PIONEERS OF SCIENCE

If you had to choose the single most important discovery of the 20th century, you would have a real dilemma on your hands.     1     is possible to single out a few pioneers of the 20th century. One of the     2    (great)scientists was Albert Einstein. In the summer of 1905, this young man was rocking his baby     3     he was     4    (sudden)inspired. “E=mc²” was born. Alexander Fleming     5    (see)a blue mould in the dish around     6     the bacteria had been destroyed. This blue mould was penicillin. During the Second World War, the US Navy was looking for ways of     7    (improve)the accuracy of their missiles. The navy turned to Eckert, an     8    (engineering), and Mauchly,     9     physicist, to wrestle with the problem and produce a machine which was the world’s first computer to do the job. Without the breakthroughs of these pioneers, the world today     10    (be)a completely different place.

In her Nobel Lecture, Tu Youyou     1    (refer) to the strengths of both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and pointed out that there is great potential for future advances if scientists make good use of these strengths. Their efforts to conduct research in both fields may     2    (final) pay off. A good example     3    (illustrate) this point is the discovery of qinghaosu in 1972, which was intended as     4    effective treatment for malaria. The Chinese herb qinghao, from     5    qinghaosu comes, has been used to cure diseases for almost 2,000 years. However, it was not until the 1970s that Tu succeeded in discovering qinghaosu, after many failed experiments. By then, the fight against malaria     6    (achieve) only limited success. Since the discovery of qinghaosu, the     7    (survive) rate of malaria patients has increased by around 30%.

    8    her broad knowledge of both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Tu might never have discovered qinghaosu. It is important that scientists draw on the wisdom of both fields. With     9    (sufficiency) research, many more medicine discoveries like qinghaosu are likely     10    (make).

Jack Lund, 91, of Richfield, retired     1     the U.S. Postal Service after a perfect 69 years on the job.

“Nobody has ever accused     2    (I) of being smart, and I didn’t know you had to quit when you are 65. I have enjoyed driving the truck, so you could say it is     3    I wanted to do all my life,” said Lund.

Lund never failed in his duty. His fellow employees described him as     4    (rely) and always delivering despite poor weather or car trouble. One time there was four feet of snow on the mountain and he     5    (insist) on heading for Phoenix. After    6    (stop) by a highway patrolman (巡逻者), he said, “This is a mail truck and you can’t stop me unless it is impossibe.” And the patrolman     7    (eventual) let him go.Last week, Lund decided it was time to retire.

On Wednesday, a ceremony was held     8    (honor) and thank him for his years of service at the Richfield Post Office.

Lund said that though he hadn’t made a lot of money, he had led     9    happy life. As for what’s next, he believes his life will be different without the     10     (responsible) of delivering the mail but he can handle it.

Linda was a new comer in the neighbourhood. She     1     (stay) all week at home suffering from severe flu when early one morning, there was a knock on the door. Two young ladies were demurely holding leaflets and a TV set model. She impatiently informed them she wasn’t interested in any TV and abruptly shut the door. A few hours later, the same two ladies were back again with homemade chicken soup. Linda was quite taken aback by this lovely gesture. Being new to the area, she didn’t know many neighbors who could assist her with shopping or errands so the gesture     2     (appreciate). How touching this deed was, especially in today’s world     3     sadly, kindness and thoughtfulness seem so rare.