The first outstanding deaf teacher in America was a Frenchman Laurent Clerc. He and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded America’s first school for the deaf.
When Laurent Clerc was one year old, he fell into a fire. As a result, he lost both his hearing and his sense of smell. At the age of 12, Laurent entered the Royal Institution for the Deaf in Paris. After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher.
Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was studying to be a minister when he met a young deaf girl, Alice Cogswell. He was upset to learn that there were no schools for the deaf in America. Therefore, in 1815, Gallaudet sailed to London to seek ideas on how to teach deaf people. However, he was unable to get help. He met a French educator of the deaf who invited him to Paris to learn at the Royal Institution for the Deaf.
Gallaudet went to the Royal Institution for the Deaf, where Clerc became his Sign Language teacher. The two worked and studied well together. When the time came for Gallaudet to return to America, he asked Clerc to come with him.
The two men set sail on June 18, 1816. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took 52 days; however, Clerc and Gallaudet put the time to good use. They discussed the school for the deaf which they planned to open. On the long trip, they had many conversations about education and deafness. The year after they arrived, they founded a school for the deaf in Harford, Connecticut.

America’s first school for the deaf was founded __________.

A．in 1816

B．in 1817

C．by a Fenchman

D．by an American

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sailed to London because __________.

A．he wanted to study the system of deaf education

B．he needed to finish his studies to become a minister

C．he wanted to get help from Clerc

D．he wanted to find schools for the deaf

." After he graduated, the school asked him to stay on as an assistant teacher." From this
sentence we can infer that __________.

A．the school wanted to help Clerc to get a job

B．the school wanted Clerc to be prepared to teach Americans

C．the school was impressed with Clerc, and thought he would do a good job

D．the school wanted other deaf students to model after Clerc

The main idea of this passage could best be stated as __________.

A．Clerc was an intelligent man

B．Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was grateful to Clerc for all that he taught him

C．Clerc would teach the deaf in America rather than in Paris

D．Clerc, an educated Frenchman, made a difference to American Deaf Education