Born on her family’s farm in Ray, North Dakota, Mary Sherman Morgan had been helping her father with farm work before she could attend the small-town schoolhouse. Being a few years behind didn’t hold her back and she graduated from high school with honors. Aware of her intelligence, she ran away from Ray to attend Minot State University as a chemistry major, where her skill was evident.
The outbreak of World War II resulted in a national shortage of chemists and scientists. In spite of the fact that she was still a student and a woman, she was offered a job as a chemical analyst due to her talents, producing explosives(爆炸物)for the wartime effort. She put her degree on hold and moved to Ohio, taking on the dangerous job of analyzing unstable chemicals to produce weapons.
After the war ended there was a fall in demand for explosives, so she made a move to the field of aeronautics, moving to California to work for NAA(North American Aviation). The only woman out of 900 engineers, she was soon promoted to a role which involved calculating the performance of rocket propellants(推进剂)and designing speciality fuels to work with different engines. However, never having returned to complete her degree, she was not afforded the rank or higher pay of an engineer, even though she had all the skills and knowledge of one.
Her experience with propellants meant that when NAA was tasked to find a fuel capable of lifting the redesigned Redstone missiles into space, Mogan was appointed technical lead on the project. National pride was on the line, so Morgan set about investigating fuels. After countless trails, she finally designed her own mixture, which was named Hydyne.
Hydyne tested well with the Redstone missiles and subsequently other aircraft(飞行器), such as Jupiter-C rockets, proving to be a quick solution to getting to space without a total rocket redesign. The fuel made the first successful US satellite launch possible, even if Morgan silently slipped away from her success, retiring to focus on her family and leaving her chemistry career behind.
【小题1】What do we know about Mary?| A．She attended school while helping with farm work. |
| B．She was offered a job as a chemistry analyst after graduation. |
| C．She shifted her working focus as the domestic demand changed. |
| D．She launched the first US satellite before retiring from her career. |
| A．Analyzing chemicals. | B．Producing explosives. |
| C．Mixing and saving fuels. | D．Designing and building aircraft. |
| A．Her discovery of Hydyne. | B．Her rank as an engineer. |
| C．Her special knowledge in fuels. | D．Her sense of national pride. |
| A．Caring and determined. | B．Courageous and creative. |
| C．Intelligent but sensitive. | D．Accomplished but proud. |
