Wei, an assistant professor at Peking University’s School of Mathematical Sciences, ___43___ an online sensation after netizens found the somewhat shy and unsophisticated man has an extraordinary talent ___44___ mathematics. Wei ___45___ with high scores from Peking University in 2014, and got an appealing offer from Harvard University who promised to ___46___ him from taking English language tests. ___47___ hesitation however, he chose to stay at Peking University for his master’s degree, after which he got his PhD in only three and half years.
Wei Dongyi was born in 1991 in Shandong to a highly intellectual family. His father was a university mathematics professor who always kept many mathematics books at home. As a child, Wei’s favorite hobby was to read his father’s books. In his first year in primary school, he read a book ___48___ Loo-keng Hua’s School of Mathematics, and ___49___ by mathematics ever since. Wei joined the middle school’s Olympiad training team ___50___ an early age and trained with a group of high school students in his junior year. Wei participated in the 49th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and passed the competition with flying colors: of six questions, 100 percent ___51___ with full marks. What made Wei famous was his amazing performance at the IMO which has long been considered the most ___52___ of the five major subject competitions.
More than 500 top competitors from all over the world participated that year, and only three of them achieved a full score. Wei was one of the three. It is said that the most difficult question of the year was the finale of the plane geometry problem, which Wei ___53___ solved ___54___ pure algebraic methods. After twice winning the IMO, Wei ___55___ in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University.
Chinese social media platforms have been ___56___ praise and admiration for Wei. Netizens said that talent like Wei offers young people new idols who are an ___57___ to pop stars.