Most of us think the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. 【小题1】 In fact, an Italian named Antonio Meucci was officially recognised（认定）as the inventor a few years ago. Who is Meucci and why wasn’t he known for his invention at the time?

Antonio Meucci was born in Italy in 1808. He studied engineering and drawing. During his studies, Meucci started to experiment with electricity. 【小题2】 When two places were connected with wire, people in those places could hear each other talk.

In 1850, Meucci and his wife, Ester, moved to New York. Meucci was worried about his wife, because she had become very ill. 【小题3】 To solve this problem, he connected metal cables between his home and his workshop. This way, they could talk to each other conveniently.

Meucci invited a group of people to see his new invention. They listened in amazement as the voice of a singer was heard through the wires.

【小题4】 Even worse, Meucci never applied for a patent（专利）on his invention. Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell was working on the same idea and in 1876 the patent for the telephone was given to him.

In 2002, more than a century after Meucci’s death, his work was finally ecognized by the government.【小题5】