Although Harold Krents was blind from birth he studied law at Oxford University and Harvard Law
School. He practiced law from 1971 until his death in 1986 and was long active in organizations and government agencies concerned with the employment of handicapped people. What follows is an extract from an article he wrote for The New York Times:

"I have never had the opportunity to see myself and have been completely dependent on the image
I create in the eye of the observer. There are those who assume that since I can't see, I obviously also cannot hear. Very often people will converse with me in a very loud voice, enunciating every word very carefully. On the other hand, others know that of course I can hear, but they believe that I can't talk. Often, therefore, when my wife and I go out to dinner, a waiter or waitress will ask my wife if 'he would like a drink' to which I respond that 'indeed he would'.

The hardest misconception of all is the view that because I can't see, I can't work. I was turned down by over forty law firms because of my blindness, even though my qualifications included a cum laude degree from Harvard College and a good ranking in my Harvard Law School class. The attempt to find employment, the continuous frustration of being told that it was impossible for a blind person to practice law, the rejection letters, not based on my lack of ability but rather on my disability, will always remain one of the most disillusioning experiences of my life.

I therefore hope that in the near future when a plant manager is touring the factory with the foreman
and comes upon a handicapped and non-handicapped person working together, his comment after
watching them work will be, 'Which one is disabled?'."

1. Answer the following questions without copying from the text.
a) What are some of the problems for blind people suggested in the text?

b) What do you think made Mr. Harold Krents especially frustrated when he was not
accepted for a job?

c) In your own words, explain what the author -in the last paragraph of the text- hopes
will be the role of handicapped people in the future.

2. Answer one of the two options using a minimum
Option A: Two executives (a man and a woman) are trying to choose the ideal person for
a new job in their company. The best two candidates have very similar qualifications for the
job but one has a physical disability. The two company directors have different views on
why the job should be given to one or the other and discuss the question. Write down the
dialogue that takes place between the two.

Option B: It is the year 1969. Harold Krents has recently graduated from Harvard
University and has been applying for different jobs without success. Today he has received
another rejection letter from an important company. He writes a letter to his girlfriend telling
her the bad news and how he feels now. Write down what the letter would say.

3. Vocabulary

Explain next words in English, write the phonetics and also an example: handicapped, to assume, misconception, to turn down, firm, lack, foreman