The Firm Helen Keller
When she was born on June 27,1880,Helen Keller could see and hear.When she was 19 months old,she became ill and had a very high fever.She survived her illness,but the fever left her blind and deaf.
At the time when Helen was a small girl,people didn’t know much about disabilities.Not many teachers had tried to educate people who were both deaf and blind.Only a few children like Helen around the world had learned to communicate.
Little Helen did not have rules to follow.At times she seemed out of control.Her parents had little hope that Helen would lead the kind of life they had imagined she would.When Helen was about 7 years old,a friend of Helen’s parents suggested they hire a young woman to teach Helen.The young woman’s name was Anne Sullivan.From that day on,Helen’s life changed.
At first,Helen did not like Anne.Anne made Helen do things she didn’t want to do.Helen fought her,but Anne kept trying.She knew that Helen could touch,smell,and taste.Anne began to teach Helen to use these senses to communicate and to learn about the world around her.Anne knew that Helen was very smart.She thought it would only take some time before Helen learned how to communicate.
Anne began teaching Helen to spell words with her fingers.For a long time,Helen didn’t understand the finger game Anne played with her.But Anne did not give up.One day at the water pump,Anne pumped water over one of Helen’s hands.She used her fingers to spell w-a-t-e-r on Helen’s other hand.Suddenly Helen became very still.Helen got it!She finally realized what Anne was doing.She realized that Anne was communicating with her.Helen then used her fingers to spell w-a-t-e-r into the palm of Anne’s hand.
Then Anne taught Helen to use her sense of touch to read.She taught Helen to read books printed the Braille.Helen learned to feel words.Helen also learned to understand what people were saying by placing her fingers on her lips.
Once Helen learned to communicate,a new word opened up to her.She went to college,and Anne went with her.Helen graduated with Anne’s help.
Helen Keller spent most of her life traveling with Anne Sullivan.She gave many speeches and wrote books about her life.She proved to the world that blind and deaf people deserved respect.Helen overcame her disabilities and became an inspiration to people everywhere.
The Firm Helen Keller
When she was born on June 27,1880,Helen Keller could see and hear.When she was 19 months old,she became ill and had a very high fever.She survived her illness,but the fever left her blind and deaf.
At the time when Helen was a small girl,people didn’t know much about disabilities.Not many teachers had tried to educate people who were both deaf and blind.Only a few children like Helen around the world had learned to communicate.
Little Helen did not have rules to follow.At times she seemed out of control.Her parents had little hope that Helen would lead the kind of life they had imagined she would.When Helen was about 7 years old,a friend of Helen’s parents suggested they hire a young woman to teach Helen.The young woman’s name was Anne Sullivan.From that day on,Helen’s life changed.
At first,Helen did not like Anne.Anne made Helen do things she didn’t want to do.Helen fought her,but Anne kept trying.She knew that Helen could touch,smell,and taste.Anne began to teach Helen to use these senses to communicate and to learn about the world around her.Anne knew that Helen was very smart.She thought it would only take some time before Helen learned how to communicate.
Anne began teaching Helen to spell words with her fingers.For a long time,Helen didn’t understand the finger game Anne played with her.But Anne did not give up.One day at the water pump,Anne pumped water over one of Helen’s hands.She used her fingers to spell w-a-t-e-r on Helen’s other hand.Suddenly Helen became very still.Helen got it!She finally realized what Anne was doing.She realized that Anne was communicating with her.Helen then used her fingers to spell w-a-t-e-r into the palm of Anne’s hand.
Then Anne taught Helen to use her sense of touch to read.She taught Helen to read books printed the Braille.Helen learned to feel words.Helen also learned to understand what people were saying by placing her fingers on her lips.
Once Helen learned to communicate,a new word opened up to her.She went to college,and Anne went with her.Helen graduated with Anne’s help.
Helen Keller spent most of her life traveling with Anne Sullivan.She gave many speeches and wrote books about her life.She proved to the world that blind and deaf people deserved respect.Helen overcame her disabilities and became an inspiration to people everywhere.
譯文：
堅強的海倫·凱勒
1880年6月27日海倫·凱勒出生時，她是個既能看也能聽的健康孩子。19個月大的時候，海倫生了一場病，高燒不退。雖然她挺過了這場大病，高燒卻使她失去了視力和聽力。
當海倫還是個小女孩的時候，人們對於殘疾知之甚少。沒有多少老師努力去教育那些又聾又盲的人。只有為數不多的孩子像海倫一樣學會了與人溝通。
小海倫完全不懂規矩，有時候，她異常暴躁，似乎無法控制。她的父母覺得想要海倫過上他們設想的那種生活真是希望渺茫。大約7歲的時候，海倫父母的一位朋友建議他們聘請一位年輕的女士來教育海倫。這位年輕的女士就是安妮·沙利文。從那一天開始，海倫的生活完全改變了。
起初，海倫並不喜歡安妮。安妮總是強迫她做一些她不想做的事情。海倫甚至會打安妮，但安妮卻沒有退縮。她知道海倫還有觸覺、嗅覺和味覺。於是她開始教海倫使用這些感覺去與人交流，去了解她身邊的世界。安妮明白海倫是個聰明的孩子，她認為過不了多久海倫就可以學會與人溝通。
安妮開始教海倫用手指來拼單詞。在很長一段時間裡，海倫不理解安妮和她的這種“手指遊戲”。但是安妮並不氣餒。一天，在抽水泵旁邊，安妮抽出水放在海倫的一隻手裡。接著，她又在海倫的另一隻手的手心寫下“water”這個字。海倫突然愣住了，一動不動。海倫明白了！她終於知道了安妮在做什麼。她意識到了安妮是在和她交流。於是，海倫用自己的手指在安妮的掌心中也拼出了“water”這個詞。
之後安妮開始教海倫用自己的觸覺來讀書。她教給海倫讀布拉耶盲文書。海倫學會了觸摸文字，也學會了用手指感覺別人的脣形變化來理解他們在說什麼。
一旦海倫學會了與人交流，一個全新的世界便在她面前展開來。後來她上了大學，安妮也陪伴著她。在安妮的幫助下，海倫順利畢業。
海倫·凱勒一生的大部分時間都用於與安妮·沙利文一起環遊世界各地。她做過很多關於自己的人生的演講，還寫過不少相關的書籍。她向全世界證明了聾人和盲人同樣值得尊重。海倫克服了殘疾帶給她的不幸，她的經歷激勵著世界各地的人們。
——摘自：《高考英語晨讀美文100篇》（亓軍主編）（中國宇航出版社）
相關推薦
