Their elder daughter, Gayathri, (take) 0 has taken part since she was nine years old, and her younger brother Rahul 11 (has just won) the first prize of $40,000 at his first attempt. Rahul and Gayathri 12 (had been studying) hard to reach the final, which was shown on television all over the US. Mr. Hathwar helped his children beforehand by making lists of words and checking their meaning. He was confident they 13 (would do) well. Rahul had even 14 (stopped) playing computer games and doing his other hobbies to concentrate on learning spellings. “I 15 (do not regret) it,” he says. “The Spelling Bee 16 (has taught) me to work hard. I 17 (did not expect) to come first so I was amazed at the result. I was so anxious when I arrived at the Television Centre I 18 (could not stop shaking.” Gayathri admitted she was a little disappointed that she 19 (had never become) a winner. But now she 20 (is) very proud of her brother’s success.