❶The story of Helen Keller

By Grade Saver/姜仲华（译）

◆语篇导读

幼年因病失明又失聪的女作家海伦·凯勒，她在老师们的帮助下以顽强毅力学会了阅读和说话，直至写出旷世之作《假如给我三天光明》和《海伦·凯勒的故事》，给人们尤其是逆境中的人们极大的鼓舞。可是你知道她是怎样学会阅读和说话的吗？

Helen Keller was an American author,political activist,and lecturer.She was born on June 27,1880 in a small town of Tuscumbia,Alabama.

When Helen Keller was one year old,she had an illness that left her without sight or hearing.At first,it was difficult for her to communicate,even with her family.She lived her life completely in the dark.She often felt sad.However,everything changed in March of 1887 when Helen's teacher,Anne Sullivan,came to live with the family in Alabama and turned Helen's world around.

Miss Sullivan taught Helen the names of objects by giving them to her and then spelling out the letters of their names in Helen's hands.Helen learned to spell these words through imitation,without understanding what she was doing,but in the end she realized that everything had a name,and that Miss Sullivan was teaching them to her.From this point on,Helen learned language quickly.She especially enjoyed learning out in nature,where she and her teacher would take walks and she would ask questions about her surroundings.Soon after this,Helen learned how to read.Miss Sullivan taught her this by giving her strips of cardboard with raised letters on them,and then having her act out the sentence with objects.Soon,Helen could read whole books.

Once she had learned to read,Helen decided next to learn how to speak.Her teacher and many others believed it would be impossible for her to ever speak normally,but she managed to reach that point.Miss Sullivan took Helen to the Horace Mann School in 1890 to begin learning with Miss Sarah Fuller,and she learned by feeling the position of Miss Fuller's lips and tongue when Miss Fuller spoke.The moment she spoke her first words“It is warm”was a powerful memory for her.She was excited that she might be able to speak to her family and friends at last.

◆词语积淀

activist/΄æktɪvɪst/n. 活跃分子；积极分子

sight/saɪt/n.视力；看见

imitation/ˌɪmɪ΄teɪʃn/n.模仿

surrounding/sə΄raʊndɪŋ/n.环境

strip/strɪp/n.条；带

cardboard/΄kɑːdbɔːd/n.卡纸板；硬纸板

normally/΄nɔːməli/adv.通常；正常地

tongue/tʌŋ/n.舌头

◆典句赏析

1.When Helen Keller was one year old,she had an illness that left her without sight or hearing.海伦·凯勒一岁时生了一场病，导致她失明又失聪。

这是一个双重复合句。when引导时间状语从句，that引导定语从句；left her without sight or hearing是“leave+复合宾语”结构，意为“使……处于某种状态”；without是介词，带有否定含义，意为“无；没有”，其后所跟的两个并列成分一般要用连词or来连接。

【即时尝试】他把脏水留在桌子上，没有擦干和清洗。___

2.Miss Sullivan taught her this by giving her strips of cardboard with raised letters on them,and then having her act out the sentence with objects.莎莉文老师教她阅读的方法是先给她一些带有凸起字母的纸板条，然后叫她用物品把纸板条上由字母组成的句子给表演出来。

by giving her...是“by doing sth.”结构，用来表示做某事的方式和方法，“by doing sth.”意为“通过做某事”；with raised letters on them属于“with+复合宾语”结构，该结构在句中一般作定语或状语，句中的raised是raise的过去分词形式，具有形容词的性质，意为“凸起的”。

【即时尝试】李华小时候通过阅读带有图片的故事书来学习英语。

3.Her teacher and many others believed it would be impossible for her to ever speak normally,but she managed to reach that point.她的老师和其他许多人都认为她不可能正常说话，但是她设法做到了这一点。

would是助动词，和谓语动词be一起构成过去将来时，表示在主句谓语believed之后存在的状态；“manage to do sth.”是固定搭配，意为“设法做成某事”。注意区分“try to do sth.”，此结构意为“尽力去做某事”。

【即时尝试】她说她会努力取得进步，并且她确实设法做到了。

（答案见第63页）

译文助读

海伦·凯勒是美国作家、政治活动家和演说家。她于1880年6月27日出生于亚拉巴马州的一个叫塔斯坎比亚的小镇上。

海伦·凯勒一岁时生了一场病，导致她失明又失聪。一开始，她在交流上有困难，甚至无法和家人交流。她完全是生活在黑暗之中，并经常感到很伤心。然而，在1887年的三月，一切都发生了改变。这一年，海伦的老师安妮·莎莉文来到亚拉巴马州和她家人住在一起，并且将海伦的世界彻底地改变了。

莎莉文老师教海伦物品的名字，她将物品交给海伦，然后在海伦的手心将它们名字的字母一一拼写出来。海伦通过模仿来学习拼写这些单词，不过她并不理解自己在做什么。但最后，她终于意识到了所有的东西都有一个名字，莎莉文老师正在教她这些东西的名字。从这一刻开始，海伦学习语言的速度变得相当快。她特别喜欢在大自然中学习。在那儿，她和她的老师一起散步，并且她总会问一些关于她周围事物的问题。此后不久，海伦开始学习阅读。莎莉文老师教她阅读的方法是先给她一些带有凸起字母的纸板条，然后叫她用物品把纸板条上由字母组成的句子给表演出来。很快，海伦就能阅读整本书。

海伦学会了阅读，接下来决定学习说话。她的老师和其他许多人都认为她不可能正常说话，但是她设法做到了这一点。莎莉文老师在1890年把海伦带到了霍勒斯·曼学校，她开始和萨拉·富勒老师一起学习，她是通过感觉富勒老师说话时嘴唇和舌头的位置来学习的。她第一次说出“天气很暖和”的那一刻，对她来说是很深刻的记忆。她很兴奋，因为她终于可以和家人、朋友说话了。