FRANKLIN’SEXPERIMENT:HowMuchIsTrue?BenjaminFranklin’sfamousexperimentwithlightninghasintroducedgenerationsofchildrentoscience.However,newresearchsuggeststhatthestorymaybefictioninsteadoffact.Thewell-knownstoryis_____theAmericanFoundingFatherandscientistflewakiteduringastormin1752.Atthattime,therewasmuchinterest____electricity.Peoplewantedtoknowiflightningwasreallyproducedbyelectricityorsomethingelse.Franklinwasoneofthem.Heraisedthekitewithapieceofstring______(tie)toit.Ametalkeywas_______(attach)tothestring.____________(閃電)hitthekite,andelectricitywas________(conduct)throughthestring____thekey.Franklinthentouchedthekeywithhisfingerandgot________(電擊).This,hesaid,provedthatlightningwasaformofelectricity.Formanyyears,schoolshavetaughtthestoryofFranklin’slightningexperiment.Morethanonegenerationofschoolchildrenhasbeenamazedbyhis______________________________(勇氣和追求真理時采用的科學(xué)手段).Franklin,alongwithmanyotherscientists,hasinspiredusandtaughtusthatscientificexperimentsareimportantinordertoestablishthetruthandtocontributetowardslater_________________(科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)及發(fā)明).However,neitherthestory_____thedetailsoftheexperiment____entirelytrue.AlthoughithasbeenprovedthatFranklin’sexperimenttookplace,morethanonescientisthasquestioned_______reallyhappened.Thedetailaboutthestringandthekeyistrue.ButscientistsallagreethatifFranklinhadactuallytouchedthekey,hewouldcertainlyhavediedfromtheelectricshock.Scientistsoftenquestion_______(accept)ideasbecausetheywanttoestablishthefacts.SomehaveevenquestionedthestoryabouttheapplethatfellonNewton’sheadandledhimtocomeupwithhistheoryofgravity.Infact,morethanoneaccountsuggeststhatwhileNewtonwascertainlyinspiredbyafallingapple,thereisnoproofthatithithimonthehead._________(誠然),fictionisoftenmoreinterestingthanthetruth.PeoplehavebeenmoreinspiredbyFranklin’sspiritofscientific________(explore)thanbythefactsthemselves.Butinscience,factsshouldbeprovedbyexperimentsandresearch,andweshouldnotalwaysbelieveeverythingwereadorhear—evenifitisagreatstory.JOHNSNOWDEFEATS“KINGCHOLERA”Cholerausedtobeoneofthemostfeareddiseasesintheworld,untilaBritishdoctor,JohnSnow,showedhowitcouldbeovercome.Thisillnesscausesseverediarrhoea,dehydration,andevendeath.Intheearly19thcentury,whenanoutbreakofcholerahitEurope,millionsofpeoplediedfromthedisease.Asayoungdoctor,JohnSnowbecamefrustratedbecausenooneknewhowtopreventortreatcholera.Intime,herosetobecomeafamousdoctor,andevenattendedtoQueenVictoriawhenshegavebirth.However,heneverlosthisdesiretodestroycholeraonceandforall.Ingeneral,doctorsinthosedayshadtwocontradictorytheoriestoexplainhowcholeraspread.Onetheorywasthatbadaircausedthedisease.Anotherwasthatcholerawascausedbyaninfectionfromgermsinfoodorwater.Snowsubscribedtothesecondtheory.Itwascorrect,buthestillneededproof.Consequently,whenanoutbreakofcholerahitLondonin1854,Snowbegantoinvestigate.Hediscoveredthatintwoparticularstreetsthecholeraoutbreakwassoseverethatmorethan500peoplediedintendays.Hewasdeterminedtofindoutwhy.Snowbeganbymarkingonamaptheexactplaceswhereallthosewhodiedhadlived.ThereweremultipledeathsnearthewaterpumpinBroadStreet(especiallyhousenumbers16,37,38,and40).However,somehouseholds(suchas20and21BroadStreet,and8and9CambridgeStreet)hadhadnodeaths.Thesepeopleworkedinthepubat7CambridgeStreet.Theyhadbeengivenfreebeer,andsohadnotdrunkthewaterfromthepump.Snowsuspectedthatthewaterpumpwastoblame.Whatismore,inanotherpartofLondon,awomanandherdaughterhaddiedofcholeraaftermovingawayfromBroadStreet.Itseemedthatthewomanlikedthewaterfromthepumpsomuchthatshehaditdeliveredtoherhouseeveryday.Asaresultofthisevidence,JohnSnowwasabletoannouncethatthepumpwatercarriedcholeragerms.Accordingly,hehadthehandleofthepumpremovedsothatitcouldnotbeused.Throughthisintervention,thediseasewasstoppedinitstracks.ThetruthwasthatthewaterfromtheBroadStreetpumphadbeeninfectedbywaste.Moreover,SnowwaslaterabletoshowalinkbetweenothercasesofcholeraandthedifferentwatercompaniesinLondon.SomecompaniessoldwaterfromtheRiverThamesthatwaspollutedbyrawwaste.Thepeoplewhodrankthiswaterweremuchmorelikelytogetcholerathanthosewhodrankpureorboiledwater.ThroughSnow’stirelessefforts,watercompaniesbegantosellcleanwaterandthethreatofcholeraaroundtheworldsawasubstantialdecrease.However,choleraisstillaproblem.Eachyear,millionsofpeoplearoundtheworldgetcholeraandmanydiefromit.Fortunately,wenowknowhowtopreventcholera,thankstotheworkofJohnSnow.Moreover,inhisuseofmapsandstatistics,Snowtransformedthewayscientistsstudydiseases.Forthisreason,Snowisconsideredthefatherofmodernepidemiology.THEFATHEROFCHINA’SAEROSPACEPerhapsnootherscientisthashadagreaterimpactonChina’saerospacesciencethanQianXuesen.DescribedbytheauthorsoftheStoryofQianXuesenasamanwith“greatscientificthoughtandscientificspirit”whowaspatrioticandservedhishomelandwitheffort,achievement,anddevotion,Qianwasanextremelywell-respectedman.BorninHangzhouin1911,QianattendedschoolsinBeijingandthenenteredShanghaiJiaoTongUniversitytostudyRailwayMechanicalEngineering.However，aftertheSonghuBattlebrokeoutin1932,QianmadethedecisiontoswitchhismajortoaviationbecauseherealisedthatChinaneededitsownpowerfulairforcetoprotectanddefendthecountry.QianwenttotheUnitedStatesin1935topursuehisgraduatestudies.Overthecourseofthe1930sand1940s,QianbecameapioneerinAmericanjetandrockettechnology.AsagraduateassistantattheCaliforniaInstituteofTechnologyduringthe1930s,Qianhelpedconductimportantresearchintorocketpropulsion,andinthe1940s,heandseveralotherpeoplefoundedtheJetPropulsionLaboratory,nowoneofNASA’sleadingspace-explorationcentres.AfterovercomingsomedifficultiesduringhisfinalfewyearsintheUSQianreturnedtoChinain1955.Hereceivedahero’swelcomefromhishomelandandwasputinchargeofnotonlydevelopingChina’srocketsciencebutalsoitsspaceandmissileprogramme.Atthattime,Chinawaspooranditsrocketsciencewasundeveloped.NoinstituteoruniversityinChinaofferedrocketscienceasamajor,andtherewerenotalentsorexpertsinthisfieldinChina.Nevertheless,Qiandidnotletthatdiscouragehimfromtakingonthechallenge.Whenasked“CanweChinesepossiblymakemissiles?”,hisreplywasadetermined“Whynot?WeChineseareabletomakethesamethingsthatotherpeoplemake.”UnderQian’sleadership,ChinadevelopedtheDongfengmissiles,followedbythefirstgenerationofLongMarchrockets.In1970,Chinasuccessfullylauncheditsfirstman-madesatellite,DongFangHongI,fromaLongMarchrocket.BecausemuchofthetechnologybehindtheShenzhourocketscanalsobetracedbacktoQian’sresearch,Qianearnedthenameof“thefatherofChina’saerospace.”Qianreadalotandwasextremelyknowledgeable,especiallyintheareaoffrontierscienceresearch.However,whatmighthavemadehimsuchanoutstandingandcreativescientistwasprobablyhisstronginterestinotherthings,suchasmusicanddrawing.Hisdeepappreciationforartoftengavehiminspirationinhisscientificresearch.AWORLDOFPURETHOUGHTStephenHawkingwasoneofthemostfamousandgiftedscientistsinphysics.Mostpeoplearefamiliarwithimagesofhiminhiswheelchair,unabletomoveandusingacomputertotalk.Sincehecamedownwithadiseasewhichcausedhimtolosetheuseofmostofhismuscles,hisworldbecameoneofabstractthought.Hawkingfirstachievedfamewhenhewasstillhealthyenoughtowalk,asagraduatestudentinphysicsatCambridgeUniversityin1964.Ingeneral,thereweretwomaintheoriesontheoriginoftheuniverse.Thefirstwasthesteadystatetheory,whichholdsthattheuniversehasnobeginningorend.Theotherwasthebigbangtheory,whichholdsthattheuniversebeganatasinglepointintimeandspace.Thebiggestchampio