Reading

1 Read this extract of a biographical profile. Then complete it with the headings for each section.

a. ______________________Helen Keller was born a healthy baby. Unfortunately, when she was 19 months old, she got terribly sick. Her illness left her blind and deaf.

b. ______________________Despite her impairments, she kept trying to communicate with the world around her, mainly using signs. She got very frustrated when she realized she was different from people around her and would scream, kick and hit others when in anger.

c. ______________________Helen’s parents looked for specialized help for her daughter. They contacted the Perkins Institute for the Blind, asking for a teacher. The director appointed Anne Sullivan, a 20-year-old former student of the institute, for the task. They worked and lived together as good friends for the next 49 years.

d. ______________________Sullivan moved to the Keller’s home in Alabama in 1887. She immediately started to work with Helen, teaching finger spelling and helping her to make connections between the words spelled on her hand and the objects around her. They had a rough beginning, with Helen getting frustrated and defying her teacher all the time, but finally they started making progress – the first word Helen learned was “water”. Some months later, Helen learned to read in Braille. In 1890, Sullivan and her student moved to Boston, where Helen started to learn how to speak.

2 Read the extract again. Then circle T (true) or F (false).

Frustration • Helen’s illness • Her teacher • Learning words

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

Profile: Helen Keller

Born: June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama

Died: June 1, 1968 in Easton, Connecticut

Occupation: Author, Activist and Lecturer

Famous for: overcoming the adversity of being blind and deaf to become the first deaf-blind person

a. Helen Keller was born in the United States, in the 19th century. T Fb. She was a famous activist, known in different countries. T Fc. When Helen was born, her parents realized she was deaf and blind. T Fd. Helen didn’t make efforts to communicate with other people. T Fe. She was a very calm and quiet child. T Ff. Helen’s parents decided to look for help in a specialized institute. T Fg. They hired Anne Sullivan to be Helen’s teacher. T Fh. Anne Sullivan was deaf when she was a child. T Fi. Anne and Helen had a long friendship, which started when Helen was 6. T Fj. Anne taught Helen to make connections between finger spelling and objects. T Fk. Anne and Helen had a very good relationship from the time they met. T Fl. Anne learned to read in a special writing system and also learned to speak. T F

Vocabulary3 Match the columns.a. visual disabilityb. learning impairmentc. mobility impairmentd. hearing disability

4 Look at the pictures. Then use the words in Act. 3 to complete the sentences.

Grammar5 Circle who or which.a. This is the software who / which helps visually impaired people learn English.b. Please use the ramp who / which is on the right.c. Marina has a cell phone who / which provides a hearing aid.d. Mr. Brown is the teacher who / which wrote the mobility guidelines for our school.e. A lot of people who / which suffer from a mobility disability have problems to get around town.f. That building has restrooms who / which are adapted for people with disabilities.g. There are psychologists who / which help students with learning disabilities.h. The wheelchair who / which Jake used after the accident was donated.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

a. My grandma needs a hearing aid to listen to what we say. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

c. Caroline uses a cane to walk on the street, and Buddy, her seeing eye dog, is always with her. She has a _____________________________.

6 Match the sentence beginnings with their endings. Then complete the endings with who, which or whose.

a. A hearing aid is a deviceb. A wheelchair is a piece of equipmentc. An occupational therapist is a persond. Anne Sullivan is the teachere. There are beach cities in Brazilf. This is the womang. Neil is the class representativeh. Daniel Dias is the Brazilian Paralympic athlete

( ) _________ took a first-aid course last week.( ) _________ has large wheels, used by people to get around.( ) _________ people wear in their ear to hear others better.( ) _________ provide access to the sea for people with mobility disabilities.( ) _________ won the most medals in Rio 2016.( ) _________ uses different methods to treat people with disabilities.( ) _________ daughter suffered a car accident last month.( ) _________ successful teaching story became famous worldwide.

7 Patrick suffered a bike accident last month. He is showing some pictures of the accident and of his recovery to a friend. Join the sentences with who or which.

a.

This is the bike.I was riding it at the moment of the accident.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b.

c.

d.

This is the ambulance.The ambulance rescued me on site.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is the doctor.The doctor operated on my leg.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

These are the crutches.I used crutches for six months after the accident.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________