SAT作文写作素材.docx

SAT作文写作素材.docx

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SAT作文写作素材

1

Bellandhislegacy

Itissuchacommonoccurrencethatnooneeverwondersfromwhenceitcame.Butthetelephonehasafascinatingstorybehindit,onethatcouldbeentitled."TheConquestofSolitude."ItisthestoryofAlexanderGrahamBell.

HewasborninEdinburgh,Scotland.In1847,thesonofamanwhowasconsumed,passionatelyconsumed,withtheworkingsofthehumanvoice,howitisproducedandused,andespecially,inteachingthedeafhowtouseit.Forinthosedays,yousee,thedeaflivedinpermanentsolitude.Notonlycouldtheynothear,theycouldnotspeak.Afterall,howcouldtheypronouncewords,theycouldn'thear?

PerhapsthisobsessionoftheelderBellwasoneofthereasonshemarriedwhomhedid.Forthewomanwhowouldgivebirthtotheinventorofthetelephone……wasdeaf!

YoungAlexanderGrahamBellgrewupwithhisfather'spassions.In1870,becauseofpoorhealth,hemigratedtoCanada.ItwasnotlongbeforehissuccessinteachingthedealtospeakbroughthimtotheattentionofawealthymerchantinBostonwhohadadeafdaughter,Mabel.WouldMr.BellpleaseteachMabelhowtospeak?

Yes,hewould,anddid.Andtheyfellinlove.Itwasshewhoinspiredhimthroughtheexhaustingexperiments,whopulledhimthroughtheclepressioljsthatofteninflictthosewhosedrivetosucceedissointense,whilehedevelopedthethenremarkableinstrumentthattransformedspeechintoelectricalimpulsesthatcouldthenbeconvertedbackintohumanspeechattheendofawire.Hehadpiercedyetanothersolitude,theonethatupuntilthenhaddeniedhumanspeechbetweenpeopledistantfromoneanother.Ayearlater,in1877,heandMabelweremarried.HelaterbecameanAmericancitizen.

Oh,ALexanderGrahahlBellwasshoweredwiththepraiseoftheworld.Honorscametohimfromallthepointsofthecompass.Yes,hewouldgoontootherdiscoveries,manyofthem.Butinhisownview,hewasmostproudofhiseffortstohelpthedeaf.So,whenthegovernmentofFranceawardedhimtheVoltaPrizeforinventingthetelephone,hecombinedthismonetaryawardwiththemoneyhemadefromsellingthepatentonanotherinventiontoestablishtheVoltaBureauinWashington,D.C..Itspurposewastofundresearchondeafness.

Today,itiscalledtheAlexanderGrahamBellAssociation.Itsrolehasbeenchangedtoprovidingthelatestinformationtothedeafoftheworldonhowbesttocopewiththeirdisability.

AlexanderGrahamBelldiedin1922:

Mabelfivemonthslater.Shelovedhimthatmuch.Hisnameislikelytoliveaslongasmanrecallshistory.Afterall,thereisthisconstantreminderofhowhebroughtthehumanfamilyintoclosertouch.Thefirstvoicetotraveloverawirewasevenasurpriseforitsinventor.AlexanderGrahamBell.Hewasexperimentinginhislaboratorylateonenight,andquitebyaccidenthesucceededintransmittingamessagetohisassistantinthenextroom.

WhatMr.Bellcouldnotknowatthetimewasthatthatnightin1876wouldmarkthestartofarevolutionincommunications.Atfirst,twoironwiresconnectedeachpairoftelephones.Thenswitchboardsbroughtphonewiresintoonelocation,otherinventions-thevacuumtubetoamplifysound,andcoaxialcablestolinklongdistancesonlandandundertheseas--greatlyexpandedphoneservice.

Transistorsreplacedtheoldvacuumtubes,andbythe1960scommunicationssatelliteseliminatedthenecessityoflandlines.Today,bundlesofglassfiberscarrycallsonlaserbeamsoflight.Manyoftheseinventions—includingsoundmotionpicturesandstereorecording,alongwith23,00otherpatents—comefromAT&TBellLaboratoriesfoundedin1925.

JohnDavisisexecutivedirectorofBellLaboratoriesConsumerProductsDivision.Hesays,aswemoveintothe1900s,wecanexpectevengreaterflexibilityintelecommunications.Itishardtoimagineaworldwithoutthetelephone.Ourliveshavegrowntodependoncomputerslinkedintophonelinestodoourshopping,ourbanking,orhelpingusthroughatypicaldaywork.Whenyouwalkintoyouroffice,thefirstthingyoudoistoturnonthecomputerandpullupyourelectronicmailfortheday.Ofcourse,yourelectronicmaildoesnotcomeinthroughthemail-box,bitcomesinthroughtelephonelines.Thenicethingisyoucanturnthemaroundbysimplyforwardingbackwithouthavingtoworryaboutaddressingorstampingorenvelopingtheinformationtothepersonthatsentyouthemessage.

2

TheinterviewofBillGates

Question:

Whathasbeenyourkeytosuccess?

BillGates:

Well,comingupwithasimpleexplanationforthekindofsuccess,thatah,I’ve,I’vebeen1）privilegedtobepartofworkingatMicrosoft,Itisverydifficult.Certainlythere’smanyelementstoit.thevisionofthecompanycomingright,whenthe2）micro-processorwascomingintoit’sown,thefocusonsoftware,andworkingwithpartnerswhocouldbringintheotherelements,thefocusonthelongterm,hiringgreatpeople,reallyworkingwithcustomers,knowingthatwe’dbethereworkingwiththemtenyearslaterandtwentyyearslater.Allofthosehavecometogethertobuildagreatsuccessstory,that’sbeen3）incrediblyfuntobepartofit.Ithink,thepeopleisprobablythethingI’dputatthetop.Visionhasgottobeabigpartofit,butsomanyofthesethings,youknow,reallycomedowntoday-to-day4）execution.Ifwe’d5）slackedoffatanypoint,thenyouknowtherewouldhavebeenplentyofpeopletocomeinandtakeourplace,andthere’scertainlythecaseaswelookforward,thatwehavetocontinuetoobsoletetheproducts,continuetostayinclosetouchwiththecustomers,continuetohireingreatpeopleandstandontopofthetechnology,orelse,the6）phenomenonwillcontinue,butwewon’thavetheroleinitthatwe,thatwehavetoday.

TheStoryofBillGatesinhisboyhood

Asachild-andasanadultaswell-Billwasuntidy.Ithasbeensaidthatinordertocounteractthis.Marydrewupweeklyclothingplansforhim.OnMondayshemightgotoschoolinblue,onTuesdaysingreen,onWednesdaysinbrown,onThursdaysinblack,andsoon,Weekendmealschedulesmightalsobeplannedindetail.Everythingtime,atworkorduringhisleisuretime.

DinnertablediscussionsintheGate'sfamilyhomewerealwayslivelyandeducational."Itwasarichenvironmentinwhichtolearn,"Billremembered.

Bill'scontemporaries,evenattheage,recognizedthathewasexceptional.Everyyear,heandhisfriendswouldgotosummercamp.Billespeciallylikedswimmingandothersports.Oneofhissummercampfriendsrecalled,"Hewasneveranerdoragooforthekindofkidyoudidn'twantyourteam.WeallknewBillwassmarterthanus.Evenbackthen,whenhewasnineortenyearsold,hetalkedlikeanadultandcouldexpresshimselfinwaysthatnoneofusunderstood."

Billwasalsowellaheadofhisclassmatesinmathematicsandscience.HeneededtogotoaschoolthatchallengedhimtoLakeside-anall-boys'schoolforexceptionalstudents.ItwasSeattle'smostexclusiveschoolandwasnotedforitsrigorousacademicdemands,aplacewhere"eventhedumbkidsweresmart."

Lakesideallowedstudentstopursuetheirowninterests,towhateverextenttheywished.Theschoolprideditselfonmakingconditionsandfacilitiesavailablethatwouldenableallitsstudentstoreachtheirfullpotential.ItwastheidealenvironmentforsomeonelikeBillGates.

In1968,theschoolmadeadecisionthatwouldchangethirteen-year-oldBillGates'slife-andthatofmanyofothers,too.

Fundswereraised,mainlybyparents,thatenabledtheschooltogainaccesstoacomputer-aProgramDataprocessor（PDP）-throughateletypemachine.TypeinafewinstructionsontheteletypemachineandafewsecondslaterthePDPwouldtypebackitsresponse.BillGateswasimmediatelyhooked-sowashisbestfriendatthetime,KentEvans,andanotherstudent,PaulAllen,whowastwoyearsolderthanBill.

Whenevertheyhadfreetime,andsometimeswhentheydidn't,theywoulddashovertothecomputerroomtousethemachine.Thestudentsbecamesosingle-mindedthattheysoonovertooktheirteachersinknowledgeaboutcomputingandgotintoalotoftroublebecauseoftheirobsession.Theywereneglectingtheirotherstudies-everypieceofwordwashandedinlate.Classeswerecut.Computertimewasalsoprovingtobeveryexpensive.Withinmonths,thewholebudgetthathadbeensetasidefortheyearhadbeenusedup.

Atfourteen,Billwasalreadywritingshortprogramsforthecomputertoperform.EarlygamesprogramssuchasTic-Tac-Toe,orNoughtsandCrosses,andLunarLandingwerewritteninwhatwastobecomeBill'ssecondlanguage,BASIC.

OneofthereasonsBillwassogoodatprogrammingisbecauseitismathematicalandlogical.DuringhistimeatLakeside,Billscoredaperfecteighthundredonamathematicstest.Itwasextremelyimportanttohimtogetthisgrade-hehadtotakethetestmorethanonceinordertodoit.

IfBillGateswasgoingtobegoodatsomething.Itwasessentialtobethebest.

Bill'sandPaul'sfascinationwithcomputersandthebusinessworldmeantthattheyreadagreatdeal.PaulenjoyedmagazineslikePopularElectronics,Computertimewasexpensiveand,becausebothboysweredesperatetogetmoretimeandbecauseBillalreadyhadaninsightintowhattheycouldachievefinancially,thetwoofthemdecidedtosetthemselvesupasacompany:

TheLakesideProgrammersGroup."Let'scalltherealworldandtrytosellsomethingtoit!

"Billannounced.

3

FORBLOOMINGINWARDS—NIGHTINGALE

InMay1857aCommissiontostudythewholequestionofthearmymedicalservicebegantosit.Thepricewashigh.FlorenceNightingalewasdoingthisgruelingworkbecauseitwasvital,notbecauseshehad