卡弗:坚持不懈的“花生人”

江苏 郑红进

乔治·华盛顿·卡弗凭借农作物轮作技术闻名世界，帮农民实现了作物创收。

主题语境：农业人物 篇幅：309词 建议用时：6分钟

1On January 5, 1945, the United States Congress voted to make every January 5 George Washington Carver Day. George Washington Carver became one of America's greatest scientists in the field of agriculture.His discoveries changed farming in the South of the United States. Quiet and kind, he could have become rich from his discoveries, but he preferred to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of people.

2George was born to slave parents on a farm in Missouri. The farm belonged to a family whose name was Carver. George grew up knowing little about his mother and his father, who had died in an accident when he was a baby. Moses Carver and his wife Susan raised young George as their own and taught the boy how to read and write. He graduated from Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas, in 1880. Then he entered Simpson College in 1890, a school that admitted all qualified applicants and he finally got his college degree.

3George Washington Carver began teaching at Tuskegee Institute (塔斯基吉学院) in 1896. Tuskegee is in Alabama. It is a school for black students. Tuskegee was headed by another black American named Booker T.Washington.It was at Tuskegee that Carver became famous as the head of the Department of Agriculture.

4Carver showed the southern farmers how to grow other crops besides cotton.He made more than 300 items from peanuts. Instant coffee, soap, and ink were just a few of those products. Flour, shoe dye, and candy were some of the products that were made from sweet potatoes.The southern farmers learned a great deal from Carver.

5George Washington Carver died on January 5, 1943, when he was 78 years old, at Tuskegee Institute after falling down the stairs of his home. Carver was buried next to Booker T.Washington on the Tuskegee Institute grounds.

6Upon his death, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave him this title“an inpiring example to youth everywhere”.

Reading Check

Fill in each blank according to the text.

Carver:An insistent peanut man George Washington Carver's contributions(Para.1)●His discoveries changed farming in the 1. .●He preferred to be of the greatest good to the greatest number of people.●He was born into a slave 2. .George Washington Carver's lifetime(Para.2～5)●He 3. in Simpson College,and he finally got his college degree.●He worked as a 4. at Tuskegee Institute in 1896.●He showed the southern farmers how to grow other crops besides cotton.●He made more than 300 5. from peanuts.●He passed 6. on January 5,1943,at Tuskegee Institute.Conclusion(Para.6)●He was 7. “an inspiring example to youth everywhere”by Franklin D.Roosevelt.

Language Study

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强调句

It was at Tuskegee that Carver became famous as the head of the Department of Agriculture.正是在塔斯基吉学院，卡弗作为农业系负责人而成名。