Information Sheet 1 Information Sheet 1 Read about the famous people below. Wong Kam Po (1973 present) Famous people in the world a racing cyclist grew up in Sha Tin (A lot of people go cycling there.) joined the Hong Kong cycling team in 1990 became a world champion racing cyclist in 2007 became a flag bearer for Hong Kong in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games Chow Yun Fat (1955 present) an actor in Hong Kong grew up in Lamma Island in a house without electricity won three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor and two Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor in Taiwan moved to Hollywood to develop his career in the mid 1990s many successful movies are produced in Hollywood Liu Xiang (1983 present) a 110 metres hurdler grew up in Shanghai, China set a world 110 hurdles record in 2006 won the gold medal in the 110 hurdles in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Mother Teresa (1910 1997) became a nun at the age of 18 went to India at the age of 19 helped the poor, the sick, the orphans and the dying for over 45 years in India founded a charitable organisation in India won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 35
A Do you know who Helen Keller is? Learn about her from the passage below. Helen Keller Helen Keller was born in 1880 in the USA. When she was 19 months old, she was very sick. She managed to survive but became a blind and deaf girl. Because of her disabilities, Helen could not go to normal schools. However, her mother did not give up on her. She invited a young lady called Anne Sullivan to be Helen s teacher. Anne taught Helen words by putting Helen s hand on the objects and then writing the words on Helen s other hand. Helen also learned to speak by touching Anne s lips and feel the movement of the lips. With the abilities to write and speak, Helen learned fast. She did well at school. She worked very hard to finish her degree in Arts. Then, she published many books. The most famous one is The Story of My Life. Helen travelled to different countries to raise money for the disable people. She inspired many of them to have hope in their lives. Helen passed away in 1968. Her story touched many people all over the world. Some people make movies based on her story to continue this inspiration. 36
B Do you know who Tse Yuen Man is? Learn about her from the passage below. Dr Tse Yuen Man Dr Tse Yuen Man was born in 1968. She was a brilliant and kind-hearted person. She graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1992 and became a doctor in Tuen Mun Hospital. Dr Tse took care of her patients with love and sympathy. Both her colleagues and patients respected and admired her. When SARS broke out in Hong Kong, many patients were sent to Tuen Mun Hospital. Dr Tse was brave and selfless. She volunteered to take care of the SARS patients although SARS was highly infectious. Unfortunately, Dr Tse was finally infected with the disease and passed away in 2003. She was called the daughter of Hong Kong because of her bravery and her love for others. Books and movies were published to remember her sacrifice. 37
C Do you know who Florence Nightingale is? Learn about her from the passage below. Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 in a rich family in the UK. As a young woman, she believed that God had called her to be a nurse and help others, so she studied to become a nurse. In 1853, a war started at a place called Crimea. Florence was called to the battlefield. When she arrived at the hospital, she found out that there were not enough beds for the patients. The place was dirty and smelly. Although Florence wanted to take care of the wounded men, she was only allowed to help clean the place at that time. However, when the numbers of patients kept increasing, permission was granted to nurses to take care of the injured. She looked after the patients well and did not stop even at night. She always took a lamp with her to help the patients. Thus, she was called the lady with a lamp. Florence became a heroine when she was back in the UK. However, she did not want to be famous. She kept on writing letters to request the government to improve the conditions in the hospitals. She also started the nurse training schools to train more nurses. Florence passed away at the age of 90. She set a role model to the nurses in the world. 38
D Do you know who Thomas Edison is? Learn about him from the passage below. Thomas Edison Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in America. He was both a great inventor and a scientist in history. He invented over two thousand things in his life. Edison grew up in a poor family. His family could only afford to send him to receive primary education for three months. Edison started working on a train at the age of twelve. No matter how difficult the situation was, he kept on studying and learning, especially science. He liked doing little experiments at home and on trains. Edison became increasingly popular when he started inventing things in 1863. His famous inventions included the phonograph, the motion picture camera and the light bulb. His inventions have greatly improved the living quality of people. Because of his great contributions to human beings, people started to name places after him. They also set up museums for him and created awards in his name. He passed away in 1931. 39
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