Lesson Nine Against All Odds Michael White & John Gribbin

Introduction to the background knowledge The structure of the text Detailed discussion of the text Conclusion of the text Assignment Teaching Procedures

About Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA (born 8 January 1942) is a British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific career spans over forty years. His books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences,and in 2009 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

About Stephen Hawking Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years, taking up the post in 1979 and retiring on 1 October 2009.He is also a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and a Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario.He is known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity, especially in the context of black holes. He has also achieved success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general; these include the runaway best seller A Brief History of Time, which stayed on the British Sunday Times bestsellers list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.

About Stephen Hawking Hawking's key scientific works to date have included providing, with Roger Penrose, theorems regarding gravitational singularities in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes should emit radiation, which is today known as Hawking radiation (or sometimes as Bekenstein–Hawking radiation) Hawking has a neuro-muscular dystrophy that is related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a condition that has progressed over the years and has left him almost completely paralysed.

About The Text This text is adapted from the biography of Stephen Hawking—Stephen Hawking: A life in Science, 2nd edition, written by Michael White and John Gribbin, published in 1998.

The structure of the text Part 1 (paras. 1—3): Hawking was diagnosed with ALS. It was very hard for him to accept the fact that he was wasting away. Part 2 (paras.4-10): The turning point in Hawking’s life, esp. with the appearance of his wife. Hawking began to make miraculous achievements with the support of his wife.

Detailed Discussion of the Text Question 1: In the first paragraph, against what background did Hawking realize there was something wrong with his body? It was a Christmas season. Everything in the world was enveloped in joyfulness. Every house was filled with festivity. Nevertheless, nothing could stop the deterioration of the disease. It seemed to be a cruel thing to let disease befall on people. The fatal disease turned out to be a serious blow to the young ambitious Hawking in this season of celebrations. And it took him a long time to adjust himself to ALS.

Question 2: How did Hawking first accept the fact that he had two years to live in this world? After hearing the news, he just wanted to gave himself up. He only wanted to live to the end and died.

Question 3: What caused Hawking to drag himself out of depression? First the boy who died of leukaemia in the bed opposite to Hawking’s made him aware of the fact there were people who were worse off than him. The recurring dreams made Hawking realize he could do some good. What finally made him get rid of his depression was the appearance of Hawking wife—Jane Wilde.

Question 4: In para. 9, Jane said “I wanted to find some purpose to my existence, and I suppose I found it in the idea of looking after him. But we were in love.” How do you understand the sentence? The sentence also points out another theme of the text—the power of love. Love made Jane look after Hawking whole-heartedly and it was Jane’s love that made Hawking stand up spiritually.

Question 5: What is the implication of “it was still touch and go, but a wonderful chance was just around the corner”? Physically speaking, Hawking is in an uncertain and dangerous situation. Nevertheless, academically speaking, Hawking’s science career is on the way to becoming glorious.

Conclusion of the text Everybody has to struggle against some odds. We are no exception. But compared with the kind of odds Hawking has had to fight against, our difficulties and hardships must seem trivial. We believe that young students can all draw strength from such a fine example.