🎬 一部影片:
1960年代美国太空计划背后,一位黑人女数学家功不可没。她叫凯瑟琳•约翰逊,她在那个对女性职业充满歧视的年代,用大脑征服了NASA的男性科学家们,不过一直鲜为人知。后来她的故事,被改编为电影《隐藏人物》。今年2月,凯瑟琳去世,终年101岁。她给我们这代人留下了怎样的科学和精神的遗产?
《隐藏人物》 官方预告片1 (2017) - 塔拉吉·P·汉森 主演
Katherine Johnson Dies at 101; Mathematician Broke Barriers at NASA
打破壁垒的NASA数学家:凯瑟琳·约翰逊逝世,享年101岁
By Margalit Fox
👉 barrier UK /ˈbæriə/ US /ˈberiər/
n. 障碍,壁垒
language barrier 语言壁垒
trade barrier 贸易壁垒
cultural barrier 文化障碍
They asked Katherine Johnson for the moon, and she gave it to them.
他们向凯瑟琳·约翰逊索要“月亮”,她为他们指明了路。
Wielding little more than a pencil, a slide rule and one of the finest mathematical minds in the country, Mrs. Johnson, who died at 101 on Monday, calculated the precise trajectories that would let Apollo 11 land on the moon in 1969 and, after Neil Armstrong’s history-making moonwalk, let it return to Earth.
约翰逊夫人周一去世,享年101岁。凭借着不过一支铅笔、一把计算尺,加上堪称美国最为杰出的数学头脑,约翰逊计算出了1969年助力阿波罗11号登陆月球的精确轨迹,并让尼尔·阿姆斯特朗在历史性的月球漫步后成功返回地球。
👉 wield UK /wiːld/ US /wiːld/
vt. 挥动;使用;施加影响,使用权力
wield influence 对……产生影响
wield power 对……施加权力
👉 trajectory UK /trəˈdʒektəri/ US /trəˈdʒektəri/ n. 轨道
the trajectory of the rocket 火箭轨道
the trajectory of the missile 导弹轨道
the rapid upward trajectory of sb’s career
某人的职业生涯快速上升的轨迹
Yet throughout Mrs. Johnson’s 33 years in NASA and for decades afterward, almost no one knew her name.
然而,在美国国家航空航天局(NASA)的整整33年,以及之后的数十载里,几乎没有人知道凯瑟琳·约翰逊这个名字。
Mrs. Johnson was one of several hundred rigorously educated, supremely capable yet largely unheralded women who, well before the modern feminist movement, worked as NASA mathematicians. But it was not only her sex that kept her long marginalized and long unsung.
早在现代女权运动之前,NASA就有着数百位受过严格教育、能力出色却基本上默默无闻的女性数学家,约翰逊是其中一员。而性别并不是她长期受到忽视与埋没的唯一因素。
👉 rigorously UK /ˈrɪɡərəsli/ US /ˈrɪɡərəsli/ adv. 严密地,谨慎地;严格地,严苛地
rigorous adj. 严密的,谨慎的;严格的,严苛的
rigorous testing 严密的测试
rigorous method 严谨的方法
rigorous controls on sth. 对某物进行严格的管控
👉 unheralded UK /ʌnˈherəldɪd/ US /ʌnˈherəldɪd/ adj. (才华、能力)未被认识/了解到的
herald vt. 预先宣布
The president's speech heralds a radical change in foreign policy.
总统的演讲预示着外交政策会有激烈的改变。
👉 marginalize UK /ˈmɑːdʒɪnəlaɪz/ US /ˈmɑːrdʒɪnəlaɪz/ vt. 边缘化
No one should be marginalized just because of his/her gender or race.
我们不应该因为一个人的性别或种族而将其边缘化。
👉 unsung UK /ˌʌnˈsʌŋ/ US /ˌʌnˈsʌŋ/ adj. (英勇行为、巨大成就等)被埋没的
an unsung hero 被埋没的英雄
For some years at midcentury, the black women who worked as “computers” were subjected to a double segregation: They were kept separate from the much larger group of white women who in turn were segregated from the agency’s male mathematicians and engineers.
在上世纪中叶的某几年里,担任人工“计算机”的黑人女性受到了双重隔离:她们需要与人数多得多的白人女性分开工作,而后者又受到航天局里男性数学家和工程师的隔离。
👉 be subjected to sth.
被迫屈服于/承受某事
be subject to sth. 遭受某事
He has been subject to the attacks of depression.
他一直遭受着抑郁所带来的痛苦。
In old age, Mrs. Johnson became the most celebrated of the small cadre of black women who at midcentury served as mathematicians for the space agency. Their story was told in the 2016 Hollywood film “Hidden Figures,” which was nominated for three Oscars, including best picture.
晚年时的约翰逊,成为了上世纪中叶航天局里为数不多的黑人女性数学家中最著名的一位。她们的故事在2016年被拍摄成好莱坞电影《隐藏人物》,该片获得三项奥斯卡提名,包括最佳影片奖。
👉 celebrated UK /ˈseləbreɪtɪd/ US /ˈseləbreɪtɪd/
adj. 著名的
celebrity n. (娱乐明星、体育明星等)名人
👉 cadre UK /ˈkɑːdə/ US /ˈkɑːdər/
n. 骨干队伍
【拓展】
奥巴马总统在2015年授予Johnson女士『美国总统自由勋章』时说:
"Katherine G. Johnson refused to be limited by society's expectations of her gender and race while expanding the boundaries of humanity's reach."
“Johnson女士拒绝社会基于她的性别和种族来对她做出期待、做出限制,同时她扩展了人类足迹所能达到的疆域。”
📖 一本书:
Michelle Obama's "Becoming" is a candid memoir of the former first lady on her own terms. In her book, she offers insight and instills hope and optimism for change and empowerment.
《成为》是前第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马的自传,她以自己的方式坦诚地记录自己的生活。在书中她分享了自己的见解,也灌输了自己对于改变和赋权的希望和乐观心态。
Here are some famous quotes from the book:
"For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self."
这本书为什么叫 Becoming呢?全书分为三部分“Becoming Me” “Becoming Us” “Becoming More”。
在序言(Preface)中她说:
Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up?As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.
在后记(Epilogue),也有这样一段:
For me becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self.
我们成为自己,成为我们,成为一个个新标签和身份,“成为”应该是进行时。它没有终点,不分贵贱,最重要的成为自己,成为更好的自己。
"This may be the fundamental problem with caring a lot about what others think: It can put you on the established path and keep you there for a long time."
"If you don't get out there and define yourself, you'll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others."
"Barack intrigued me. He was not like anyone I'd dated before, mainly because he seemed so secure. He was openly affectionate. He told me I was beautiful. He made me feel good."
📃 文书:
The book I enjoyed reading the most this past year is “I am Malala,” which is an autobiography by a Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai. The book depicts how Malala stood up at age 15 against the Taliban’s rule and fought with her family for a girl’s right to receive education.
I enjoyed reading this book first because it allowed me to learn of such a place in the world where girls are being treated so unfairly and miserably. I was particularly shocked when I read about Malala being shot in the head in a targeted attack by the Taliban – just because of her advocating for women’s education. But I was greatly inspired by Malala’s continued effort to protest for her rights even after she survived such a fatal incident. And that is the part I love the most. When she was finally awarded the Noble Peace Prize at age 17 in 2014, I came to realize the importance of standing firm and having one’s voice heard for the right thing.
While reading about Malala’s experience, I felt like I was watching a movie. I didn’t know if I could be that tough if I had to go through so much as she had, for the courage and determination in Malala is so much more than an average person. But what I do know is that I have been deeply inspired to stay strong-minded, determined, and independent while pursuing my own goal.(242)
网友评论