Lesson 4: The beginning

A . Read the text and choose the best answer.

It was Autumn. August 26, 1910. A little girl was born to an Albanian descent, rich Catholic merchant's family in a small town called Skopje, Macedonia. She was the youngest of the three siblings and was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Who had known that this tiny, little girl would one day become the servant of humanity- would love and serve the poorest of the poor and become the mother of humanity. Yes, we are talking about none other than Mother Teresa.

At the age of 12, she heard a voice from within her that urged her to spread the love of Christ. She decided that she would be a missionary. At the age of 18 she left her parental home. She then joined an Irish community of nuns called the Sisters of Loreto, which had missions in India.

After a few months of training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, Mother Teresa came to India. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught geography and theology at St. Mary's High School in Kolkata (then Calcutta). However, the prevailing poverty in Kolkata had a deep impact on Mother Teresa's mind, and in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent and devote herself to work among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Kolkata.

1. What does ‘servant of humanity’ mean in the text?

a. becoming a slave.

b. to work in other people's house.

c. to be oppressed by others.

d. to serve the needy.

2. Why did Mother Teresa want to be a missionary? Because she heard

a. the voice of her neighbours discussing it.

b. a voice in her dream.

c. a voice within herself.

d. the voice of her parents talking about it.

3. Mother Teresa set out to join the missionary of the Sisters of Loreto in the year

a. 1927.

b. 1928.

c. 1929

d. 1930.

4. Mother Teresa took her first vows at the age of

a. 18.

b. 19.

c. 20.

d. 21.

B. Read the text in A again and answer the questions.

1. Where did Mother Teresa's ancestors come from?

2. Where was her father's home?

3. Why did she want to become a missionary?

4. What makes her different from other girls at such an early age? What words and expressions are used in the text to describe this difference?

5. What did Mother Teresa do in the first seventeen years in India?

C. Look at the picture and talk about her in pairs. Take the help of the questions given below.

1. How old is she? Why do you think so?

2. What is she wearing?

3. How has she worn it?