SAT写作素材之袁隆平
袁隆平(1930-)，农学家、杂交水稻育种专家。1953 年西南农学院农学系毕业。历任研究员、湖南杂交水稻研究中心主任、湖南农科院名誉院长、国家杂交水稻工程技术研究中心主任，1995 年当选为中国工程院院士。
袁隆平长期从事杂交水稻育种理论研究和制种技术实践。1964 年首先提出培育“不育系、保持系、恢复系”三系法利用水稻杂种优势的设想并进行科学实验。1970 年，与其助手李必湖和冯克珊在海南发现一株花粉败育的雄性不育野生稻，成为突破“三系”配套的关键。1972 年育成中国第一个大面积应用的水稻雄性不育系“二九南一号A”和相应的保持系“二九南一号B”，次年育成了第一个大面积推广的强优组合“南优二号”，并研究出整套制种技术。1986 年提出杂交水稻育种分为“三系法品种间杂种优势利用、两系法亚种间杂种优势利用到一系法远缘杂种优势利用”的战略设想。被同行们誉为“杂交水稻之父”
Yuan Longping(1930-)
"I saw rice plants as tall as Chinese sorghum,” said Yuan Longping of a dream he once had, “each ear of rice as big as a broom and each grain of rice as huge as a peanut. I could hide in the shadow of the rice crops with a friend." Born into a poor farmer's family in 1931 and a graduate from the Southwest Agriculture Institute in 1953, Yuan began his teaching career at an agriculture school in Anjiang, Hunan Province.
He came up with an idea for hybridizing rice in the 1960s, when a series of natural disasters and inappropriate policies had plunged China into an unprecedented famine that caused many deaths. Since then, he has devoted himself to the research and development of a better rice breed. In 1964, he happened to find a natural hybrid rice plant that had obvious advantages over others. Greatly encouraged, he began to study the elements of this particular type. In 1973, in cooperation with others, he was able to cultivate a type of hybrid rice species which had great advantages. It yielded 20 percent more per unit than that of common ones.
The next year their research made a breakthrough in seeding. They successfully developed a set of technologies for producing indica (long-grained non-glutinous) rice, putting China in the lead worldwide in rice production. For this achievement, he was dubbed the "Father of Hybrid Rice."
In 1979, theirtechnique for hybrid rice was introduced into the United States, the first case of intellectual property rights transfer in the history of new China.
SAT写作素材之”超人“
Christopher Reeve 因在70年代成功塑造无所不能的超人形象而一夜走红，却于1995年的一场事故中严重摔伤。十年轮椅上的生活不能不说是一种痛苦和折磨，但Christopher是一位真正的勇士。他置信终有一天自己可以脱离轮椅，站起来拥抱妻子和孩子，因此勇敢地和病魔斗争。同时，为了帮助其他和他同病相连的人，他大力资助瘫痪医学研究中心。
Christopher Reeve starred as “Superman” in 1977, making his name well-known worldwide. However, he became a real “superman” after an accident in 1995 which made him paralyzed from neck down. Believing that he never belonged to a wheelchair, Christopher Reeve did intense exercise everyday to keep his body strong in order to receive future treatments. No matter how slim the chance was for him to stand up, Christopher never wavered in his determination. Not only had he set a good example for others by fighting off a number of serious infections but also he had used his name to benefit others by establishing organizations, such as Christopher Reeve Foundation and Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which helped speed up spinal cord research and improve disabled people’s living conditions. Although he died of heart attack without recovering from paralysis in 2004, he taught others the importance of courage, persistence and optimism.
SAT写作素材之布莱德科恩
Brad Cohen是一名普通的妥瑞氏症患者，但是他凭借自信乐观的人生态度成为令人敬佩的教师和演讲家。他改变了被嘲笑和排斥的命运，就因为从来不放弃。他用自己的行动证明，妥瑞氏患者也可以为社会做出贡献，而不是逃避和埋怨。上帝关上了一扇门，而Brad Cohen没有被动地等待，他靠自己的努力打开了另一扇通往成功的大门。
Tourette’s Syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder that causes people to make physical and vocal tics. Tortured by such an incurable sickness, most adults are out of work and most kids have to stay at home. Brad Cohen, as a 12-year-old sufferer, was once supposed to just hide away for the rest of his life. However, he had found his own philosophy to live by rather than let Tourette’s win. With optimism and confidence he decided to be a teacher and educate people and to prove that Tourette’s would never get the best of him. After he graduated from college with multiple honors, he began to seek a job at an elementary school in Atlanta. Gifted as he was, he failed to move the interviewers who felt unbearable about the strange noises and tics he made during interviews. Some of them even sneered and jeered at him without a look at his resume. It is not hard to imagine how disappointed and frustrated he was each time when being refused, but it is hard to imagine how much courage it needs for Cohen to face his adversity head on. 24 times of failures ended up with an opening for him at Mountain View Elementary School. And his excellence in teaching convinced all people who once doubted him.
