On a winter evening over 200 years ago, a young lady named Wang Zhengyi was doing experiments in her own garden.
Zhengyi, in her twenties, was trying to find out how eclipses (月食) of the moon happened. Through many experiments, she finally explained the eclipse clearly and currently.
Unlike boys, most of the girls in China couldn’t get proper education at that time. However, Zhengyi was lucky enough to be taught by her family at home as a little girl. She also gained a lot of knowledge from reading her grandfather’s collection of books and her interest in astronomy (天文学) and math grew. At the age of 18, Zhengyi began to focus on her study and taught herself with the two subjects.
At that time, people consider the eclipse of the moon as a sign of angry gods. However, Zhengyi didn’t agree with that. She decided to study even harder. On one hand, Zhengyi began to read more books of earlier scientists. Most of these books were written in a way that was difficult to understand. So it took her a lot of time and effort to study those books. On the other hand. Zhengyi watched the movement of stars every night and kept detailed record. Sometimes she even forgot about time and spent all night watching the stars.
According to her own life, she realized the importance for scientific books to be simple and clear for everyone. So she rewrote many books of earlier scientists on astronomy and math so that the public could get education more easily. Some villagers around laughed at her and said, “Zhengyi, now you are not even like a lady anymore.” Zhengyi answered, “I always believe women are the same as men. Who can say women can’t be heroes?”
Although Zhengyi lived in ancient times, she believed in the power of knowledge. And that a woman can make her dream come true through hard work. Her stories have encouraged millions of people, and her achievements have contributed to the scientific progress of the world.
【小题1】How did Wang Zhengyi find out the eclipse of the moon?| A．By her continuous practice. |
| B．By rewriting the books from earlier scientists. |
| C．By watching stars from pictures. |
| D．By being taught by her family members. |
| A．She realized the importance of developing these 2 subjects. |
| B．With the knowledge she got, she became interested in them. |
| C．She always believed women are the same excellent as men. |
| D．She found much fun from making that experiment in her garden. |
| A．Brave and hard-working. | B．Supportive and helpful. |
| C．Dependent and careful. | D．Honest and generous. |
| A．The pressure from villages around. |
| B．The spirit of endless thinking and seeking. |
| C．Good education and support from family. |
| D．The young age and her interest in astronomy. |
