas and news highlights, millions of Americans have to face their reopened wounds. The public is reminded that those in charge failed to protect them during a crisis, and still fail to offer conclusions today.

The day our scars can finally begin to heal will be the day that our leaders decide to put a national tragedy above a performance for the cameras. Until then, all that plagues the nation will be polarization and uncertainty.

Finally, Ava Castillo, 15, from Whittier, Calif., responds to the Opinion essay, “The Rise of Fashion Slop”:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-30FSCv6nzw

Runners-Up

Akshara Dalan on “Police in India Use Tear Gas and Batons on Crowds Protesting Exam Scandal”

Anna Kwak on “Working Parents Say They’re in a Losing Battle Over Their Time”

Ayat Nayyer on “Nobel-Winning U.S. Chemist Will Move to China to Lead A.I. Institute”

Charvi Deorah on “Help! I Might Be a Tradwife”

Chelsea Park on “Do You Really Need Closure?”

Jasmine Wang on “Help! I Might Be a Tradwife”

Jiyul Lee on “What Does Summer Taste Like?”

Junhao Liang on “These Teeny Tiny Spiders Are Social Media Stars”

Roy Hyun on “The Lo-Fi Way I Broke My Addiction to the Algorithm”

Sam Jindal on “Would Your Life Make a Good Documentary?”

Tina Tan on “What Does It Means to Be Touch-Starved?”

Vivian Chen on “Why Are These Toys So Hard to Get a Hold Of?”

Honorable Mentions

Aaron Sheng on “Just Let Your Kids Watch TV Already”

Alesia Pantu on “When Did Bare Nails Become a Status Symbol?”

Angela Xie on “7 Gardens So Serene, You Won’t Believe They’re in the City”

Brandon Li Wang on “If You’re Over 40, You’re Ready to Use A.I.”

Caleb Klassen on “‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Review: Can We Do Whatever a Spider Can?”

Chloe Cairns on “Would Your Life Make a Good Documentary?”

Claire Liang on “‘The Odyssey’ Gives Us the Hero We Deserve”

Esther Chung on “Life Is Better With Siblings”

Julia Jang on “Ariana Grande and the Debate Over Health, Privacy and Celebrity”

Nishka Vikram on “Why Do Some Memories Survive Dementia?”

Richard Qi on “Reliving Their Gym Class Nightmares, One Sprint at a Time”

Seaver Chen on “Would Your Life Make a Good Documentary?”

Sung Hee Shin on “Help! I Might Be a Tradwife”

Yayun Tan on “How to Keep a Travel Journal”

Zeqi An on “Could U.S. Water Systems Be a New Front in the Iran War?”

本周是为期十周的挑战赛的第八周，我们收到了1190份投稿，并选出了 三位获奖者，分别是 Sam Jindal、Foss Goodwin 和 Christopher Leung 的文章。 你可以在下方欣赏他们的作品。

Our Winners

First, Sam Jindal, 18, from Orange County, Calif. takes us through his attempt to solve the infamous July 15 edition of Wordle:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10540v3dEdo&t=11s

Next, Foss Goodwin, 18, from Utah, investigates a claim covered in “How Utahns Took on Mr. Wonderful and a Data Center on the Great Salt Lake”:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAVCcO0NamM

Finally, Jozef Jemy, 15, an Indian student who currently lives in Dubai, shares his thoughts on “India’s Young Protesters Take Aim at Modi With Creative Signs”:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQnd8cX6VhE

Runners-Up

Alexander Goodspeed on “Meet Jimothy, the ‘Silly and Round’ Creature Taking Over Instagram Feeds”

Caitlyn Shi on “To Confront My Fear of Heights, I Crossed a Chasm on a Cable”

Elena Gil on “Should We Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?”

Hahjin Kim on “What Does Happiness Look Like, 250 Years In?”

Hansol Jung on “My Parents Suspect I’ve Lost My Faith. Should I Tell Them the Truth?”

Kim Le on “The Choice Facing Some Immigrants: Pay $1.8 Million in Fines or Leave”

Kristen Cheung on “Gen Z Fell Out of Love With Work. I Don’t Blame Them”

Momoka Matsumoto on “They Want to Be Fathers, One Braid at a Time”

Nusaiba Nursi on “Is This What a Post-Literate Era Looks Like?”

Raina Park on “Does Matt Damon Look Greek? No. So Stop Complaining About Lupita Nyong’o.”

Renesh Balaji on “Police in India Use Tear Gas and Batons on Crowds Protesting Exam Scandal”

Sophie Yeh on “Japan is Startled by Prime Minister’s Grueling Sleep Schedule”

Sulin Jung on “What AI Kant Do”

Honorable Mentions

Apollo Chen on “A Tribute to the Mathematically Marvelous Soccer Ball"

Brian Kim on “Stop Worrying, and Let A.I. Help Save Your Life”

Daphne Canaran on “What You Miss When You’re Always Wearing Headphones”

Eva Sajnani on “Tate Brothers Arrested in Miami as U.K. Authorities File New Rape and Trafficking Charges.”

Frank Xu on “In Defense of Dumb Dogs”

Gavin Liu on “Meet Jimothy, the ‘Silly and Round’ Creature Taking Over Instagram Feeds”

Jacqueline Lee on “How Does One Brain Speak Two Languages?”

Karina Yeung on “The Gift of Getting Weirder With Age”

Lalita Ambati on “What Does Summer Taste Like?”

May Miyazaki on “Hitler’s birthplace in Austria becomes a Police Station”

Miaoyi Peng on “Government Overhauls Teen Pregnancy Program to Focus on Marriage and Starting Families”

Naz Ozok on “Turkey or Türkiye? Who Is the U.S. Playing?”

Sophia Lee on “Is It OK to Alter Photos of Yourself to Look Better Online?”,

Sumaita Nur on “Angella Ferguson, a Leader in Sickle Cell Anemia Research, Dies at 100”

Victor Ding on “How ‘Sentinel Gardens’ Help Spot Dangerous Bugs Abroad”

Youxi Han on “Why Young People in China Are Buying Feelings"

本周是为期十周的挑战赛的第七周，我们收到了1244份投稿，并选出了 两位获奖者，分别是 Griffin Gallo 和 Cristina Ramirez 的文章。 你可以在下方欣赏他们的作品。

Our Winners

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIW1nAvPg3Y&t=32s

Griffin Gallo, 17, from New York City reacts to “T. Rex Fossil Sells for $50.1 Million, Putting the King Back On Top” in the video above.

Cristina Ramirez, 16, from Laredo, Texas, writes about “For 35 Years, Undocumented, and Chasing the American Dream.” Here is her essay:

Two brown skinned, baseball cap clad, Texan fathers of three drove to work on the morning of July 7. One of them never came home, and the other is my father. As I read “For 35 Years, Undocumented, and Chasing the American Dream” I couldn’t help but feel shaken because of the resemblances between the late Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and my dad.

One notable difference is that my dad is a U.S. Citizen and Mr. Salgado was not. However, the writer mentions that during the fatal encounter, he wasn’t the target of the operation, so the question of his legal status was not present. This detail, and the ever increasing death toll at the hands of ICE, amplified my fear that deadly encounters could befall any Mexican-American.

In the land of the free, no community should fear being unjustly targeted by a government agency. In both Mr. Salgado’s community and my own, 1 in 4 residents are foreign born. It is undeniable that we find strength in our diversity and rely heavily on undocumented labor forces.

As stories like these become more prevalent, my fear that my family could become targets for a federal law enforcement agency increases. My frustration grows with every passing death as I bear witness to the inaction by the federal government to regulate ICE.

Ronaldo, Mr. Salgado’s eldest son watched his father bleed out through the pixels on his screen. Tomorrow afternoon, when my father returns from work, I will feel blessed that he got home safely, but angry that I had to be concerned.

Runners-Up

Helen Dai on “Why Young People in China Are Buying Feelings”

Isaac Yeung on “An Elite N.Y.C. Public School Admitted 777 Students. Only 3 Were Black.”

Jiamu Wei on “What to Know About the Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizenship Order”

Justin Wang on “ChatGPT Led to a Man’s Near-Fatal Health Crisis, Lawsuit Claims”

Karl Eikermann on “Kids Can’t Stop Watching ‘Moana.’ There’s a Scientific Explanation.”

Lindsey Kim on “Madonna Has Become an Avatar for Our Fear of Aging”

Nandita Dani on “Why We Delude Ourselves About the Birthrate"

Nigel Li on “Could A.I. Do Your Job? We Put Agents to the Test.”

Honorable Mentions

Angie Yang on “Cyclospora Cases Are Rising. Here’s What to Know.”

Ian Kim on “What if the Wood Used to Make Musical Instruments Becomes Illegal?”

Izzy Teng on Can I Wear Big Jewels With My Jeans and T-Shirt?

Melody Mo on “At Least 23 People Have Been Shot at by Federal Immigration Since Last Year”

Shuwei Jiang on “The Comforting Resurgence of ‘Grandma Hobbies’"

Sissi Zhu on “Laufey: Living With Dissonance”

Siwon Lee on “There’s an Ancient Solution to Our Modern Crisis of Attention"

Winston Choy on “How to Hand-Wash Dishes Better”

Yumin Kim on “Kids Can’t Stop Watching ‘Moana.’ There’s a Scientific Explanation.”

每年夏天，在为期 10 周的时间里，世界各地的青少年都会受邀回答以下问题：“本周《纽约时报》的什么内容最让您感兴趣？” 以下是最受官方喜欢的答案：

夏季阅读比赛第 6 周获胜者：On National Parks and Brainrot

夏季阅读比赛第 5 周获胜者：On Cats, Dystopian Novels and Sleep

夏季阅读比赛第 4 周获胜者：On Literacy Struggles and Sleeping Fish

夏季阅读比赛第 3 周获胜者：On Gen Z Movies and Walking to the World CupSpaceX and the World Cup

夏季阅读比赛第 2 周获胜者：SpaceX and the World Cup

夏季阅读比赛第 1 周获胜者：The Knicks, Memes, Family Secrets and Clavicular

更多获奖作品我们将持续更新

本周是为期十周的挑战赛的第六周，我们收到了1244份投稿，并选出了 两位获奖者，分别是 Chenyi Zhu 和 Christopher Leung 的文章。 你可以在下方欣赏他们的作品。

Our Winners

Chenyi Zhu, 15, from Pleasanton, Calif., talked about “Going to a National Park This Summer? Here’s What to Expect.” She wrote:

“Going to a National Park This Summer?”

Yes! I’m very much looking forward to taking my brother to the same parks that I explored when I was his age!

“Here’s What to Expect.”

It’s a quiet place where you can get away from the crowds and—

“Huge visitor numbers”

What about the volunteers who teach the science and history of the land? Higher visitor flow, so surely they’re not gonna keep reduc—

“sharply reduced staffing”

How are they gonna handle reserva—

“scrapped reservation systems”

What’s next, higher prices for foreigners?

“higher entry fees for nonresidents”

At least my brother can get the 4th grade pass, with its beautiful park scenes as the design— is that Trump?

Many things have changed since I first visited a national park, many of which the article didn’t cover. The wonder I felt about the science and history of sequoias remains, but my memories no longer reflect reality. Signs on scientific and historic issues have been removed. People are told to report similarly “negative” signs. Parks are pushed to be less woke. Free-for-everyone days became free-for-“patriotic”-residents-only. Nonresidents now pay nearly triple.

National parks are no longer the sanctuaries that I knew. They’ve been cheapened, dumbed down, no longer worth a visit … or are they?

The question lingers as I look out the car window beside my brother. I smile, recognizing where my parents have brought us for the weekend.

Where I first stepped into a place worth protecting:

Sequoia National Park.

Christopher Leung, 16, from Jericho, N.Y., responded to “Test Your Internet Brain. Can You Use ‘Choppelganger’ in a Sentence?” He wrote:

AP scores came out just over a week ago. Chat, is it safe to say I’m cooked? My academic aura is already falling off, and now college board is about to hit me with a generational debuff. When I finally clicked on the “check your scores” link, it turns out my scores weren’t just cooked, they were deep fried and served with a side of copium. My college chances are on life support, while my delusion stats are maxed out thanks to those who know.

The article “Test Your Internet Brain. Can You Use ‘Choppelganger’ in a Sentence?” made me lock in.

It taught me a new word, Choppelganger, which is the combination of the slang “chopped” and “doppelganger”. Basically meaning someone who looks like you but just worse looking. Similar examples of this word prove how fast unconventional words can be popularized. Proving we can unofficially invent new vocabulary through word of mouth.

These slang words are living proof of the evolution of the English language. While most people dismiss these words as meaningless nonsense, I see it as the most compelling proof that the English language truly has no limit.

Modern human language was shaped by Shakespeare’s coining of words like “swagger,” “bedroom,” and “lonely.” And although it sounds ridiculous, modern Gen Z slang is following the same path, pioneering language history as we know it.

Maybe a couple hundred years from now, students will study brainrot the same way we study Shakespeare today.

Runners-Up

Amalie Bagaria on “What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity.”

Doyun Kim on “How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change”

Hyomin Yeo on “The Metropolitan Diary Challenge”

Isabella Liu on “Colombian Immigrant Killed by ICE in Maine Had Legal Status, Father Says”

Justin Wang on “Sizzling, Sexy Age-Gap Romance Novels”

Owen Kim on “How ‘Age Tech’ Might Help You Grow Old at Home”

Roy Wang on “What Does Dressing Up Mean Today?”

Shuwei Jiang on “When the Male Gaze Turns on Men”

Yiqing Laura Lu on “Building Nests Is Hard. That’s Why Some Birds Steal”

Honorable Mentions

Aahana Mukhi on “Sites Unseen: What’s Revealed by Traveling With the Blind”

Alyssa Schonfeld on “This Kind of Obsessive Attraction Isn’t Love. But it Has a Name.”

Brian G. on “I’m a Therapist. Not Everyone Should Be in Therapy.”

Charlotte Cipriani on “Afghans Hold Rare Public Protests Against Taliban Rules”

Derek Kang on “California’s Plastic Law Goes to Court: Is It Too Strict or Too Lax?”

Devin Zhou on “Meta Unveils an A.I. Image Generator”

Eric Wang on “A Bird’s Brain Holds Clues to the Sounds of Music”

Eric Zhou on “Our Never-Ending Race to the Bottom”

Eva Manna on “The Constant Work to Keep a Family Connected Has a Name”

Glynnis Gravador on “A Conservative Role Model for Ending the Fertility Crisis”

Helen Dai on “The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors”

Hugo Yu on “America Marks Its 250th Birthday With Storms, Sweat and Fire”

Irene Lin on “Humans vs. Bots — Who Does the Em Dash Better?”

Jaein Kim on “We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask”

Jaekyeom Kim on “How Does One Brain Speak Two Languages?”

Jeongwon Kim on “The 39-ish Most Stylish People of 2026, So Far”

Julia Yi on “Everything’s Bananas”

Mandy Lin on “Life Is Better With Siblings”

Sid Sharma on “Why Are Berries Everywhere, in Every Season? Driscoll’s.”

Woosung Chun on “As the World Cup’s stakes rise, hotel prices keep falling”

Zhenrui Peng on “We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask”

第五周，我们收到了1133份投稿，最终评选出获奖作品：Runhu Xu 的视频作品和Penelope Irwin、Clarissa Tick 的两篇散文。你可以在下方欣赏所有作品。

Our Winners

Runhu Xu, 15, from Bellevue, Washington, muses on the Modern Love essay “Men, Hide Your Cats” in the video above.

视频地址：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMZ_CuXSUWM

Penelope Irwin, 15, from Guilderland, N.Y., got hooked on a podcast episode called “I Keep Telling People We’re Living in This Dystopian Novel.” She writes:

Because my dad is the world’s most stereotypical humanities professor, he makes me listen to The Ezra Klein Show whenever we’re in the car. I’ll argue, groan, and pointedly look out the window until he switches to his favorite The Mountain Goats album. But driving up I-87, Klein’s aptly titled interview with Gary Shteyngart, “I Keep Telling People We’re Living in This Dystopian Novel,” had me hooked.

This author, who I’d never heard of, opened by describing a novel I’d never heard of: “Super Sad True Love Story.” Written in the mid-aughts, the novel’s premise is a world where everyone can constantly see their ranking in society. At the grocery store, in a dive bar, at the park; everyone’s intelligence or beauty or wealth is compared to each other’s and publicly available. One of his characters, Shteyngart detailed, once left a restaurant out of shame for being the ugliest man in the room.

Essentially, Super Sad is teenage hell. I’ve spent the last two years trying to avoid social media, afraid of falling victim to its rankings. Instagram and TikTok and Snapchat all put certain people on a pedestal under the guise of “superiority,” like in Shteyngart’s dystopia. Everyone else is left striving for recognition on a scale that doesn’t actually matter.

Our world isn’t the same as that of “Super Sad True Love Story,” but this interview was a great reminder that, as cliché as it is, comparison is the thief of joy. And Shteyngart’s humor saved me from The Mountain Goats’ “The Sunset Tree.”

And Clarissa Tick, 16, from Cupertino, Calif., offered a sweet personal reflection on the Health article “The Little Rituals That Prepare You For Sleep”:

I’ve said 999 infinity to my parents every night before sleep for the last eight years. Before reading this article, I never asked myself why. 999 infinity just always felt like the right thing to say before bed.

Schupak’s collection of strangers’ sleep rituals showed me that whether it be a cleaner scented exactly like green apple, a tea kettle’s whistling, only the first eleven seasons of “Law and Order,” or in my case, four precise symbols, our sleep rituals aren’t instinctive just because they’re comforting or familiar. The rituals’ real value lies in their specificity, as they solely belong to their creators.

I came up with 999 infinity at eight, wanting to end my day on more than a simple “I love you,” and something unique belonging only to me and my parents. Nine represents eternity in Chinese culture and infinity never ends. Together, 999 infinity symbolizes the unwavering love, support, care, and appreciation we have for each other.

This week, I realized that saying 999 infinity wasn’t just about repetition, but renewing something with purpose every night. I think about ten years from now, saying it over the phone instead of down the hallway.

Sleep advice says to empty our minds, but never mentions how our minds don’t drift off into nothing. We drift off into whatever we engaged with last. For some, it’s a scent. A whistle. A show. For me, it’s my parents’ voices, returning three nines and an infinity.

Runners-Up

Aeryn Bautista on “Why Is TikTok in This Book From 2006?”

Diya P. on “A Texas City Welcomed Diversity. Now a Mayor’s Race Is Pulling It Apart”

Foss Goodwin on “A Moth Hole Hates to See Them Coming”

May Hachiya on “If These Celebrities Are Democracy’s Last Hope, We’re in Trouble”

Yiqing Laura Lu on “A Nation Unites For a Day of Grand 250th Celebrations”

Zoey Qin on “Euphemism Won’t Save Young Black Men’s Lives"

Honorable Mentions

Charlotte Sanderson on “When Did Bare Nails Become a Status Symbol”

Chelsea Xie on This Is One of the Hardest Jobs in America. Millions Are Doing It Alone.

Eve Eyal on “The Daily: 250 Years Later, Why We’re Still Fighting About Our Founding”

Jake Xu on “Putin Faces Increased Pressure as Moscow Is Again Attacked by Drones”

Jeemin Hong on "My Tween Daughter’s Friend Is a Mean Girl. Should I Tell Her Mother?”

Keerti Reddy on “Want to Know Your Dad Better? Ask Him These 25 Questions.”

Lexi Kobayashi on “Life Is Better With Siblings"

Melody Mo on “When Did Bare Nails Become a Status Symbol”

Olivia Yu on “The Gift of Getting Weirder With Age”

Samaira Rasul on “They’ve Heard the Warnings. Gen Z Is Tanning Anyway”

Sloka Guntupalli on “In a Country Where Many Still Use Rags, an Effort to Make Period Pads Available”

Snovya Song on “French Literature Is in an Uproar"

Yiyao (Annie) Luo on “What Happens When Kids Design Playgrounds? Lava, Mushrooms, Giant Chess”

Yuan Xinran (Amber) on “Confessions of a Former Body Positivity Influencer”

Zeqi An on “Man Killed by Federal Agent in Houston Was Not the Target of ICE Search”

第四周我们收到了944份投稿，并选出了两位获奖者，分别是梅加·米什拉（Megha Mishra）和萨迈拉·拉苏尔（Samaira Rasul）的作品。您可以在下方阅读这两篇文章。

接下来，浏览一下入围和荣誉提名，欣赏一下本周引起青少年关注的各种话题，包括Pope, pink sneakers, high prices, siblings, doommaxxing and student cheating。

Our Winners

Megha Mishra, 17, from Cumming, Ga., was enlightened by “Fish Sleep a Lot Like Us. (They Even Nap.)”.

The first time I witnessed fish sleeping was when my little sister and I flushed Timmy down the toilet.

Merely minutes before, our goldfish was resting at the bottom of his tank, completely still and motionless. And we were convinced that it was Timmy’s last day. After serenading with “Let it Go” from Frozen and offering a sprinkle of fish food, we brought Timmy over to his resting place, but mere seconds before his demise, we saw a twitch. Then Timmy began to swim around the bowl.

But this was seconds too late.

For the lever had been pulled, and Timmy forever disappeared into the depths of Forsyth County’s plumbing system.

This awful memory came back to me as I read “Fish Sleep a Lot Like Us. (They Even Nap.)”. The article explained that fish don’t “rest” in one simple way; instead, they have multiple sleep states. For zebrafish, some sleep cycles last up to 10 hours, while others last as little as 5 minutes. Similar to us, when they sleep, they’re motionless, slow to respond, and if you keep them up … they’ll make up for the lost time by sleeping in longer the next night.

It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that if I had known fish can fall into deep sleep, just like humans do, maybe poor Timmy would’ve survived. It made me realize that if I had taken a second to consider goldfish sleep cycles with a quick Google search, I wouldn’t have been an accomplice to this crime.

To my 9-year-old self, not all fish are dead; sometimes they’re just asleep.

Samaira Rasul, 16, from Richmond Hill, Ontario, had a strong reaction to “Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age”:

Ms. Cain Miller’s words in her article “Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age” ring especially true for me as a rising high school junior.

I’ve personally witnessed fewer boys earn academic awards, answer questions during class, and even complete their schoolwork. So, it came as no surprise to discover that they have also been falling behind when it comes to reading.

Yet, it’s difficult to feel much sympathy.

Out of the 14 or so school-mandated books that I’ve read since the 4th grade, only two of the titles have featured a female protagonist. “Formative” and “iconic” coming-of-age works like “The Catcher in the Rye” or “The Outsiders” take us through adolescence in the experiences of a young boy.

Despite this, girls rarely complain about the underrepresentation of our voice in school-mandated literature — and most of us complete the required readings anyway.

Ms. Cain Miller mentions how similar attempts to encourage girls in STEM may work for boys to get them to start reading more. However, if the overrepresentation of male voices in the books we read isn’t an act of encouragement, then I don’t know what is.

I empathize with the biological differences that boys may have to overcome, and I do think that every effort should be made to close the gendered reading gap. However, considering the apathy that most boys have towards reading books that were seemingly written for them, I wonder if these efforts are … how would Holden Caulfield put it?

Oh yeah, phony.

Runners-Up

Erin Jia on “Welcome to the Airport Lounge. Please Don’t Make Yourself at Home."

Hyunwoo Choi on “Why Are So Many Players Wearing Pink Footwear at the World Cup?”

Iwan Lee on “White House Again Shrugs Off High Prices Amid War With Iran”

Jaemin Benjamin Choi on “For Half a Century, Capturing New York’s Human Moments”

Hyewon Yun on “Of Course the Pope Is a Natural at Memes”

Nishka Danya Gurung on “Want to Know Your Dad Better? Ask Him These 25 Questions”

Philina Chen on “Student Cheating is Becoming Impossible to Detect in an A.I. Era”

Honorable Mentions

Akriti Aloor on “Why Are Dress Sneakers Everywhere?”

Alyssa Chiao on “They’ve Heard the Warnings. Gen Z Is Tanning Anyway.”

Annie Qi on “Life Is Better With Siblings”

ChunChang He on “Going to a National Park This Summer? Here’s What to Expect.”

Grace Ye on “Life Is Better With Siblings”

Grace Qian on “How to Bring Back the American Dream”

Hyeonji Nam on “Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down”

Isabelle Zhao on “This Doommaxxing Has Got to Stop”

Juwon Lee on “The 10-Year-Old Who Can Deadlift 180 Pounds”

Mihika Puvvena on “Texas Public School Students Will Be Required to Read the Bible”

Vanessa Braginton on “The Glitchy, Gloppy Look of Now"

Xiaoqing Cai on “How These High Schoolers Prepare for the Tonys for Teenagers”

第三周，我们收到了 881 份参赛作品，并选出了两位获奖者，分别是Camilla Guerrieri和Ella Cheng 的作品。你可以在下方观看这两部作品。

Our Winners

Camilla Guerrieri, 17, from Atlanta, muses on the Opinion essay, “You Can Walk to the World Cup in New Jersey. But Should You?”

视频地址：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwDF6r46Fqc

Ella Cheng, 17, from Sunnyvale, Calif., responds to a Daily podcast headlined “A Gen Z Revolution at the Movies.”

视频地址：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGgatJMG-MI

Runners-Up

Alyssa Byun on “Fruit Fly Sperm Are Giant. How Do They Stay Untangled?”

Cheryl Zhu on “The City Where People Still Know How to Dance”

Chloe Nichols on “The Women Running Businesses Under Taliban Rules"

Colette Lu on “We’re All in a Throuple With A.I.”

Kierra DCosta on “Knicks Give Their City Something New: Impossible Joy”

Kokomi Yoshikubo on “How Does One Brain Speak Two Languages?”

Malena Dipla on “Would You Let A.I. Michael Caine Read You the ‘Odyssey’?”

Ziyue Li on the “‘Toy Story 5’ Review: The Machines Have Come for the Children”

Honorable Mentions

Brandon Li Wang on “The Deck Is Stacked Against Healthy Eating"

Caroline Wu on “Is There Such a Thing as Timeless Jeans?”

Isolde Li on “How Does One Brain Speak Two Languages?”

Jeremy Lee on "2025 Wildfires Were the Costliest Ever, Researchers Say”

Lan Luo on “What Are All Those People Waiting in Line for? Cake in a Cup.”

Luca Forcella on “The Nobel-Winning Psychologist Who Believed He Found the Secret to Happiness”

Mattin Tasbihgoo on “Iran Feels ‘Oppressed’ at This World Cup – Its Players Are Battling Toward History Anyway,”

Snovya Song on “What Happens When ‘Star Wars’ Replaces Mozart?”

Yordanka Dzhurova on “How Mental Health Can Complicate the Decision to Have Children”

扫码查看夏季阅读比赛第 3 周更多获奖论文

本周是为期十周挑战赛的第二周，我们收到了750份投稿，最终评选出希瓦·阿拉维（Heeva Alavi）的文章和阿里夫·沙阿（Aariv Shah）的视频作品为优胜作品。你可以在下方找到这两份作品，以及入围奖和荣誉奖的名单。

Our Winners

Heeva Alavi, 17, from Arlington, Va., reflected on “Jaded and Exhausted, Many Iranians Shrug at World Cup.” She wrote:

As an Iranian-American girl who has lived in the U.S. for my entire life, this World Cup has brought up mixed emotions for me and my family, which is split between Iran and the U.S.

My father, who doesn’t usually follow soccer, watches the games every four years. He was at the first U.S.-Iran World Cup game in 1998 in Paris and watched Iran defeat the U.S. Despite being a dual citizen and living in the U.S., his loyalty still lay with Iran and his heritage. He still talks about this as the most exciting sporting experience of his life.

For my family in the U.S., Iran’s World Cup games still matter deeply. However, my family in Iran echoes the sentiments in the article “Jaded and Exhausted, Many Iranians Shrug at World Cup.”

“People have so many problems and are dealing with so many challenges that this soccer thing is really not a big deal for them,” says Iman, a Tehran resident. His opinion is similar to that of many Iranians, including many of my relatives living in Tehran. My uncle, who follows European soccer closely, hasn’t bothered to watch any of Iran’s games this year. They are focused on breaking through the internet blackouts and listening for news of the next bombing, a constant fear since Israel’s 12-day assault a year ago.

This article reminded me that indifference is not always a lack of pride, but sometimes exhaustion. For my family in the U.S., the World Cup is a chance to show their pride in their heritage; for my family in Iran, survival is front of mind.

In a video, Aariv Shah, 14, from Los Gatos, Calif., broke down his thoughts on “SpaceX Sets Milestone With World’s Largest I.P.O., Furthering Musk’s Power”:

视频链接：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p05KRIVFNHE

Runners-Up

Anshika Nischal on “At a ‘Tea Party’ With Scientists, This Ape Showed Some Imagination”

Eason Tang on “Climate Change Is Fueling Extremes, Both Hot and Cold"

Grace Qian on “Ancient Artifacts Become Modern Jewels.”

Jiho Lee on “Executions Surge in Iran Since Cease-Fire, Rights Groups Say”

Marin Chung on “‘Teachers Are Going to Hate It’: How Social Media Apps Hooked Teens at School”

Noa Zeitlin on “What Does Romance Mean To You?”

Honorable Mentions

Erin Jia on “Tom Colicchio Will Close Craft, His Flagship Restaurant, After 25 Years"

Ethan Shapiro on “Pigeons and People Have Been Frenemies for Longer Than You Think”

John DuBay on “The $100 Million Horror Hits: Two Critics on the Gen Z Breakouts”

Maria Novikova on “See How These Artisans Are Recreating the Revolution

Selene Li on Are We All Supposed to Wear Socks with Sandals Now?"

Woosung Chun on “The Summer Challenge Week 1: Log Off and Get Outside”

Yunho Lee on “In South Korea, Questions About Cram Schools, Success and Happiness”

扫码查看夏季阅读比赛第 1 周更多获奖论文