I'd like to tell you about Steven Hawking. He's a famous physicist. He first studied at Oxford. Then he began to study at Cambridge University, where he became Professor of Mathematics. He studied the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe. He also studied the theory of black holes. 30 years ago the doctors said he had only 2 years to live. Soon, he got paralyzed. Following a serious illness he had lung problems. Later, Hawking lost his ability to speak. Friends presented him a speech synthesizer that was installed on his wheelchair. Stephen is 73 years old at the moment. Despite his illness, he leads an active life. On the 26th of April, 2007 he took a zero-gravity flight. His flight to space was scheduled for 2009, but did not take place.