A Great But Common Scientist

曲宇

一粒種子，改变了一个世界。伟大而普通的科学家——水稻杂交之父袁隆平虽然已经离开了我们，但是人们将永远记着他。让我们一起走进袁隆平院士的主要事迹和生活故事吧！

Yuan Longping is a great scientist who is the first person to develop hybrid rice （杂交水稻）. His research greatly solved the problem of the food shortage in the world.

Yuan Longping started the research in 1964. Hethe idea of hybrid rice， did experiments （实验） on the farm， and succeeded in 1973. The new technology was tested in many areas of South China in 1974， and then he continued to test it in other areas. China has become the first country that can produce hybrid rice. Yuan made it possible to grow hybrid rice in large amounts， and he is called “Father of Hybrid Rice”.

Besides being a respected （受人尊重的） scientist， he is also a romantic husband and a caring grandfather.

Yuan’s granddaughters remembered that when he traveled to Hong Kong， he wanted to buy his wife a new watch， but it was too expensive， so he bought a candy instead. When he was 90 years old， his family held a birthday party. Hundreds of people came to the party. There was a moving moment： Yuan cut the first piece of cake and immediately（立刻） gave it to his wife. They also said that their grandfather paid much attention to their English and math studies. No matter how tired he was after work， he would still ask about their studies.

Yuan Longping loved playing the violin， swimming and driving. What’s more， he had a special habit—playing Mahjong （麻将） with friends for an hour every evening to train his brain. Just like common people， the scientist laughed when he won and didn’t hide his disappointment when he lost. When his requirement （请求） to build a research center was agreed to， he was very excited.

This is Yuan Longping： an ordinary （普通的） person who made great achievements.

巩固提升：

1. Yuan Longping developed hybrid rice in order to ________.

A. test his idea in all areas B. build a research center

C. make himself famous in China D. solve the problem of the food shortage

2. What does the underlined word “put forward” mean in the passage？

A. 提出 B. 质疑 C. 猜测 D. 捕捉

3. Yuan Longping bought _______ for his wife in Hong Kong at last.

A. a watch B. a candy C. a cake D. a violin

4. From the passage， we can learn that  _______.

A. Yuan Longping tested the new technology in other areas in 1964

B. on Yuan Longping’s 90th birthday， he cut the first piece of cake for himself

C. Yuan Longping paid much attention to his granddaughters’ English and math studies

D. Yuan Longping was good at hiding his feelings when he played Mahjong

5. What’s the main idea of the passage？

A. Yuan Longping’s different hobbies.

B. Yuan Longping is a great but common scientist.

C. The scientific process to produce hybrid rice.

D. The close relationship of Yuan Longping’s family.

答案：1-5 DABCB

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