Helen Keller

Helen Keller, who was born in 1880, became deaf and blind at the age of 18 months, as a result of a terrible illness. Because of 1. ___this___ , she soon became unable to speak, either. 2. ___There___ seemed to be no solution to the problem until her parents asked Alexander Graham Bell to help 3. her/them___. He decided that 4. ___what___ she needed was a special teacher and after much searching he found 5. __one___. She was a young woman called Anne Sullivan, 6. __who__ began to teach Helen the names of things by writing 7.___them___ in the palm of her hand. Helen later learned to speak by feeling the vibrations in Sullivan's throat when she spoke.

Helen gradually learned to read and write in Braille. She studied at special schools for the deaf in Boston and New York, and from 8.__there___ she went to university, 9. ___where___ Sullivan "wrote" the lectures in the palm of her hand.

Helen never recovered her hearing or her sight, but 10. ___this/that/it___ did not stop her spending her life working to help the deaf and blind. She travelled all over the world giving lectures to raise money for their education and to make people more aware of their problems and 11. ___what___ can be done to solve them. Because 12.___it__ was difficult for ordinary people to understand 13. __what__ she was saying, she generally spoke using an interpreter. She wrote several books about her life and work, and, in 1962, 14.___one___ of these was made into a film. She died in 1968, 15.___when___ she was 88.

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit in 1902. He is chiefly remembered 1. ___for___ his non-stop solo flight 2. ___across___ the Atlantic from New York to Paris in 1927. He learnt to fly at army flying schools in Texas in 1924, and his first job was 3.___as___ an airmail pilot in 1926, when he flew the route 4.___between___ St Louis and Chicago.

During this period, he managed to raise money 5.___from___ businessmen in St Louis to make his famous flight which took place on May 20th and 23rd. The plane, which only had one engine, was so full 6._of___ fuel that Lindbergh had to fly close 7.___to___ the sea. The plane's top speed was 200 kilometres an hour, and the flight took over 33 hours. Lindbergh had to stay awake all that time. He could not look forward as his view was obstructed 8.___by___ fuel tanks, and he had to use a periscope to see what was in 9.___front___ of him or look out 10.__of/through___ the side windows.

His achievement turned him 11.___into___ an immediate hero 12.___on___ both sides of the Atlantic, and he became well-known all 13.___over___ the world. The plane returned to the United States 14.___by___ ship. During the years that followed, Lindbergh flew it frequently to encourage interest 15.___in___ flying, before giving it to a museum.

Roald Amundsen

Roald Amundsen, who was the first man to 1.___reach______ the South Pole in 1911, had 2.___studied___ medicine at university before 3.___becoming___ a sailor. He had intended to be the first person to the North Pole, but when he 4.___heard/learnt/discovered___ that an American called Peary had got there first, he secretly 5.___set___ out for the South Pole - a secret that only his brother 6.___knew______.

Amundsen 7.___set___ up his base in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica and there he prepared his journey carefully. He 8.___made______ a shorter trip into the interior of the continent to leave supplies for the big journey to the Pole. In order to transport the supplies, he used dogs to 9.___pull______ the sleds.

He 10.___started/began___ his journey on October 19th 1911, and 11.___arrived___ at the Pole on December 14th. He finally 12. ___returned___ to his base at the end of January.

Amundsen 13.___earned/made______ enough money from his Antarctic adventure to start a successful shipping business, but he 14.___continued___ to be interested in polar exploration, and during the 1920s he 15.___flew___ over the North Pole in various types of aircraft before 16.___dying___ in an accident in 1928.