直击2023高考英语（乙卷） 阅读理解 话题1 人物传记

PRACTITIONERS

Jacqueline Felice de Almania (c. 1322) highlights the suspicion that women practicing medicine faced. Born to a Jewish family in Florence, she moved to Paris where she worked as a physician and performed surgery. In 1322 she was tried for practicing unlawfully. In spite of the court hearing testimonials (证明) of her ability as a doctor, she was banned from medicine.

Tan Yunxian (1461 - 1554) was a Chinese physician who learned her skills from her grandparents. Chinese women at the time could not serve apprenticeships (学徒期) with doctors. However, Tan passed the official exam. Tan treated women from all walks of life. In 1511, Tan wrote a book, Sayings of a Female Doctor, describing her life as a physician.

James Barry (c. 1789 - 1865) was born Margaret Bulkley in Ireland but, dressed as a man, she was accepted by Edinburgh University to study medicine. She qualified as a surgeon in 1813, then joined the British Army, serving overseas. Barry retired in 1859, having practiced her entire medical profession living and working as a man.

Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 - 1895) worked as a nurse for eight years before studying in medical college in Boston in 1860. Four years later, she was the first African American woman to receive a medical degree. She moved to Virginia in 1865, where she provided medical care to freed slaves.

You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams(1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank Addams helped the poor and worked for peace She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Rachel Carson(1907-1964)

If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans

Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)

When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman She became an Arizona state senator(参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U S Supreme Court O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court

Rosa Parks(1913-2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger Her simple act landed Parks in prison B. ut it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in," said Parks

Most of us know about the Nobel Prize, especially the Nobel Peace Prize, but few of us know anything about the man who set it up. His name was Alfred Nobel. He was a great scientist and inventor himself. Besides, he had a big business. His business may surprise you. He made and sold explosives (炸药). His companies even made and sold weapons (武器). Isn't this something that surprises you? The man who made money from weapons should set up the Nobel Peace Prize?

Though Alfred Nobel had a lot of money from weapons, he hated war. He hoped that there would be no war in the world. He was one of the richest in Europe. When he died in 1896, he left behind him a lot of money and his famous will. According to his will, most of his money was placed in a fund. He wanted the interest (利息) from the fund to be used as prizes every year. We know them as the Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Prizes are international. Alfred Nobel wanted the winners to be chosen for their work, not the country they came from.

Alfred Nobel had given his whole life to his studies and work and to the benefits of mankind. He made money all by his own efforts, but he let the world share his wealth. His inventions and wealth stay with the world for ever.

Sylvester Stallone has one of the most motivating success stories. Before he made it big, he was essentially a starving artist. For many years after his college years, he worked odd jobs to pay the bill while simultaneously taking on any acting role he could find to keep his dream of becoming a successful actor alive.

Most people don't know this about Sylvester Stallone, but as a young man, he was determined to become a big movie star in Hollywood. He longed to become a great director, producer, and writer. Everyone told him it could not be done, but he wasn't one to take no for an answer. And after finding little luck in the New York's film scene, he decided to take his chances in Los Angeles.

It was a struggle that Sylvester would endure for many years, seven in fact. Throughout all of those seven challenging years, Sylvester would gain a few small roles in a handful of movies, but nothing grand enough to get his career launched. During those seven long years of striving, he came face-to-face with near poverty. Getting so desperate for money, he at one point had to sell his wife's jewelry. And he even had to sell his dog because he couldn't keep him fed. And to top it all, there came a point where Sylvester was homeless, and had to sleep outside for a number of days.

But his days of struggle as an aspiring actor would not last forever. After facing seemingly many hardships for over seven years, he would finally get his big break. And this break would come after he managed to get a script he wrote in a three-day flurry of inspiration in front of two big-shot directors in Hollywood. It was this defining moment that would turn the tide for Sylvester, and his career would skyrocket after he negotiated the lead role in the film that would come to be known as Rocky.

Since then, Sylvester, and his series of movies revolving around Rocky have been inspiring people all around the world. His success story is one that should be observed, retold, and shared, just as much as his movies are.

Women have been making scientific discoveries since ancient times. Twelve women have won the Nobel Prize for science, one of the highest honors in the world. Some women scientists never married, some worked with their husbands, and others raised large families. It has been difficult for women to be successful scientists.

In the early 1800s in England, Mary Anning became one of the first women recognised for her discoveries about the ancient history of the earth. Mary and her father collected fossils in their village on the south coast of Great Britain. Fossils are parts of plants or animals that have been saved in rocks for millions of years.

When she was only twelve years old, Mary became the first person to find the almost complete skeletons of several animals that no longer existed on earth. She didn't become famous for her discoveries at that time because she often sold her fossils to get money to support her family.

In 1891, a young Polish woman named Marie Sklodowska travelled to Paris to study physics. She did so because she could not get a college education in Poland. She began working in the laboratory of a man named Pierre Curie. Marie and Pierre Curie got married and made many discoveries together. They received the Nobel Prize for physics in 1903 along with another scientist. Marie Curie became the first person to be awarded a second Nobel Prize in 1911, this time for chemistry. Marie Curie was one of the few women at the time who became famous as a scientist.