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3 . John Von Neumann was the oldest of 3 children of a banker, and his speed of learning new ideas and of solving problems stood out early. At 17, his father tried to persuade him not to become a mathematician because he may lead a poor life being a mathematician, and so Von Neumann agreed to study chemistry as well. In 1926, at 23, he received a degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in mathematics. From then on, mathematics provided well enough for him, and he never had to turn to chemistry.

In 1930, Von Neumann visited Princeton University for a year and then became a professor there. His first book was published in 1932. In 1933, the Institute for Advanced Study was formed, and he became one of the 6 full-time people in the School of Mathematics (Einstein was one of the others).

World War II hugely changed Von Neumann’s areas of interest. Until 1940 he had been a great pure (纯粹的) mathematician. During and after the war, he became one of the best mathematicians who put mathematics theories into practice. During the last part of the war he became interested in computing machines and made several fundamental contributions. After the war, Von Neumann continued his work with computers, and was generally very active in government service. He received many awards, was president of the American Mathematical Society and was a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. He died in 1957 of cancer.

Von Neumann made several great contributions and any one of them would have been enough to earn him a firm place in history. He will be remembered as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century.

Von Neumann really was a legend (传奇) in his own time, and there are a number of stories about him. His driving ability is a part of this legend. He reported one accident this way: “I was driving down the road. The trees on the right were passing me in an orderly fashion at 60 miles per hour. Suddenly one of them stepped in my path.”

4 . Thomas Edison was one often said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius.“ There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work.

But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.

Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.

Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “Work,” he answered. “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.

A 90-year-old has been awarded “Woman Of The Year” for     1     (be) Britain’s oldest full-time employee (雇员) still working 40 hours a week. Now Irene Astbury works from 9 am to 5 pm daily at the pet shop     2     she opened with her late husband Les. Her years of hard work have been     3     (final) acknowledged after a customer nominated (提名) her to be Cheshire’s Woman Of The Year.

Picking up her “Lifetime Achievement” award, Irene     4     (declare) she had no plans     5     (retire) from her 36-year-old business. Irene said, “I don’t see any reason to give up work. I love coming here and seeing my family and all the     6     (friend) I have made over the years. I work not because I have to,     7     because I want to.”

Granddaughter Gayle Parks, 31-who works alongside her in the family business said it remained unknown as to who nominated Irene for the award. She said, “We don’t have any idea who put grandma forward. When we got a call     8     (say) she was short-listed, we thought it was a joke. But then we got     9     official letter and we were blown away. We are so proud of her. It’s     10     (wonder).”

9 . Most of us know something about the Nobel Prizes, especially the Nobel Peace Prize, but few of us know anything about the man who set them up. His name was Alfred Nobel. He was a great scientist and inventor himself. Besides, he had a big business. His business may surprise you. He made and sold explosives (炸药). His companies even made and sold weapons (武器). Isn’t this something that surprises you? The man who made money from weapons should set up the Nobel Peace Prize?

Though Alfred Nobel had a lot of money from weapons, he hated war. He hoped that there would be no war in the world. He was one of the richest in Europe. When he died in 1896, he left behind him a lot of money and his famous will (遗嘱). According to his will, most of his money was placed in a fund. He wanted the interest from the fund to be used as prizes every year. We know them as the Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Prizes are international. Alfred Nobel wanted the winners to be chosen for their work, not the country they came from.

Alfred Nobel had given his whole life to his studies and work and to the benefits of mankind. He made money all by his own efforts, but he left the world share his wealth. His inventions and wealth stay with the world forever.

10 . Susan Brownell Anthony was a lady ahead of her time. She fought for women’s rights long before it became a popular issue.

Susan was born on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. At that time, women had few rights. They could not own property. Money earned by a married woman belonged to her husband. Major decisions regarding children were made by the fathers. Women could not vote.

At the age of 15, Susan became a school teacher. She taught for 15 years. Then she began organizing women’s groups to promote causes that were important to women. She helped gain better educational rights for women. She helped give married women possession of their earnings.

After the Civil War, Susan became very involved in the Woman’s Suffrage Movement. After years of lecturing, writing, and appealing by Susan and other women, some parts of the United States changed their laws to give women the right to vote.

The first state was Wyoming in 1869．Other areas and states gradually followed Wyoming’s decision. It was not until 1920 that the US Constitution was changed to give all women voting rights. Susan Brownell Anthony died in 1906 at the age of 86．She was elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1950．She was the first American woman to have a likeness(肖像) of her face on a coin. It was the 1979 Susan Brownell Anthony dollar.