1 . Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, scientist,_______,civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major_______in the Enlightenment(启蒙运动)and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories_______electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass “armonica”.

He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania. As a political writer and activist, he_______the idea of an American nation. As a diplomat during the American Revolution he secured the French alliance(联盟)that helped to make_______of the United States possible.

Franklin laid a foundation for the American_______and character, such as thrift, hard work, and community spirit. In the words of Henry Steele Commager, ''In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its_______. '' ''To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin, ''the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in_______the type of society America would become. ''

Franklin became a newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, becoming very wealthy, writing and publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin was interested in science and technology, and gained an international_______for his famous experiments. He played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and Franklin & Marshall College and was________the first president of the American Philosophical Society.

Franklin became a national hero in America when he made efforts to have Parliament________the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of________Franco-American relations. From 1775 to 1776, Franklin was Postmaster General under the Continental Congress and from 1785 to 1788 was President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania.

His colorful life and legacy of scientific and________achievement, and status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin________on coinage and money, the names of many towns, counties, educational institutions and companies, and more than two centuries after his________, countless cultural references.