人教高中英语高二上UNIT1-3

When Stephen Hawking¹ was writing A Brief History of Time, his editors told him that he would lose half of his readers for each equation² (方程式) he put in the book. Despite this warning, Hawking found it necessary to include one equation. His choice was the world's most famous equation, Albert Einstein's E = mc2. As simple as the equation may seem, it represents a theory so important that it changed science and physics completely. In fact, Einstein's discoveries made such a big difference that he felt he had to apologise to Newton. "Forgive me," Einstein wrote, "you found the only way which, in your age, was just about possible for a man of highest thought and creative power." Einstein had replaced Newton's theories with his own and changed our understanding of the universe.
Before Einstein, scientists believed that light travelled through space in a straight line. But Einstein was able to prove that light coming from the stars was bent³ as it passed the sun. As a result, it appeared to scientists on earth that the stars had moved. He worked out just how much the light would be bent; he could also work out how far the stars would appear to have moved.
       His discovery was completely new; it was said that only three people could understand it at the time. The difficulty was how he could prove his ideas to other scientists. Many of them did not
accept his scientific ideas. But Einstein went on with his research. By 1919, scientists who had been watching the stars believed in his work and he quickly became world-famous. From that time on Einstein was greatly respected as the leading scientist of the century.
       The First World War (1914-1918) had brought him great sadness. He had taken Swiss nationality in 1901 and therefore did not have to join the army, as Switzerland did not take sides in the war. Einstein thought that war was a terrible thing and believed that fighting and killing⁴ in wars was wrong. He did urge the United States to build an atomic⁵ bomb to defeat the Nazis⁶, but when Einstein saw the effect of the bomb, he regretted his actions. What he wanted to see was an end to all the armies of the world.
      When Hitler came into power in the early 1930s, Einstein, who was a Jew, found it impossible to continue living in Germany. His friends were beaten, or taken away, or their homes were destroyed. While he was doing research in America, Einstein wrote a letter to a newspaper to say that these acts were wrong. It meant that he would never be able to visit Germany again. That is why Einstein and his family left Europe for the USA in 1933.
 

1 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

2 equation   

n.方程式，等式，等同

参考例句：

• The solution can be expressed by a mathematical equation.答案可用一个数学方程式来表示。
• This equation is known as the ideal gas law.这个等式被叫做理想气体定律。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 atomic   

adj.(关于)原子的；原子能(武器)的

参考例句：

• The atomic theory is important.原子理论很重要。
• We should take part in the peaceful uses of atomic energy.我们应该参与原子能的和平应用。

6 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》