An Inspiration
This task is about understanding information in a text.
Most people have heard of Mother Teresa who died in 1997. This is an account of this famous and influential woman's life.
Read the article (source unknown) and answer the questions that follow.
Mother Teresa was born in Serbia in 1910. She was one of three children. When she was twelve years old, she decided to become a missionary. She went to Ireland to receive missionary training and to learn English. At the age of eighteen, she joined the Missionaries for Charity, and went to India for her first job as a teacher. However, she soon found herself helping the homeless children and lepers in Calcutta.
In 1948, she opened her first home. Here she worked hard to give free service to the poorest of Calcutta's poor. She would accept donations of food, clothing, bedding, or books, but would not take any money to pay her salary. In 1952, Mother Teresa opened a second home. This refuge gave the homeless and the poor a clean, properly organised place to get medical attention and to be with kind and caring people.
Later, Mother Teresa opened many more shelters in different parts of the world, such as Tanzania, Sri Lanka, and Jordan. All of these centres are devoted to helping homeless, poor, and needy people.
Mother Teresa became a citizen of India, where she did most of her relief work. The Indian government acknowledged her unselfish devotion to helping the needy by presenting her with the Padmashri Award in 1963. Over the years she was honoured by many countries and in 1979, Mother Teresa won the Nobel Prize for Peace. But being Mother Teresa, she did not keep the prize money; instead she donated it to her missionary work.
Mother Teresa was a powerful and magnetic figure. She visited missions around the world where many people carry on her work, and the memories of her warmth and love have served to comfort and inspire all who met her.
