雅思强化阅读1.docVIP

Reading One EXERCISES Exercise One: C5 T1 P1 （练习册60页） Exercise Two: C7 T2 P2 （练习册119页） Exercise Three: C6 T1 P3 （练习册97页） Exercise Four: C9 T4 P1 The life and work of Marie Curie Marie Curie is probably the most famous woman scientist who has ever lived. Born Maria Sklodowska in Poland in 1867, she is famous for her work on radioactivity, and was twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, and was then sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her prodigious memory, and at the age of 16 won a gold medal on completion of her secondary education. Because her father lost his savings through bad investment, she then had to take work as a teacher. From her earnings she was able to finance her sister Bronias medical studies in Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an education. In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the University of Paris). She often worked far into the night and lived on little more than bread and butter and tea. She came first in the examination in the physical sciences in 1893, and in 1894 was placed second in the examination in mathematical sciences. It was not until the spring of that year that she was introduced to Pierre Curie. Their marriage in 1895 marked the start of a partnership that was soon to achieve results of world significance. Following Henri Becquerels discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon, which Marie later called radioactivity, Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in uranium was to be found in other elements. She discovered that this was true for thorium. Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by