6 . A Dream Come True

The young professor was working in his workshop in a narrow street in Boston, not far from Scollay Square. It was a very hot afternoon in June, but the man did not notice. He was totally absorbed in his strange machine which he had been working on for about three years. Suddenly he heard an almost inaudible sound, the first sound ever transmitted through a wire. The machine was the very first telephone and the young man was Alexander Graham Bell.

At the age of 16 Alexander started to help teach young deaf mutes, children who could not hear or speak. He used his father's system of ‘visible speech’, a form of sign language, and achieved amazing results.     1     Mr Alexander Ell is a professor of philology. and Sir Charles Wheatstone, an expert in telegraphy, started him thinking about sending sounds through a machine.

Unfortunately, it was around this time that the fatal disease called the white plague, spread through Britain and both Alexander's brothers died.     2     Alexander was teaching to a tribe of Mohawk Indians in a small Canadian town called Brantford, when the Boston Board of Education asked him to come and work in the USA at a new school for deaf mutes.

Alexander was happy to move to Boston and continue the work he had started in Britain.     3     Then, two years later, he agreed to give private lessons to a young boy whose family allowed him to use their basement as a workshop.     4     He used to spend all his free time, and most of his money, on his inventions. At that time he had another student who greatly influenced his life. She was a young girl who had lost her hearing and the ability to speak because of a childhood illness. Her name was Mabel Hubbard, and four years later they got married.

In order to survive financially Bell had to work on the music al telegraph, but he also continued working on his mechanical voice transmitter. He became so successful that he soon opened his own school called “The School of Vocal Physiology”. Almost a year later. in March 1876, the first words were heard coming through the phone.

8 . ■Lisa — Exhibition programmes Organizer, Science Museum

I’M responsible for putting temporary exhibitions together. This includes planning and designing the exhibition and promoting it. I have to read up about the subject of the exhibition beforehand and then talk to important people in the area so that I can establish the main themes and alms of the exhibition, and plan what objects and pictures should be displayed. I have to make sure the public can understand the thinking behind the exhibition, which means planning Interactive displays, workshops and theatre. I also have to bring in engineers and electrician s to make sure the final display is not dangerous to visitors. Before the exhibition opens, I help design and write the leaflets that well use to tell people about it.

■Sarah — Marine conservationist

I live by the coast and work from home. This involves responding to telephone enouines, producing education al resources and setting up training courses. Occasionally, I go into our main office but generally I am on the coast. I also work with schools and study centres and run courses for coastal managers and those Involved in making decisions about the fate of the seas. I do things like take them out to sea in a boat in an attempt to make them think more about the life underneath them. This often changes their views as it’s very different from making decisions using a computer screen. I am extremely lucky because conservation is my hobby, so the job has many highs for me. The downside of the job is that I work for a charity, so there is a constant need for more money. This means I’m always looking for more resources and I’m not able to achieve everything I want.

■Janet — Teacher of London Taxi Drivers

THE first thing I do when I get here at 7.30 a. m. is check the accounts. Then I see what new maps and documents need to be produced in order to learn the runs or routes necessary to pass the London taxi- driver test By midday, about 50 students are in school, working out how to make the journeys. They work out the most direct route, using the correct one- way streets, and right-and left-hand turns. I get involved when there’s a difference of opinion — like whether you can do a right turn ala particular junction. When they’ re close to the test, I’ll give them a simple route and no matter what way they say they’ll go. I’ll tell them they have to use another route because the road is closed. The next student will have to find a third route and again. I’ll come up with a reason why they can’t go that way. It’s just to make them think.

■Chris — Map Publisher

MY work is pretty varied. I have to make sure that the publishing programme matches market requirements, and ensure that we keep stocks of 300 or so of the books that we publish. We have very high standards of information and content. We receive many letters from readers on issues such as the representation of international boundaries and these in particular require a careful response. I discuss future projects and current sales with co- publishers. I work as part of an enthusiastic Group which makes the job that much more enjoyable. The negative side, as with many jobs, is that there is far too much administration to deal with, which leaves less time to work on the more interesting tasks such as product development and design.

The Mystery of the Haunted House

In a small, secluded town, there stood an old, abandoned house. Legends said it was haunted, but Detective Alex didn’t believe in such superstitions. One day, he received a call from a local historian who claimed     1     (see) strange lights and sounds coming from the house at night.

Detective Alex decided to investigate. Approaching the house, he felt a chill in the air. The door was slightly ajar, creaking eerily in the wind. He noticed some faint footprints of different sizes in the dust around the entrance, indicating that there might be more than one person     2     (involve). Inside, the house was filled with dust and cobwebs.

He first explored the living room, on     3     floor he found some broken glass shards. Using a special light, he detected some smudged fingerprints on the remaining pieces of glass. He cautiously collected these pieces as potential evidence. Then in the attic, he found a series of strange markings, which seemed to form a pattern, but he     4     make no sense of it at first. As he     5     (examine) the markings, he heard a faint moan coming from downstairs.

He quickly made his way down and saw     6     appeared to be a shadowy figure disappearing around the corner. He chased after it, but when he reached the spot, there was no one there. However, he noticed a small piece of fabric caught on a nail. It was a modern fabric. not     7     that would belong in an old, abandoned house.

Back at the police station, he analyzed the fabric and found that it was from a common brand of clothing. The fingerprints from the glass were run through the database, but no matches were found immediately. He studied the markings from the attic and was at a loss.     8     he realized they were coordinates.

Following the coordinates, he arrived at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town where he found a group of thieves who were using the haunted house as a decoy to hide their stolen goods. They had created the spooky sounds and lights to keep people away. With the case solved, the town was relieved, and Detective Alex’s reputation as a brilliant detective was     9     (far) enhanced. He proved that there were no ghosts, just clever criminals     10     (try) to cover their tracks.