大学体验英语3课文原文(2)

　　Unit2:Passage A:Einstein's Compass

　　Young Albert was a quiet boy. "Perhaps too quiet", thought Hermann and Pauline Einstein. He spoke hardly at all until age 3. They might have thought him slow, but there was something else evident. When he did speak, he'd say the most unusual things. At age 2, Pauline promised him a surprise. Albert was excited, thinking she was bringing him some new fascinating toy. But when his mother presented him with his new baby sister Maja, all Albert could do is stare with questioning eyes. Finally he responded, "where are the wheels?" When Albert was 5 years old and sick in bed, Hermann Einstein brought Albert a device that did stir his intellect. It was the first time he had seen a compass. He lay there shaking and twisting the odd thing, certain he could fool it into pointing off in a new direction. But try as he might, the compass needle would always find its way back to pointing in the direction of north. "A wonder," he thought. The invisible force that guided the compass needle was evidence to Albert that there was more to our world that meets the eye. There was "something behind things, something deeply hidden." So began Albert Einstein's journey down a road of exploration that he would follow the rest of his life. "I have no special gift," he would say, "I am only passionately curious." Albert Einstein was more than just curious though. He had the patience and determination that kept him at things longer than most others. Other children would build houses of card up to 4 stories tall before the cards would lose balance and the whole structure would come falling down. Maja watched in wonder as her brother Albert methodically built his card buildings to 14 stories. Later he would say, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." One advantage Albert Einstein's developing mind enjoyed was the opportunity to communicate with adults in an intellectual way. His uncle, an engineer, would come to the house, and Albert would join in the discussions. His thinking was also stimulated by a medical student who came over once a week for dinner and lively chats. At age 12, Albert Einstein came upon a set of ideas that impressed him as "holy." It was a little book on Euclidean plane geometry. The concept that one could prove theorems of angles and lines that were in no way obvious made an "indescribable impression" on the young student. He adopted mathematics as the tool he would use to pursue his curiosity and prove what he would discover about the behavior of the universe. He was convinced that beauty lies in the simplistic. Perhaps this insight was the real power of his genius. Albert Einstein looked for the beauty of simplicity in the apparently complex nature and saw truths that escaped others. While the expression of his mathematics might be accessible to only a few sharp minds in the science, Albert could condense the essence of his thoughts so anyone could understand. For instance, his theories of relativity revolutionized science and unseated the laws of Newton that were believed to be a complete description of nature for hundreds of years. Yet when pressed for an example that people could relate to, he came up with this: "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. THAT's relativity." Albert Einstein's wealth of new ideas peaked while he was still a young man of 26. In 1905 he wrote 3 fundamental papers on the nature of light, a proof of atoms, the special theory of relativity and the famous equation of atomic power: E=mc2. For the next 20 years, the curiosity that was sparked by wanting to know what controlled the compass needle and his persistence to keep pushing for the simple answers led him to connect space and time and find a new state of matter. What was his ultimate quest?"I want to know how God created this world.... I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details." sparked his curiosity in exploring the universe persistence, determination and curiosity communicating intellectually with adults he believed that beauty exists in simple things it helped uncover the mysteries of the universe

　　Unit2:Passage B:The Wake-up Call from Stockholm The Wake-up Call from Stockholm

　　"These are the last 20 minutes of peace in your life," the Swedish caller told Caltech professor Ahmed Zewail at 5:40 a.m. on October 12. Soon the world would hear of Zewail's award - the 1999 Nobel Prize in chemistry - and Zewail would hear from the world. Two thousand e-mails would zoom his way within a few days and three phone lines would start ringing with eager requests for interviews from the national and Egyptian press and with congratulations from friends and colleagues. But first, the 53-year-old man would share the news with his family. He kissed his wife, Dema, and young sons, Nabeel and Hani. His mother, whom Zewail reached in his native Egypt, cried and cried. His daughters, Maha and Amani, "were going crazy on the phone. I couldn't even speak," said Zewail. "I was disappointed in Nabeel's reaction," he added. "I told him I had won the prize. He said, 'Good.'" But when Zewail asked if he'd tell the kids at school, the six-year-old said, "No. These guys will say 'So what?'" But Nabeel did ask, "Are we going to see the king?" The Royal Swedish Academy honored Zewail for his groundbreaking work in viewing and studying chemical reactions at the atomic level as they occur. He has shown "that it is possible with rapid laser technique to see how atoms in a molecule move during a chemical reaction." Zewail had brought the most powerful tools from the field of physics into the chemistry lab to create a revolution, and the field of femto-chemistry was born. It was "a revolution in chemistry and related sciences," the Swedes announced, "since this type of investigation allows us to understand and predict important reactions," to probe nature at its most fundamental level. Zewail is the 27th Caltech faculty member or alumnus to receive the Nobel Prize, and the third faculty member to be so honored in this decade. "In my experience," said Zewail after a tumultuous week, "whenever you cross fields or bring in new ideas and tools, you find what you don't expect. You open new windows." Zewail's path to the forefront of the international science arena has been elegant and swift, like the atoms he observes performing molecular dances. With a wealth of experience in home chemistry projects as a boy in Egypt, he sailed to the top of his class at Alexandria University. The classical science education he received there prepared him for a promised tenure-track position in the field of his choice: math, physics, chemistry, or geology, but he decided to get his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania - to "see the molecular world of chemistry." He had heard of Caltech, but to this young Egyptian, "institute" sounded less prestigious than "university." As it turned out, Penn provided the "ideal" transition from classical science studies to the postdoctoral work he did at UC Berkeley. He stayed at Berkeley for postdoctoral work for two reasons: to think more about research rather than about getting a PhD and "the secret reason - I wanted to buy a big American car to take back to Egypt with me." At Berkeley, he published three papers "immediately" and was advised to apply to the top handful of American universities. "The most important reason why I decided on Caltech was, once the offer was made, I was well received by the staff, administration, and faculty." He also felt he could make his own way specializing in dynamics in a department strong on structure. And the Mediterranean climate didn't hurt. That was 1976. Zewail was off and running, earning tenure in a year and a half, making full professorship by 1982, seated in the Pauling Chair by 1990. Now with a Nobel Prize under his belt, what's next? "First of all, I'm not retiring," he said. "And I'm not going to Hollywood." In the coming years, Zewail looks forward to more breakthroughs. He will remain active in research and in publishing papers, which he considers to be his babies (363 to date ). Tracking the progress of two papers within a week of receiving the prize, he reached a surprised editor who said, "You on the phone? Impossible! I thought you'd be out wining and dining." He will continue to push the envelope of what is possible. he had little idea of the importance of the Nobel Prize chemistry and other sciences related the Alexandria University, the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley he appreciated the hearty welcome presented by the people there Zewail should be occupied with dinner parties