英语名人堂：玛丽·居里

玛丽·居里（Marie Skłodowska Curie，1867-1934年）世称“居里夫人”，全名：玛丽亚·斯克沃多夫斯卡·居里。 法国著名波兰裔科学家、物理学家、化学家。1867年11月7日生于华沙。

1903年，居里夫妇和贝克勒尔由于对放射性的研究而共同获得诺贝尔物理学奖 [1]  ，1911年，因发现元素钋和镭再次获得诺贝尔化学奖[2]  ，成为历史上第一个两获诺贝尔奖的人。居里夫人的成就包括开创了放射性理论、发明分离放射性同位素技术、发现两种新元素钋和镭。在她的指导下，人们第一次将放射性同位素用于治疗癌症。由于长期接触放射性物质，居里夫人于1934年7月3日因恶性白血病逝世。[3] 

 

Marie Curie was born in 1867. She is one of the greatest scientists ever to have lived. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and discovered the chemical elements radium and polonium. Curie is the only person ever to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. Other achievements include being the first female professor at the University of Paris.

 

Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. Her father was a maths and physics teacher and was a big influence on Marie’s early education. From an early age Marie was an exceptional¹ student with an amazing memory. She often went without food and sleep to study. Her brilliant mind led her to Paris to study and conduct her research.

 

She met her future husband Pierre Curie at the university. He considered Marie to be a genius and instantly wanted to work with her. They got married and spent most of their time together in their laboratory studying radioactive² materials. Their research led to the discovery of radium, for which they were honoured with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.

 

Pierre was killed in 1906 and Marie was devastated³ and extremely lonely. She threw herself even deeper into her work and won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. She spent the 1920s raising funds for more research into radium. In 1934 she died from a condition caused by decades of exposure to radiation. No one knew how deadly radium was until years later.

1 exceptional   

adj.优越的，杰出的，例外的，独特的，异常的

参考例句：

• He is a man of exceptional talent.他是位具有非凡才能的人。
• He showed exceptional musical ability.他显示出特殊的音乐才能。

2 radioactive   

adj.放射性的

参考例句：

• People should keep away from the radioactive waste.人们应远离放射性废物。
• The radioactive material is stored in a special radiation-proof container.放射性材料储存在防辐射的特殊容器里。

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。