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■諾貝爾物理學獎由英國曼徹斯特大學的俄裔科學家海姆奪得。 資料圖片
Though sometimes controversial(=causing disagreement), and perhaps less authoritative (= regarded as an authority) than it used to be, the six Nobel Prizes, announced annually in October, still attract extensive media coverage(= reporting) and arouse(= attract) public interest worldwide. You may have read about the various laureates (= winners of a high honour) and their contributions in their respective (= corresponding) fields this year. But do you know how to briefly describe them in English? Let's try to do it today, adapted from the Prizes' citations (= official compliments).
Physiology(= the scientific study of the normal functions of living things) or Medicine: Robert G. Edwards battled societal(= that of society) and establishment(= people in power) resistance to his development of the in vitro(= in a test tube) fertilization(= joining of a sperm and an egg) procedure, which has so far led to the birth of around 4 million people.
Physics: Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov isolated graphene, a sheet of carbon that's just one atom thick, yet super-strong, highly conductive (= able to conduct heat or electricity), practically transparent and able to reveal new secrets of fundamental physics.
Chemistry: Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki developed new, more efficient ways of linking carbon atoms together to build the complex molecules that are improving our everyday lives.
Literature: Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian(= of Peru) by birth and a truly international citizen, embraces (= uses) multiple genres (= types or styles)(novels, plays, essays), and politics too, in his commitment(= promise to support) to social change.
Peace: Liu Xiaobo, a visiting scholar at several universities outside of China, including Columbia University, the University of Oslo and the University of Hawaii between 1988 and 1989.
Economic Sciences: Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides have created mathematical models which provide the framework (= basis) for studying how inefficient processes, such as matching job seekers to the right vacancy, occur in the real world.
The four science prizes (including economics) usually don't provoke much dispute, since they're basically amoral (= not related to morality). But this year, the medicine prize has been criticized by the Catholic Church, since the Vatican opposes 'test tube babies'. The Literature Prize sometimes causes disagreement, but not in this year.
As for the Peace Prize, it is often a bone of contention (= a subject that causes disagreement), and every now and then some people would say that the Nobel Prize is, after all, not so noble. This year is no exception. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Liu Xiaobo is a convicted (= found guilty) criminal sentenced to jail by Chinese justice authorities for violation of Chinese law, and awarding the accolade (= honour) to him is a 'blasphemy' (= an insult) against the Peace Prize.
Questions
1. How do we pronounce the word 'Nobel'?
2. How do we pronounce the word 'noble'? How can we add letters in front of it to produce its antonym?
3. Which word is an antonym of 'noble' - 'base', 'basic' or 'basal'?
Answer
1. 'Nobel' is pronounced 'no-BELL'.
2. 'Noble' is pronounced 'NO-bl'. Its antonym is 'ignoble'.
3. An antonym of 'noble' is 'base'. ■ MT Ness
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