Fill in the Blanks Rachel CarsonOnline version Fill in the text with the Simple Past or Past Perfect. by F M 1 Before she ( 1 ) her influential book Silent Spring in 1962 , Rachel Carson ( 2 ) years working for the US government at environmental agencies like the US Bureau of Fisheries and the US Fish and Wildlife Service . During her time there , she ( 3 ) her own personal research and writing . By 1955 , Carson ( 4 ) already several books on environmental research when she ( 5 ) to do research full - time . One subject that she was particularly interested in was the effects of pesticides' on the environment and on human health . During World War II , the government ( 6 ) the pesticide DDT to protect people against diseases caused by pests . After the war , ( 7 ) farmers large amounts of DDT into the air to protect their crops . Carson ( 8 ) heard that the chemical was making people ill with cancer and was causing animals to die , so she ( 9 ) to do scientific research on the subject and publish it as a book , to warn people about the risks . After Carson ( 10 ) Silent Spring , the pesticide industry ( 11 ) her for her research . However , the US government ( 12 ) by banning the use of DDT in the United States . Soon her book was translated into several languages and was published around the world . * * pesticides ( n ) chemicals used to kill pests like insects and small animals