Allan Cormack: a Life in Science

Questions

1. Sequence Which of these happened first?

   Cormack was made a member of a British society of arts Cormack shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Cormack began part-time work as a physicist at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town Cormack helped equip ambulances with X-ray machines to treat soldiers in World War I
2. Details In what year did this happen? "Cormack began part-time work as a physicist at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town."

   1924 1963 1956 1949
3. Timeline math How many years passed between these two events? First: "Cormack published the mathematics behind CT scanning." Later: "He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."

   55 15 17 16
4. Vocabulary In the passage, what does "X-ray" mean?

   a statement in mathematics that has been proved true the remains or traces of a living thing from long ago, preserved in rock a kind of invisible light that can pass through the body to make pictures of bones a substance that trains the body to fight a disease
5. Character traits Which word best describes Allan Cormack?

   inquisitive bored forgetful unkind
6. Evidence Which detail from the passage shows that Cormack was inquisitive?

   He tested every idea with experiments, even when the results surprised everyone. He wondered how doctors could see inside the body in slices, not just in flat X-rays. He learned advanced mathematics largely on his own, working through a borrowed book of formulas. His mother and wife were deaf, and he spent his life studying sound and teaching deaf students.
7. Main idea What is this passage mostly about?

   the life and work of Allan Cormack the life and work of George Washington Carver the life and work of Marie Curie the life and work of Jane Goodall
8. Text structure How does the author organize the middle of the passage?

   as a problem and its solution from most important to least important event by comparing two people in time order, from earlier events to later ones

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