Mother of Landsat

重慶 張亞兵

主題語境：科學家 篇幅：338詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1Virginia Norwood, a founding figure in satellite land imaging who developed technology to scan the surface of the moon for safe landing sites and map our planet from space, died at age 96.

2Norwood is best known for developing the Multispectral Scanner System(多光譜掃描儀)that flew on the first Landsat satellite,making her the“Mother of Landsat”.

3Landsat 1, launched in July 1972, was the first satellite to study and monitor Earth's landmasses and operated for nearly six years. The space agency said the“quality and impact of the resulting information exceeded all expectations”.

4Norwood was born in 1927,less than a decade after women won the right to vote,and she was often the only woman—and working mother—in the room throughout her career.

5Upon seeing her high math aptitude scores, her high school teacher had encouraged her to pursue a career as a librarian. Luckily, she ignored him.“I was always enthusiastic about mathematical problems and physics,”said Norwood. Also, her father, an electrical engineer, was very important to her. Later, Norwood graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mathematical physics in 1947. She briefly spent time selling blouses at a department store before she was able to find an employer willing to hire a female mathematician.

6In 1948, she started working for the US Army Signal Corps Laboratories in New Jersey.There, at age 22, she designed and patented a device that detected high-altitude winds that were previously untraceable.

7A few years later, she landed a job at Hughes Aircraft, becoming the only woman in their research and development labs. As she rose through the ranks, one man quit in protest. When he came back to Hughes years later and asked to work in Norwood's group,she said no.

8When asked if she liked the nickname“Mother of Landsat”,she said,“Yes.I like it,and it's apt.I created it;I birthed it;and I fought for it.”

Reading Check

Detail 1.What is the author's attitude towards Landsat 1?

A.Neutral. B.Unclear.

C.Doubtful. D.Appreciative.

Inference 2.What inspired Norwood to pursue a career in physics?

A.Her interest in the subject.

B.Her father's job as a physicist.

C.Her guidance teacher's advice.

D.Her enthusiasm about the Landsat program.

Inference 3.What is the author's purpose in writing the text?

A.To show Landsat 1's function.

B.To be in memory of a pioneer.

C.To introduce the benefits of Landsat 1.

D.To encourage people to study science.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentences in the text

1. Norwood is best known for developing the Multispectral Scanner System that flew on the first Landsat satellite, making her the“Mother of Landsat”. 諾伍德因開發了第一顆陸地衛星上的多光譜掃描儀系統而出名，這使她成為“陸地衛星之母”。

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句。that 引導限制性定語從句，修飾先行詞the Multispectral Scanner System；making her the“Mother of Landsat”是現在分詞短語作結果狀語。

2. There, at age 22, she designed and patented a device that detected high-altitude winds that were previously untraceable.在那里，22歲的她設計了一種設備，并申請了專利，這種設備可以探測到以前無法追蹤的高空風。

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句。句中的兩個that 引導的都是定語從句，并且兩個that在從句中都是作主語。

Ⅱ.Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

1.The findings are arranged in________order according to performance.

2.He may suddenly take a dislike to foods that he's________enjoyed.

3.The young have a completely different set of values and________.

4.To be honest,I find it difficult to________mathematics.

5.We are looking for people who would________assist in the group's work.

6.Even if you________the best school in the world, it's not enough because what matters most is your skill.