A biography of Isaac Asimov

艾萨克·阿西莫夫 Isaac Asimov, (1920-1992)， 美籍犹太人，为本世纪最顶尖的科幻小说家之一，是一位多产得惊人的作家，自 50年代初，至今已出版了300多部著作。

《最新科学指南》 I, Robot 《作品100》

Glance through the text quickly to find the answers to the questions. Which paragraph tells you when and where Asimov was born and died? Which paragraph tells you about his education? Which paragraph tells you about awards he received? Para.2 Para.3 Para.5

Scan the text for specific information. Try to answer the question. What subject did Asimov teach? When did he start having stories published? How many children did he have? Biochemistry. In 1950. Two.

Date Event Born in Russia. 1920 1922 1923 1929 _____ Sister born . Moved with family to New York __________________________ Parents bought a candy store. Started working in candy store. _____________________________Mother had her third child. 1931 Started to take himself seriously as a writer.

_____________________________________________________. Began having stories published in science fiction magazines 1939 _____ 1942 1942-1945 Gained Master’s degree in chemistry. 1941 Finished working in candy store. Got married Worked as a junior chemist __________________________________ 1948 Got PhD in chemistry.

Became a biochemistry teacher, Boston University School of Medicine. 1949 _____ 1950 1951-1953 Published his first novel.______________________. Developed three laws for robots. Published “I, Robot” Published “The Foundation Trilogy” and won an award for it. 1953 Published first science book. 1958 Became a full-time writer.

Divorced his first wife. 1973 _____ 1992 Married for a second wife Had a blood transfusion. Became infected with HIV. 1983 Died in New York ___________________________.

Comprehending 1. Who was Isaac Asimov? A. An American scientist and writer who got his PhD in physics in 1948. B. A Russian scientist and writer who married twice. C. A Russian—American writer and scientist who became a full—time writer in 1958. D. An American-Russian writer and scientist who had two children.

2. What was Asimov best known for? A. His mystery stories. B. His science fiction stories. C. His science and history books. D. His books about the Bible and about Shakespeare.

3. All the following statements are TRUE except_______. A. Asimov’s talent for writing became obvious at age 12. B. He began having his stories published in science fiction magazines in 1939. C. He published his first novel in 1950. D. He published his first science book in 1953.

4. In which book did Asimov develop a set of three “laws”? A. The Foundation Trilogy. B. I, Robot. C. In his first novel. D. In his first science book.

5. What might happen in a world where there were robots if Asimov’s three laws didn’t exist? A. Maybe robots will harm or injure human beings. B. Maybe robots will disobey human beings. C. In order to protect their own existence, robots may injure human D. All of the above.

F F T T Isaac Asimov’s best known work was his mystery stories. Asimov was born in America on 2 January, 1920. Asimov became a biochemistry teacher in 1949. In 1931 Asimov’s talent for writing became obvious. science fiction stories. F Russia F T T

F T T (5) In 1950, he published his first science book. (6) “The Foundation Trilogy” consists of 3 stories about death and rebirth of a great empire in a galaxy of the future. (7) In his collection of short stories, he developed a set of three “laws” for robots. his first novel F and in 1953 his first science book. T T

Asimov’s Laws For Robots First Law : A robot must not injure human beings or allow them to be injured. Second Law : A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings (as long as human being are not injured ). Third Law : A robot must protect its own existence (as long as human beings are not injured; and as long as the robot does not disobey the human beings).

1. Asimov had both an extraordinary 1. Asimov had both an extraordinary imagination that gave him the ability to explore future worlds and an amazing mind with which he searched for explanations of everything, in the present and the past. 阿西莫夫不仅有着超凡的想象力，使 他能对未来世界进行探索，而且还有 着惊人的智力，使他能对现在和过去 的各种事物作出解释。

1. search, search for 与 in search of 搜寻” search for \search+地点+for “（在某地）寻找某物”。 in search of 是介词短语，表“寻找”，在句中 作状语，表目的。

e.g. 敌人搜查了这个红军。 ______________________________________ The enemies searched the Red Army man. 他们找遍了整个城市是为了找到这个丢失的男孩。 _______________________________ for the missing boy. They have searched the whole city 这个男孩去了很多地方寻找那只丢失的猫。 The boy has been to many places ______________________ in search of the lost cat.

2. ... when he died as a result of an HIV infection … He was late as a result of the snow. 由于大雪他迟到了。 He defeated all competitors and won the scholarship as a result. 他击败了所有的竞争者，最终赢得了奖学金。

He worked hard at his study. __________, he passed the exam easily. ____________ his hard work, he passed the exam easily. He ran into debt ____________ drinking too much. As a result As a result of as a result of

3. It was when Asimov was eleven years old 3. It was when Asimov was eleven years old that his talent for writing became obvious. 该句使用了强调句型It was ... that ... 强 调了时间状语从句when Asimov was eleven years old。

It was in the street that I met her father. 1. 我是在街上遇见她的父亲的。 2. 你是昨天看那部电影的吗？ It was in the street that I met her father. Was it yesterday that you saw the film ?

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