Compared with Marie Curie, Wu Chien-shiung is not a household name in China, where she was born and grew up, or in the United States, where she spent most of her life.
Wu’s father received a modern education in Shanghai, and in 1913, founded the first school for girls in Taicang, aiming to break the old sexist advocacy that it was women’s virtue to have no talents, which had the most profound influence on Wu’s life. Now, the school has become Mingde Senior Middle School.
Working in the scientific world dominated by men, she never gave up or lowered her standards even if unequally treated. After graduating from the former National Central University in Nanjing, Wu, aged 24, enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to continue her study in physics. She was the first woman to be president of American Physical Society.
To get accurate results from experiments, she worked seriously day and night at a laboratory and gained a reputation for accuracy. There was a saying among physicists: “If the experiment was done by Wu, it must be correct.” As one of the most influential nuclear physicists of the 20th century, she thoroughly changed human’s view of the universe. Her experiments overturned many previous experimental results and theories.
Wu lived a simple life, but she set up a funding program in honor of her father with her life savings, rewarding students and teachers at Mingde Senior Middle School. In 1997, Wu died aged 85 in the US. According to her will, she was buried in her hometown Taicang. Chiang Tsai-chien, the author of her biography, Madame Wu Chien-shiung: The First Lady of Physics Research, wrote the epitaph (墓志铭) that starts, “Here’s buried the most prominent female physicist Wu Chien-shiung”, and ends, “she was a distinguished world citizen, and was forever a Chinese”.
4. Why did Wu’s father found the first school for girls?
A.To promote Wu’s personal development. |
B.To pursue gender and education equality. |
C.To display his well-educated background. |
D.To improve educational assessment system. |
5. What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.Wu worked as the first female physicist. |
B.Attachment to native land never left her. |
C.Sexist advocacy gave rise to her simple life. |
D.Wu followed her father’s will to fund a program. |
6. Which words best describe Wu?
A.Persistent in faith. | B.Tolerant of sexism. |
C.Ambitious for perfection. | D.Well-known in her motherland. |
7. What is the best title of the text?
A.A Woman Who Thrilled the World |
B.A Woman, One Distinguished Funder |
C.A Woman Who Gained Equal Gender Right |
D.A Woman, One Influential Leader in Physics |