李全忠
凱瑟琳·約翰遜(Katherine Johnson,1918年8月26日—2020年2月24日),出生于美國西弗吉尼亞州的白硫磺泉鎮(zhèn),美國物理學(xué)家、數(shù)學(xué)家、航空航天科學(xué)家。
1The stars were always within reach of Katherine Johnson.Using her mathematics skills, she helped NASA send astronautsto the moon and return them safely home. She also overcame ra?cial and gender hurdles to help make giant leaps for humankind.
2Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia,on August 26, 1918. Math came easily to her, but she workedhard to master geometry and algebra. To realize her math poten?tial, her father drove his family 120 miles to Institute, West Vir?ginia, where blacks could continue high school education. Katherines excellent perfor?mance proved her fathers decision was the right one: Teachers allowed Katherine to skipseveral grades to graduate from high school at 14 and from college at 18, majoring in math?ematics, as the top student of the historically black West Virginia State College in Institute.
3In 1953, after years as a teacher and later as a stay?at?home mom, she began work?ing for NASA, which began hiring women to measure and calculate the results of windtunnel tests in 1935. In a time before the electronic computers, these women were called“computer”. Even after NASA began using electronic computers, the astronaut John Glennrequested that she should personally recheck the calculations made by the new electroniccomputers before his flight.
4She continued to work at NASA until her retirement in 1986. Her calculations provedimportant to the success of the Apollo lunar landing program and the United States journeyinto space. It wasnt until the 2016 release of the movie Hidden Figures that these womenreceived widespread recognition.
5Johnson passed away on February 24, 2020, at the age of 101. In her honor, NASAhad dedicated the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility at the LangleyResearch Center to commemorate the hard work she did to help take them to the stars.
Reading
Check
Detail
1. What can we learn about Katherine from paragraph 2?
A. She left school at eighth grade.
B. She skipped grades in college.
C. She went to high school at 14.
D. She was gifted in math as a child.
Detail
2. How long did Katherine work at NASA?
A. For 18 years.
B. For 33 years.
C. For 51 years.
D. For 67 years.
Inference
3. Why was Katherine called“computer”in NASA?
A. She played the role of a computer.
B. She calculated as fast as computers.
C. She was in charge of computers.
D. She was skilled in operating computers.
Inference
4. Whats the purpose of the text?
A. To tell us about some female scientists at NASA.
B. To show a great female mathematicians decision.
C. To introduce Katherine Johnson, who was called“computer”.
D. To present Katherine Johnsons great educational background.
Language
Study
Ⅰ. Discover useful structures in the text
1. 不定式作目的狀語
To realize her math potential, her father drove his family 120 miles to Institute, WestVirginia, where blacks could continue high school education.為了發(fā)揮她的數(shù)學(xué)潛能,她的父親開了120英里,帶著家人去了西弗吉尼亞州的Institute,在那里黑人可以繼續(xù)接受高中教育。
2. which引導(dǎo)的非限制性定語從句
She began working for NASA, which began hiring women to measure and calculatethe results of wind tunnel tests in 1935. 她開始為美國國家航空航天局(NASA)工作,該局于1935年開始雇傭女性來測算風(fēng)洞試驗(yàn)的結(jié)果。
Ⅱ. Memorize some theme?centered chunks
be born in 出生于
graduate from 從……畢業(yè)
stay?at?home 全職照顧家庭的
widespread recognition 廣泛的認(rèn)可
pass away 逝世
at the age of 在……歲時(shí)