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Last week, Donna Strickland was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Arthur Ashkin and Gerard Mourou. It’s the first time in 55 years that a woman has won this famous prize, but why has it taken so long? We look at five other pioneering female physicists—past and present—who actually deserve the prize.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Perhaps the most famous snub(冷落): Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, when she was a PhD student at Cambridge. The Nobel Prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974, however, went to her male supervisor(指导者), Antony Hewish. Recently awarded a ￡2. 3m Breakthrough Prize, which she gave away to help women and refugee students, she joked to The Guardian: “I feel I’ve done very well out of not getting a Nobel Prize. ”
Lene Hau
Hau is best known for leading the research team at Harvard University in 1999 that managed to slow a beam of light, before managing to stop it completely in 2001. Hau often tops Nobel Prize prediction lists, and could 2019 be Hau’s year?
Vera Rubin
Rubin discovered dark matter in the 1980s, opening up a new field of astronomy. She died in 2016, without recognition from the committee.
Chien-Shiung Wu
Wu’s “Wu experiment” helped disprove the “law of conservation of parity”. Her experimental work was helpful but never honoured, and instead, her male colleagues won the 1957 Nobel Prize for their theoretical work behind the study.
Lise Meitner
Meitner led groundbreaking work on the discovery of nuclear fission. However, the discovery was admitted by the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which was won by her male colleague, Otto Hahn.
【语篇概述】这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了五位开创性的女物理学家。她们在科学研究方面做出了巨大贡献, 她们应该获得诺贝尔奖但由于种种原因而未能获奖。
21. When was the discovery of radio pulsars recognised by the Nobel committee?
A. In 1944. B. In 1967. C. In 1974. D. In 1980.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据Jocelyn Bell Burnell段中的Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. . . The Nobel Prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974. . . 可知, 最早的射电脉冲星在1967年被发现, 这项发现被授予诺贝尔奖是在1974年。
22. Which woman is most likely to win a Nobel Prize later according to the text?
A. Donna Strickland. B. Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
C. Lene Hau. D. Vera Rubin.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据Lene Hau段中的Hau often tops Nobel Prize prediction lists可知, Lene Hau经常被列于诺贝尔奖预测名单的榜首, 她最有可能获得诺贝尔奖。
23. What do we know about the five females?
A. The five female scientists did greatly in chemistry.
B. Vera Rubin had opened up a new field in chemistry.
C. Lise Meitner’s teacher won a Nobel Prize for her work.
D. None of them have been admitted by the Nobel committee.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第一段总述中的It’s the first time in 55 years that a woman has won this famous prize, but why has it taken so long? We look at five other pioneering female physicists—past and present—who actually deserve the prize. (这是55年来第一次有女性获得这个著名的奖项, 但为什么花了这么长时间? 我们来看看另外五位开创性的女性物理学家——无论过去还是现在——都应该得到这个奖。) 可知Donna Strickland是第一个获得诺贝尔物理奖的女性, 而文中介绍的五位女科学家都应该获得这个奖, 但由于各种原因未能获奖。
【点睛】做细节理解题时, 要将精力放在寻找你所需要的细节上。快速通篇跳读, 全文扫视, 找到细节出处, 待找到含细节的句子时, 放慢速度, 仔细核对比较内容, 直至找到答案。如小题21, 根据Jocelyn Bell Burnell段中的Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. . . The Nobel Prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974. . . 可知最早的射电脉冲星在1967年被发现, 被授予诺贝尔奖是在1974年。故选C项。小题22, 根据Lene Hau段中的Hau often tops Nobel Prize prediction lists可知, Lene Hau经常被列于诺贝尔奖预测名单的榜首, 她最有可能获得诺贝尔奖。故选C项。
