I have been very lucky to have won the Nobel Prize twice. It is, of course, very exciting to have such an important recognition of my work, but the real pleasure was in the work itself. Scientific research is like an exploration of a voyage of discovery. You are continually trying out new things that have not been done before. Many of them will lead nowhere and you have to try something different, but sometimes an experiment does work and tells you something new and that is really exciting. However small the new finding may be, it is great to think “ I am the only person who knows this” and then you will have the fun of thinking what this finding will lead to and deciding what will be the next experiment. One of the best things about scientific research is that you are always doing something different and it is never boring. There are good times when things go well and bad times when they don’t. Some people get discouraged at the difficult times but when I have a failure, my policy has always been not to worry but to start planning the next experiment, which is always fun.
It is very exciting to make a new discovery. Some people will do the strangest things for this excitement, such as going round the world in a balloon or walking to the North Pole. There are not many new places to explore but there is a lot of new information to be discovered in science and a journey into this unknown area can be much more worthwhile and just as exciting.
I am sometimes asked, “What do you have to do to win a Nobel Prize?” My answer is: “I don’t know. I have never tried.” But I know of one way not to win one. There are some people whose main reason for doing science is to win prizes and they are always thinking about how to do it. Such people don’t succeed. To do good science you must be interested in it and enjoy doing experiments and thinking out problems. And, of course, you must be prepared to work hard and not to be too discouraged by failure.
小题1:In the writer’s eyes his greatest pleasure in all his lifetime is _______.
| A．to win the Nobel Prize for the first time |
| B．to be awarded the Nobel Prize for the second time. |
| C．in the work itself |
| D．to have a much more important recognition of his work. |
小题2:Why did the writer think scientific research to be one of the best things?
| A．You will be able to win the Nobel Prize through the scientific research |
| B．You can make as much money as possible by doing the scientific research. |
| C．You may continue doing with something different and exciting, so you can never be tired of doing the scientific research. |
| D．You can get much more chances of promotion by making the scientific research. |
小题3:What would the writer do when he had a failure?
| A．He would forget this failure and start the next experiment. |
| B．He used to be worried about it for several days and never forget it. |
| C．He always gave up his study as the result of the failure. |
| D．He used to think out the reasons and then continue to do it again. |
小题4:Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The writer could still keep calm when he heard the news that he had won the Nobel Prize. |
| B．The writer always gave up his courage when he met with some difficulties in the course of his scientific research. |
| C．In the field of science there are still many new things which need to be studied further. |
| D．There are still many exciting places to explore in the world. |
