Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.Helen lost her hearing andsight at 19 months of age.Keller was sent to a state school for the blind, butfailed because she could not read braille.In 1887 Anne Sullivan became Helen stutor.Anne was nearly blind from childhood and she taught Helen to breakthrough her isolation by spelling out words on her hand.Under her tutelage,Keller discovered that words were related to things.For the rest of her life sheremained Keller s companion.In 1890 Keller was taught to speak by SarahFuller.Eventually Keller learned to use sign language, to read braille, to type,and to dance and ride on horseback.She attended the Wright-Humason Schoolfor the Deaf in New York (1894 1896) , the Cambridge school for YoungLadies (1896 1900) , and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904 with honors in German and English.The Story of My Life, Keller s famous account of hertriumph over deafness and blindness, appeared when she was twenty-two.Shehad read Marx and Engels in German braille, and welcomed the Revolution inRussia in 1917 .
Keller s life was not free from financial problems.She made lecture toursto promote interest in the handicapped, and she wrote several books.Shevisited American veteran s hospitals after World War Ⅱ and made many toursin Europe, Asia , and Africa.Keller was an activist for racial and sexualequality, In 1964 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.Helen Kellerdied on June 1, 1968.People who knew Keller underlined her good sense ofhumor and imagination.Mark Twain declared that the two most interestingcharacters of his century were Napoleon and Helen Keller.She madeconsiderable progress in the study of arithmetic and her autobiography showedunusual literary talent .
Ⅱ.Words and Expressions
sphere n.range or extent of one s interests, activity,in fluence 范围。
delimit v.to fix the limit ofmortal beings 不能永生的凡人。
panorama n.全景。
epicurean n.& a.( being or typical of ) a person whoparticularly enjoys the more delicate pleasuresof the senses, especially eating and drinking 享乐主义者(的)。
motto n.格言, 座右铭。
chasten v.责罚。
impending a.(usually of something unpleasant ) about tohappenbuoyant a.able to recover quickly from something badlistless a.someone who is listless has no energy orenthusiasmlethargy n.lazy state of mind 怠倦,无精打采。
faculty n.natural power of mind or body 能力。
impairment n.the fact that part of the body is unable to dosomething fully 损伤。
hazily ad.unclearlyincredulous a.not easy to believebirch n.桦树。
shaggy a.having a rough and untidy surface 粗糙而不平整的。
manifold a.many and various 繁多的; 各种各样的。
symmetry n .exact match in size and shape 对称。
velvety a.soft like velvet 天鹅绒般柔软的。
convolutions n.folding or twistingbrook n.small stream.
Persian rug n.波斯地毯。
pageant n.splendid show.
a compulsory course n.必修课。
dormant a.inactive.
sluggish a.not alert or lively 行动迟缓的。
endless vista continuous views.
Ⅲ.Notes to the Text
1.It shows that the writer is longing for the freedom and liberty of life .
2.She is interested in life even at the last moment (attention to the phrase“crowd into” ) .
3.She is ready and brave enough to face the setbacks and even death in life .
4.The writer presents her optimistic view of life directly.(Note the threepositive nouns: gentleness, vigor and keenness and the word“panorama”
which indicates that people are often burdened and tired with the dailyroutines)5.Here,“the stroke of fortune”means the suffering or the misfortune in one slife.And the writer thinks normal people are likely to get the intuition at the last moment of life .
6.A lot of common people waste their time or do not treasure life when theyare in good shape .
7.The writer wants to call on those who are not disabled to make good use oftheir time .
8.Parallel structure which indicates the importance of appreciation for one slife .
9.The writer feels it is a pity again that the people with good sight can t enjoywhat they see .
10.The writer uses a long and vivid paragraph to describe her contact withnature.With rich imagination, she sings high praise for her imaginaryworld .
11.Again the writer feels sorry that common people can t enjoy life to the fullextent .
12.The writer criticizes the healthy people for longing for the impossible andneglecting what is available in their life .
13.As a disabled person , the writer calls on others to pay more attention to thehappiness and enjoy life to the fullest extent .
Ⅳ.Text-Related Practice
A.Questions for discussion:
1.What does the title of the passage indicate ?
2.What is the theme of the passage ?
3.What do you think is the idea the writer wants to convey ?
B.Word matching:
Match the words in Column A with those in Colum n B .
C.Find out:
1.the words and expressions denoting the writer s vivid description of nature .
2.personification and repetition in the story .
D.Translate the following into Chinese :
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through thewoods and see nothing worthy of note ?I who cannot see find hundreds of thingsto interest me through mere touch .I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf.I passmy hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggybark of a pine.In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of abud , the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter s sleep.I feel thedelightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkableconvolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me .
Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree andfeel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.I am delighted to have the coolwaters of a brook rush through my open fingers.To me a lush carpet of pineneedles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug .
To me the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action ofwhich streams through my finger tips .
Text B……
The Death of the Moth Virginia Woolf
Moths that fly by day are not properly to be called moths; they do notexcite that pleasant sense of dark autumn nights and ivy-blossom which thecommonest yellow-underwing asleep in the shadow of the curtain never fails torouse in us .