Li Boynton, 18, a senior at Bellaire High School, says meeting the president and first lady in White House will top the stack of academic honors she has accumulated.
In the fifth grade, Li Boynton built a device that removed salt from seawater. In the 11th grade she created a cheap method of testing for water contaminants.
Along the way, the Bellaire High School senior racked up $50,000 in college scholarships, won top honors in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, became a semifinalist in Intel’s Science Talent Search and was accepted to Yale University.
Biology teacher Anna Loonam, who taught Boynton as a freshman and again as a junior, called her “a top science student.” Art teacher Jo Zider has described her as “one who looks deeply into the mystery of life.” An entire class of younger science students appreciates her, too.
Boynton’s premier achievement as a young scientist was creation of a method to test for water pollutants by using light-generating bacteria. The student found that the microscopic organisms generated less light as the water’s toxicity grew.
By placing a bacterial culture in a light-tight box with a digital camera and processing the results through a free computer program, Boynton was able to reliably and cheaply test for half a dozen common pollutants. The technology won top science and engineering fair honors.
Boynton, who hopes to become a medical doctor or researcher or both, credits her mother, Laura Luo, a financial manager; her father, John Boynton, an aeronautical engineer; and her stepfather, Robert Pearson, a computer science expert, for supporting her academic interests.
Accepted by Yale, Li recently also applied to Harvard University.
Outside the classroom, she enjoys socializing on Web social sites and shopping. Sports, she said, hold little charm. “Physical education is one of my worst classes. I failed pushups.”
3.3. Письмові завдання
Вправа 3. Складіть розповіді про різних людей за інформацією з таблиці. Наприклад: Jean Lacroi is a taxi driver. He comes from France and lives in Paris. He works ...
| Name | Jean Lacroi | Tisato Greenwood | Sean O’Ranfey |
| Age | |||
| Occupation | taxi driver | dance teacher | journalist for “The Irish Examiner” |
| Origin | France | Japan | Ireland |
| Town | Paris | Boston | Dublin |
| Place of work | in the centre of Paris | high school | in an office |
| Languages | French | Japanese, English | English, French, and German |
| Family | a cat | married to an American, two sons | married, two daughters |
| Free time | computer games and singing | travelling | golf, yachting |
3.4. Граматика. Дієслова to be, to have
Дієслово to be
| Функції та значення | Приклади |
| 1. Смислове дієслово із значенням «бути», «знаходитись». У реченні після нього вживається іменник з прийменником або прислівник. | Our institute is in the center of the city. – Наш інститут знаходиться у центрі міста. He is here. – Він тут. |
| 2. Дієслово–зв’язка. Після нього можуть вживатися іменник або прикметник. | My friend is a designer. – Мій друг – конструктор. She is beautiful. – Вона вродлива. |
| 3. Допоміжне дієслово: а) для формування часів групи Continuous; б) для формування пасивного стану. | He is making an experiment. – Він проводить експеримент. This book was published last year. – Ця книга була опублікована у минулому році. |
| 4. Модальне дієслово у значенні «повинен»: to be to | He is to come at 7. – Він повинен прийти о сьомій. |
| Відмінювання дієслова to be в Present Indefinite Tense | ||
| Число Особа | Однина | Множина |
| І | I am | We are |
| ІІ | You are | You are |
| ІІІ | He, she, it is | They are |