Question

Last week, Donna Strickland was awarded the 2018 Nobel prize for physics jointly with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard 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): then-student 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, Antony Hewish. Recently awarded a £2.3m Breakthrough Prize, which she gave away to help under-represented 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. Often topping Nobel prize prediction lists, 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 acknowledged by the 1944 Nobel prize for chemistry, which was won by her male co-lead, Otto Hahn.

1.When was the discovery of radio pulsars recognized by the Nobel?

A. In 1944.    B. In 1967.    C. In 1974.    D. In 1980.

2.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.

3.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 geometry.

C. Lise Meitner’s teacher won a Noble prize for her work.

D. All their findings haven’t been recognized by the Nobel.

Answer

1. C

2. C

3. D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。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，她们应该获诺贝尔奖但由于种种原因而未能获得。

1.细节理解题。根据Jocelyn Bell Burnell中then-student 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,可知第一个radio pulsars在1967年被发现，被授予诺贝尔奖是在1974年。故选C.

2.细节理解题。根据Lene Hau中Often topping Nobel prize prediction lists,可知Lene Hau经常被列于诺贝尔奖预测名单上榜首，她最有可能获诺贝尔奖。故选C.

3.推理判断题。根据第一段总述中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.可知Donna Strickland是第一个获诺贝尔物理奖的女性，而文中介绍的5位女科学家都应该获得这个奖，但由于各种原因未能获奖。故选D.