SAT写作素材分享13:The Firm Helen Keller
In 1882 a baby girl caught a fever that was so fierce she nearly died. She survived but the fever left its mark - she could no longer see or hear. Because she could not hear she also found it very difficult to speak.
So how did this child, blinded and deafened at 19 months old, grow up to become a world-famous author and public speaker?
The fever cut her off from the outside world, depriving her of sight and sound. It was as if she had been thrown into a dark prison cell from which there could be no release.
Luckily Helen was not someone who gave up easily. Soon she began to explore the world by using her other senses. She followed her mother wherever she went, hanging onto her skirts; she touched and smelled everything she came across. She copied their actions and was soon able to do certain jobs herself, like milking the cows or kneading dough, she even learnt to recognize people by feeling their faces or their clothes. She could also tell where she was in the garden by the smell of the different plants and the feel of the ground under her feet.
By the age of seven she had invented over 60 different signs by which she could talk to her family, if she wanted bread for example, she would pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices. If she wanted ice cream she wrapped her arms around herself and pretended to shiver.
Helen was unusual in that she was extremely intelligent and also remarkably sensitive. By her own efforts she had managed to make some sense of an alien and confusing world. But even so she had limitations.
At the age of five Helen began to realize she was different from other people. She noticed that her family did not use signs like she did but talked with their mouths. Sometimes she stood between two people and touched their lips. She could not understand what they said and she could not make any meaningful sounds herself. She wanted to talk but no matter how she tried she could not make herself understood. This makes her so angry that she used to hurl herself around the room, kicking and screaming in frustration.
As she got older her frustration grew and her rages became worse and worse. She became wild and unruly. If she didnt get what she wanted she would throw tantrums until her family gave in. Her favorite tricks included grabbing other peoples food from their plates and hurling fragile objects to the floor. Once she even managed to lock her mother into the pantry. Eventually it became clear that something had to be done. So, just before her seventh birthday, the family hired a private tutor - Anne Sullivan.
Anne was careful to teach Helen especially those subjects in which she was interested. As a result Helen became gentler and she soon learnt to read and write in Braille. She also learnt to read peoples lips by pressing her finger-tips against them and feeling the movement and vibrations. This method is called Tadoma and it is a skill that very, very few people manage to acquire. She also learnt to speak, a major achievement for someone who could not hear at all.
Helen proved to be a remarkable scholar, graduating with honors from Radcliff College in 1904. She had phenomenal powers of concentration and memory, as well as a dogged determination to succeed. While she was still at college she wrote The Story of My Life. This was an immediate success and earned her enough money to buy her own house.
She toured the country, giving lecture after lecture. Many books were written about her and several plays and films were made about her life. Eventually she became so famous that she was invited abroad and received many honors from foreign universities and monarchs. In 1932 she became a vice-president of the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the United Kingdom.
After her death in 1968 an organization was set up in her name to combat blindness in the developing world. Today that agency, Helen Keller International, is one of the biggest organizations working with blind people overseas.
每日一句学英语:用笑容改变世界
每日学一句英语实用口语:Gve her a coffee
每日一句学英语:忘掉昨天,向前
每日一句学英语:我爱吃麻辣烫
每日学一句英语实用口语:What's up
每日一句学英语:你是一个幸运儿
每日一句学英语:一直坚持的原则
每日一句学英语:一下雨公交车就晚点
每日一句学英语:我明白了
每日一句学英语:你的表情好奇怪
每日一句学英语:成长,更接近天空
每日一句学英语:我刚团购了款香水
每日学一句英语实用口语:I'm a little edgy
每日一句学英语:开个价吧
每日一句学英语:我气炸了!
每日一句学英语:别这么肉麻
每日一句学英语:来龙去脉
每日一句学英语:转发微博
每日一句学英语:在一棵树上吊死
每日一句学英语:赤字
每日一句学英语:打退堂鼓
每日一句学英语:周全准备,然后随遇而安
每日一句学英语:凑热闹
每日一句学英语:拉家带口
每日一句学英语:生活是……
每日一句学英语:享受过程
每日一句学英语:我受够了
每日一句学英语:不要沉溺于过去
每日一句学英语:“口头禅”英语怎么说?
每日一句学英语:减轻负担
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