VOA慢速英语2018 谷歌纪念美国本土第一位女性工程师

Google Honors First Native American Woman Engineer

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The search engine Google celebrated¹ on Thursday what would have been the 110th birthday of the first Native American woman engineer. Google honored Mary Ross with a special Google Doodle on its homepage.

谷歌搜索引擎周四纪念了美国第一位原住民女工程师诞辰110周年。谷歌在其主页上为玛丽·罗斯（Mary Ross）做了一个特殊的谷歌徽标涂鸦。

Ross was born on August 9, 1908, in the state of Oklahoma. She was the great-granddaughter of John Ross, the longest-serving chief of the Cherokee Nation.

罗斯于1908年8月9日出生在俄克拉荷马州。她是切诺基部落在任时间最长的酋长约翰·罗斯（John Ross）的曾孙女。

Her work is considered critical to the early stages of the age of space travel.

她的成就被认为对太空旅行时代的早期阶段至关重要。

Ross showed special abilities in math and science from an early age. As a student, she developed an interest in aviation, or the practice of flying aircraft. She went on to earn a master’s degree in mathematics from Colorado State Teachers College -- now called the University of Northern Colorado.

罗斯从小就在数学和科学方面展现出特殊能力。作为一名学生，她对航空产生了兴趣。她在科罗拉多州立师范学院，也就是现在的北科罗拉多大学获得了数学硕士学位。

During World War II, Ross began working for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation as a mathematician². There, she was urged to complete work in aeronautical³ engineering. She earned a special certification in the field from the University of California - Los Angeles in 1949.

在二战期间，罗斯作为数学家开始为洛克希德飞机公司工作。在那里，她被要求完成航空工程的工作。她于1949年在该领域获得了加州大学洛杉矶分校的特别证书。

Ross was later chosen to join Lockheed’s top-secret Skunk⁴ Works team that worked on aircraft designs. The name refers to a group that is permitted to work independently on advanced projects. She was the only female engineer among the team’s 40 members.

罗斯后来被选中加入洛克希德公司最秘密的臭鼬工作团队，该团队致力于飞行器设计。该名称是指被允许独立从事高级项目的团队。她是该团队40名成员中唯一的女工程师。

Early on, she researched defense⁵ systems. By the late 1950s, her work centered on satellites and a series of space rockets called Agenda. The rockets were extremely important in the 1960s during the Apollo moon program.

早期她研究了防御系统。到20世纪50年代后期，她的工作集中于卫星以及一系列被称为Agenda项目的太空火箭上。这些火箭在上世纪60年代阿波罗登月计划期间非常重要。

Ross also helped develop early design ideas for space travel between planets, including flyby space flights to study Venus and Mars.

罗斯还帮助开发了行星间太空旅行的早期设计理念，包括研究金星和火星的飞越航天任务。

Ross retired⁶ from Lockheed in 1973. But she continued to give talks at high schools and colleges to encourage more women and Native Americans to study engineering.

罗斯于1973年从洛克希德公司退休。但她继续在高中和大学进行演讲，以激励更多女性和美国原住民学习工程学。

Mary Ross died in 2008, a few months before her 100th birthday.

罗斯于2008年在她百岁生日前的几个月去世。

Many celebrated Ross’ life on social media. The National Science Foundation wrote on Twitter Thursday, “engineers like Mary Ross are an inspiration to women everywhere. Women and minorities continue to face challenges and break through barriers in engineering.”

很多人在社交媒体上纪念了罗斯的一生。美国国家科学基金会周四在推特上表示：“罗斯这样的工程师激励了世界各地的女性。女性和少数民族仍然面临挑战并且需要突破工程学的障碍。”

Scientists on Twitter wrote that Thursday’s Doodle introduced them to Mary Ross for the first time.

推特上的科学家们周四写道，周四的谷歌徽标涂鸦首次向他们介绍了罗斯。

Twitter user Aaron Perez, for example, wrote: “Mary Ross was an engineer who pioneered in the field of satellites. I never would [have] known if it wasn’t for the doodle. Women engineers deserve more recognition.”

例如，推特用户Aaron Perez写道：“罗斯是一位在卫星领域处于领先地位的工程师。如果不是谷歌徽标涂鸦，我永远不会知道这些。女性工程师应该得到更大认可。”

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

I’m Lucija Millonig.

Words in This Story

aeronautical - adj. related to the science that deals with airplanes and flying

challenge - n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do

inspiration - n. something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone

ballistic missile - n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explodes?

rocket - n. a spacecraft or missile that is powered by a rocket engine

certification - n. official approval to do something professionally or legally

pioneer - v. to help create or develop (new ideas, methods, etc.) : to be a pioneer in the development of (something)

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

3 aeronautical   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world. 这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。 来自辞典例句
• The advent of aircraft brought with it aeronautical engineering. 宇宙飞船的问世导致了航天工程的出现。 来自辞典例句

4 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。