READING 2 Never Too Late to Learn

George Dawson learned to read and write when he was 98 years old.

NEVER

TOO LATE TO LEARN

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 3.3

George Dawson was a successful man. Was he famous? No, he wasn’t. He was just an ordinary man who did something extraordinary.

George Dawson lived in three centuries—from 1898 to 2001. He was born in Texas, the grandson of slaves. At that time, there were fewer opportunities for African Americans1. Dawson was the oldest of five children. His family was very poor, so George had to work to help his family. He started working for his father when he was only four years old. As a result, he didn’t have a chance to get an education. He didn’t learn to read and write. He signed his name with an X.

When Dawson was 98 years old, he decided to go to school. He wanted to learn to read and write. He went to adult literacy2 classes. The teacher asked him, “Do you know the alphabet?” When he answered “No,” his teacher was surprised. Over the next few years, his teacher taught Dawson to read and write. Dawson said, “Every morning I get up and I wonder what I might learn that day.”

Richard Glaubman read an article about Dawson in the newspaper and wanted to meet him. Glaubman helped Dawson write a book about Dawson’s life, called Life Is So Good. Dawson was 102 when the book was published. Dawson wrote about what makes a person happy. He learned from his father to see the good things in life. They had a close family, and George never felt lonely. Dawson says in the book, “People worry too much. Life is good, just the way it is.”

Was George Dawson a success? He definitely was. He enjoyed life and accomplished his goal: learning to read and write.

1 African American: an American whose ancestors came from Africa 2 literacy: the ability to read and write