"Famous People"
[A] COMPREHENSION::
Read the passage.
"Alexander Graham Bell"
-1-
The telephone was the invention of Alexander Graham Bell. He was born in Scotland in 1847. His father was a teacher who taught deaf-mutes to speak. In 1870, his father took the family to Canada. His two brothers had died of tuberculosis. Alexander himself had the dreaded disease. Although tuberculosis was an incurable disease at that time, his father thought, rightly, that the fresh air in Canada would cure it.
-2-
Alexander became a professor at Boston University. There, he spent long hours working with a very thin metal sheet placed close to a wire wound around a magnet. On March 1876, he spilt some acid on his clothes and cried out, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" Mr. Watson, who was his assistant, heard the voice over the telephone receiver in another room and rushed to Alexander's aid. The first telephone call had been made!
-3-
Alexander died in 1922. His simple but useful invention underwent many improvements made by other scientists, but it was Alexander who made it possible for a voice to be carried over great distances.
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Answer the questions.
1. What are deaf-mutes?
2. Why was tuberculosis a dreaded disease during Alexander's time?
3. Why did Alexander's father take his family to Canada?
4. What was Alexander's occupation when he invented the telephone?
5. Who was Mr. Watson?
6. What was the first telephone call? (Explain the incident)
7. How did Alexander create the telephone?
8. How is the telephone a 'useful invention'?
[B] VOCABULARY
In the passage, "Alexander Graham Bell", there are 9 underlined words. Match the words with the words and phrases below.
1. __________ : a new creation
2. __________ : most feared
3. __________ : easy; not difficult
4. __________ : poured out accidentally
5. __________ : helper
6. __________ : heal
7. __________ : moved in haste
8. __________ : that can be or can happen
9. __________ : a type of liquid that can cause great pain if spilt on the skin
[C] WRITING
In three to four sentences: Japan invented many things. What do you think is Japan's greatest invention that it was able to contribute to the world? Please explain your answer.
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Source: English Lessons, SAP (Textbook)
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Teacher Mar