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lesson 3 Scientific Breakthroughs If you had to choose the single most important 1___________(discover) of the 20th century, you would have a real 2_________ on your hands. In just 100 years, the world changed completely. Amazing discoveries were made in medicine, communications and transport, not to 3____________ our knowledge of the world and space. Medical advances 4________ from discovering the causes of diseases under microscopes to surgical procedures 5____________(replace) 6__________(disease) organs with 7________ (donate) ones. Communications changed 8______ the introduction of mobile phones and the way we 9__________(通信) went 10________ writing letters to emailing. We started flying around the world and 11____________（同时）, scientists figured 12________ how to 13______(劈开) the atom, 14________（过去） thought to be the smallest particle of matter in the universe. Although it is impossible to choose the most important discovery, it is possible to 15_________ out a few pioneers of the 20th century. Here are five of them. One of the 20th century’s premier 16__________ (science) was Albert Einstein. In the summer of 1905, this 17__________(直言的) young man was 18_______(rock) his one-year-old baby when he was suddenly 19_________ (inspiration). “E=mc2” was born. E=mc2 showed how a small piece of 20_______(物质) could produce an 21_________ (believable) amount of energy. Einstein then showed in his “theory of relativity” that not even time, mass or length are 22__________（不变的） – they change according to our experience of them. Einstein had already become world-famous when a young ex-lawyer, returning from the First World War, started work in California. Using the most high-powered telescope of the time, he began the long, slow process of exploring our galaxy. Edwin Hubble 23_____ about to make astronomy’s greatest breakthrough of the century. He discovered small areas of mist which were in fact galaxies 24_______ our own, millions of light years away from us, 25__________ proved that the universe was vastly larger than had previously been thought.
In 1929, another far-reaching finding was made by the son of a Scottish shepherd. Before he went 26_____ holiday,27 ________ (biology)Alexander Fleming left a dish with bacteria in it in his laboratory. When he came back, he noticed something strange. He double-28________(check) and saw a blue 29________ in the dish around which the bacteria had been destroyed. This blue mould was in fact the natural form of penicillin, which Fleming realised could be used to kill bacteria. A few years later, penicillin was 30__________ mass-produced and helping to save the lives of millions. Fleming remained 31_______ about the amazing outcome of his discovery. “Nature made penicillin,” he said, “I just found it.” During the Second World War, when Fleming’s discovery was first helping to cure people, the US Navy was looking for ways of 32__________ (improve) the accuracy of their missiles. The navy turned ___ Eckert, an engineer, and Mauchly, a 33_______ (physics), to wrestle 34______ the problem and produce a machine to do the job. Although they only finished after the war in 1946, it did not matter. This huge machine was the world’s first computer, but it was nothing like our computers today. It 35_________ (measure) 100 feet long by over 10 feet high and weighed over 30 tones. With 18,000 tubes, thousands of circuits and 6,000 switches, it used so much energy that when it was turned on, the lights in the local town went 36_______ ! These pioneers of the 20th century were all 37____________ to 38_______ (improve) the quality of human life on earth, but sometimes breakthrough discoveries that have affected our lives today happened by 39_______! For example, we are all 40________(感激的) for the handy microwave oven that allows us to prepare meals in minutes and we have Percy Spencer to thank. This inventor, with 120 patents 41____ his name, discovered microwaves when he was experimenting 42______ radars and noticed a chocolate 43________ (melt) in his pocket. There is no 44_______ about it. 45_________ the breakthroughs of these pioneers in science and technology, whether lucky or planned, the world as we know it today would have been a 46__________ (complete) different place.
Answers to the text: 1．Discovery 2.dilema 3. mention 4. range 5. replacing 6. diseased 7. donated 8.with 9.correspond 10.from 11. meanwhile 12. out 13.split 14.previously 15.single 16. scientists 17.outspoken 18. rocking 19. inspired 20. mass21. unbelievable 22. constant 23.was 24. like 25. which 26. on 27.biologist 28.checked 29. mould 30. being 31. modest 32. improving 33.physicist 34.with 35.measured 36. out 37.dedicated 38.improving 39.mistake 40.grateful 41.to 42.with 43.melting 44.doubt 45.without 46. completely
