5.
阅读理解
Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor
and engineer, was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833, but moved to Russia
with his parents in 1842, where his father, Immanuel, made a strong position
for himself in the engineering industry. Immanuel Nobel invented landmines and
made a lot of money from the government during the Crimean War(克里米亚战争), but went bankrupt soon after. Then, the family returned to Sweden
in 1859, where Alfred began his own study of explosives in his father's lab. He
had never been to school or university but had taught himself, and by the time
he was twenty, he became a skillful chemist and excellent linguist, speaking Swedish,
Russian, German, French and English. He built up about 100companies in 20
different countries. He was always searching for a meaning to life. He spent
much time and money working on how to end the wars, and the peace between
nations, until he died in Italy in 1896. His famous last will, in which he left
money to provide prizes for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, physiology
or medicine, literature and peace, is a memorial to his interests and ideas.
And so, the man is remembered and respected long after his death.