题目内容：

阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空（每空不多于2个单词）。

George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a poor family. He had to start work 1.he was only eight.When George was fourteen, he2.（become） his father’s helper. He spent a lot of time 3.（learn） about the engine（发动机）. And on holidays he often took one into pieces and studied each 4.（piece） carefully. Soon he became a very good5.（work）, though（尽管） he could not read 6.write. He began to learn the English letters when he 7.seventeen years old. Every day after he did twelve hours of hard work, he walked a long way to have lessons from a young school teacher. On his eighteenth birthday, he8.（write） his own name for the first time in his life. George invented（发明） many things9.his life. The train was the greatest one of 10.（they）.

Today when we watch or take trains from one place to another, we’ll think of this great man—George Stephenson.