{"id":9952,"date":"2026-10-30T09:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/a-new-pair-of-arms-23-years-later-advanced-esl-reading-worksheet-pdf\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T09:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T09:14:27","slug":"a-new-pair-of-arms-23-years-later-advanced-esl-reading-worksheet-pdf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/a-new-pair-of-arms-23-years-later-advanced-esl-reading-worksheet-pdf\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Pair of Arms, 23 Years Later | Advanced ESL Reading Worksheet PDF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1998, Icelandic electrician Gu\u00f0mundur Felix Gr\u00e9tarsson lost both arms in an 11,000-volt power line accident. Twenty-three years later, in January 2021, surgeons in Lyon, France gave him the world&#8217;s first double arm-and-shoulder transplant. This advanced ESL reading worksheet tells his real, independently-verified story, building key vocabulary around accidents, medicine, and recovery.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gretarsson-reykjavik-hero.jpg\" alt=\"Reykjavik, Iceland, home city of Gu\u00f0mundur Felix Gr\u00e9tarsson\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>What&#8217;s Inside<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Reading passage:<\/strong> ~330 words at Grade 6+ \/ B2-C1 reading level on Gu\u00f0mundur Felix Gr\u00e9tarsson&#8217;s accident, 23-year wait, and world-first transplant<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vocabulary practice:<\/strong> 10 advanced-level words with clear definitions<\/li>\n<li><strong>True\/False:<\/strong> 9 comprehension items<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fill in the blanks:<\/strong> 5 sentences with a word bank<\/li>\n<li><strong>Comprehension questions:<\/strong> 5 open-ended prompts<\/li>\n<li><strong>Discussion questions:<\/strong> 3 prompts for pair or group work<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clave de respuestas completa<\/strong> for the busy teacher<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Vocabulary Targets<\/h3>\n<p>electrician &middot; surge &middot; amputate &middot; transplant &middot; candidate &middot; donor &middot; milestone &middot; intensive &middot; nervous system &middot; gradual<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gretarsson-hug-recovery.jpg\" alt=\"A parent embracing a child, illustrating the worksheet's recovery theme\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Prompts Include<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Why do some medical milestones take years of preparation before they succeed?<\/li>\n<li>What ethical considerations might be involved in approving an experimental procedure like this one?<\/li>\n<li>How might physical recovery differ from emotional recovery after an injury like Gu\u00f0mundur&#8217;s?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Perfecto para<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Advanced ESL \/ EFL classrooms<\/li>\n<li>Current-events and medical-science reading units<\/li>\n<li>Reading comprehension and vocabulary-building warm-ups<\/li>\n<li>Homeschool or self-study reading practice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;margin-top:24px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gretarsson-arm-transplant-level-f.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-button__link\" style=\"background-color:#2271b1;color:#fff;padding:14px 28px;text-decoration:none;border-radius:6px;display:inline-block;font-weight:bold;\">Download the PDF Worksheet<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:13px;color:#666;margin-top:12px;\">Printable A4 &middot; 4 pages &middot; Free to use in your classroom<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1998, Icelandic electrician Gu\u00f0mundur Felix Gr\u00e9tarsson lost both arms in an 11,000-volt power line accident. Twenty-three years later, in January 2021, surgeons in Lyon, France gave him the world&#8217;s first double arm-and-shoulder transplant. This advanced ESL reading worksheet tells his real, independently-verified story, building key vocabulary around accidents, medicine, and recovery. What&#8217;s Inside Reading&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"rank_math_title":"A New Pair of Arms, 23 Years Later (Advanced ESL Worksheet)","rank_math_description":"Advanced ESL reading worksheet exploring Gu\u00f0mundur Felix Gr\u00e9tarsson's 1998 accident and the world's first double arm-and-shoulder transplant. Academic vocabulary, discussion prompts, printable PDF.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"arm transplant esl reading","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_pillar_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[296,49],"tags":[549,513,2539,552,1141,1152,2538,2537,67,2536],"class_list":["post-9952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced-worksheets","category-worksheets","tag-academic-english","tag-advanced-esl","tag-esl-current-events","tag-esl-worksheets","tag-free-esl-printable","tag-gept-reading","tag-iceland","tag-medical-vocabulary","tag-reading-comprehension","tag-true-story-worksheet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahricteaches.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}