【明報專訊】Professor Stephen Hawking (霍金) passed away on 14 March, aged 76, at his home in Cambridge. His funeral, a private one, was held at a church in the University of Cambridge, which had been his academic home for more than 50 years. His ashes will be interred next to Isaac Newton (牛頓) and Charles Darwin (達爾文) in Westminster Abbey (西敏寺).

The physicist had made a name for himself with his theories about black holes (黑洞). His book A Brief History of Time (《時間簡史》) , a layman's guide to cosmology, sold millions of copies. He also warned humans on Earth not to make contact with aliens, who might just raid Earth for its resources and then move on.

Spending more than half of his life in a wheelchair, Hawking battled motor neurone disease (運動神經元病) to become one of the most respected scientists of his age. He once wrote that the disease had not stopped him from having an attractive family and being successful in his work. "It shows," he said, "that one need not lose hope." (Sources: Ming Pao, BBC)

■English highway﹕make a name for oneself

If you make a name for yourself, you become famous or respected by a lot of people.

e.g. The girl has made a name for herself as a talented dancer.

■Game １

Coincidentally, Hawking passed away on the birthday of science genius Albert Einstein (愛因斯坦), while Hawking's birthday, January 8, 1942, fell on the 300th anniversary of the death of another great science mind, Galileo Galilei (伽利略). Can you match the images of the following renowned scientists to their names?

(See picture 2)

Einstein

Newton

Galileo

Darwin

■Game ２

Dr Panda is outside the church to bid his last farewell to Professor Hawking. There are three objects mentioned in the article, which can best represent the scientist. Can you find and circle them all?

(Answers on next text)

■Glossary

ashes (n) 骨灰

layman (n) 外行

cosmology (n) 宇宙學

raid (v) 突襲

[Smarties' Power English 第214期]