Mother of Landsat

重庆 张亚兵

主题语境：科学家 篇幅：338词 建议用时：7分钟

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(多光谱扫描仪)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”. 诺伍德因开发了第一颗陆地卫星上的多光谱扫描仪系统而出名，这使她成为“陆地卫星之母”。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。that 引导限制性定语从句，修饰先行词the Multispectral Scanner System；making her the“Mother of Landsat”是现在分词短语作结果状语。

2. There, at age 22, she designed and patented a device that detected high-altitude winds that were previously untraceable.在那里，22岁的她设计了一种设备，并申请了专利，这种设备可以探测到以前无法追踪的高空风。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。句中的两个that 引导的都是定语从句，并且两个that在从句中都是作主语。

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.