Mother of Landsat陆地卫星之母

张亚兵

主題语境：科学家篇幅：338词建议用时：7分钟

1 Virginia Norwood， a founding figure in satellite landimaging who developed technology to scan the surface of themoon for safe landing sites and map our planet from space， diedat age 96.

2 Norwood is best known for developing the MultispectralScanner System （多光谱扫描仪） that flew on the first Landsatsatellite， making her the “Mother of Landsat”.

3 Landsat 1， launched in July 1972， was the first satellite to study and monitor Earthslandmasses and operated for nearly six years. The space agency said the “quality andimpact of the resulting information exceeded all expectations”.

4 Norwood was born in 1927， less than a decade after women won the right to vote， andshe was often the only woman—and working mother —in the room throughout her career.

5 Upon seeing her high math aptitude scores， her high school teacher had encouragedher to pursue a career as a librarian. Luckily， she ignored him.“ I was always enthusiasticabout mathematical problems and physics，” said Norwood. Also， her father， an electricalengineer， was very important to her. Later， Norwood graduated from the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology with a degree in mathematical physics in 1947. She briefly spenttime selling blouses at a department store before she was able to find an employer willing tohire a female mathematician.

6 In 1948， she started working for the US Army Signal Corps Laboratories in NewJersey. There， at age 22， she designed and patented a device that detected high?altitudewinds that were previously untraceable.

7 A few years later， she landed a job at Hughes Aircraft， becoming the only woman intheir research and development labs. As she rose through the ranks， one man quit inprotest. When he came back to Hughes years later and asked to work in Norwoods group，she said no.

8 When asked if she liked the nickname“ Mother of Landsat”， she said，“ Yes. I like it，and its apt. I created it; I birthed it; and I fought for it.”

Reading

Check

1. What is the author's attitude towards Landsat 1？

A. Neutral. B. Unclear.

C. Doubtful. D. Appreciative.

2. What inspired Norwood to pursue a career in physics？

A. Her interest in the subject.

B. Her father's job as a physicist.

C. Her guidance teacher's advice.

D. Her enthusiasm about the Landsat program.

3. What is the author's purpose in writing the text？

A. To show Landsat 1's function.

B. To be in memory of a pioneer.

C. To introduce the benefits of Landsat 1.

D. To encourage people to study science.

Language

Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentences in the text

1. Norwood is best known for developing the Multispectral Scanner System that flewon the first Landsat satellite， making her the“ Mother of Landsat”. 諾伍德因开发了第一颗陆地卫星上的多光谱扫描仪系统而出名，这使她成为“陆地卫星之母”。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。that引导限制性定语从句，修饰先行词theMultispectral Scanner System；making her the“ Mother of Landsat”是现在分词短语作结果状语。

2. There， at age 22， she designed and patented a device that detected highaltitudewinds that were previously untraceable. 在那里，22岁的她设计了一种设备，并申请了专利，这种设备可以探测到以前无法追踪的高空风。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句。句中的两个that引导的都是定语从句，并且两个that在从句中都是作主语。

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with the words and phrases in the box in proper forms.

expectation be enthusiastic about graduate from be willing to previously rank

1. The findings are arranged in_________order according to performance.

2. He may suddenly take a dislike to foods that he's_________enjoyed.

3. The young have a completely different set of values and _________.

4. To be honest， I find it difficult to_________mathematics.

5. We are looking for people who would_________assist in the group's work.

6. Even if you_________the best school in the world， it's not enough because what matters most is your skill.