1. ENGLISH 3 LISTENING
CHARLES DARWIN, CHILDHOOD
CHARLES DARWIN
CHILDHOOD
FROM : GREAT BRITONS, BBC, 2002
Life for Darwin (A1 started) in Shrewsbury in England where he ……………….. (B1 be) born into a family of
poets, inventors and doctors, open-minded people who (A2 hated) superstition and slavery. Darwin ………………..
(B2 be) baptised on 17 February 1809 at X Church. ‘My people (A3 were) destroyed through lack of knowledge
……………….. (B3 be) the text the vicar (A4 chose) for that Sunday song. It ……………….. (B4 be) a well-
off household. His mother Susannah (A5 was) the daughter of pottery manufacturers, the Wedgwoods, you may
have heard of them, and his father Robert ……………….. (B5 be) a wealthy doctor. It is said that Robert (A6
owned) three quarters of Shrewsbury and ……………….. (B6 know) the deepest medical secrets of the rest.
Charles (A7 was) a quiet, dreamy child but from the beginning he ……………….. (B7 be) a passionate collector,
anything really, pebbles, plants, insects, birds eggs, even the wax seals of letters. He (A8 rambled) and
……………….. (B8 fish) and (A9 set up) a chemistry lab to do experiments with his older brother. It
……………….. (B9 be) a passion at the time, investigating matter, stuff, what things. (A10 were) made of. He
……………….. (B10 be) sent to school first with the local minister and then on to board at Shrewsbury School. He
(A11 hated) it there, crowded, smelly and brutal and a diet of Latin and Greek hammered into the boys
……………….. (B11 bring) him to tears. He (A12 escaped) as often as possible, running across the fields to
spend a few precious hours at home. He ……………….. (B12 be) first and always a child of our countryside. And
what Charles Darwin (A13 liked) doing most ……………….. (B13 be) killing things. Shooting and hunting
(A14 were) his passion. As he ……………….. (B14 grow) his father (A15 feared) he ……………….. (B15
be) growing wild. ‘You care for nothing but dogs, shooting and rat catching. You will be a disgrace to yourself and
your family.’ So, he (A16 took) him out of school two years early and ……………….. (B16 send) him to
Edinburgh to become a doctor.