Question

anne sullivan is best known for teaching a young girl named helen keller—who was both blind and deaf—how to communicate. yet, since the age of five, sullivan herself struggled to see due to trachoma, an eye disease that scars the cornea and causes vision impairment. despite spending her early years in poorly maintained charitable housing, sullivan was eventually able to attend the perkins school for the blind. _____________ nevertheless, she came to excel at perkins and learned to fingerspell from laura bridgman, a former student and the first person with deafblindness to get a formal education. sullivan’s understanding of this manual alphabet later played a pivotal role in her life - changing lessons with keller. options: founded in 1829, the perkins school for the blind was the oldest and most prestigious school of its kind in the united states. sullivan underwent multiple surgeries to restore her sight, though they were only partially successful. sullivan didn’t have a clear idea of what she wanted to do once she had received her formal education. enrolling at age fourteen, she began her academic career lagging far behind most of her peers at the school.

Explanation:

To solve this fill - in - the - blank problem, we need to find a sentence that logically connects the previous part of the passage (about Sullivan's early life and her admission to the Perkins School for the Blind) with the subsequent part (about her excelling at Perkins and learning from Laura Bridgman).

Analyze each option:

• Option 1: "Founded in 1829, the Perkins School for the Blind was the oldest and most prestigious school of its kind in the United States." This option focuses on the school's founding and prestige, which has no direct connection to Sullivan's academic progress at the school, so it is not suitable.
• Option 2: "Sullivan underwent multiple surgeries to restore her sight, though they were only partially successful." This option is about her eye surgeries, and there is no logical link between this and her academic situation at Perkins, so it can be eliminated.
• Option 3: "Sullivan didn't have a clear idea of what she wanted to do once she had received her formal education." This option is about her post - education plans, which is not related to the transition from her admission to her academic performance at the school, so it is incorrect.
• Option 4: "Enrolling at age fourteen, she began her academic career lagging far behind most of her peers at the school." This option shows that she started at a disadvantage academically at the school, and then the next part of the passage says she excelled. This creates a logical contrast (starting behind and then excelling), so it fits well in the blank.

Answer:

Enrolling at age fourteen, she began her academic career lagging far behind most of her peers at the school.