Who Was Helen Keller 海伦·凯勒 Chapter 1 The Early Years

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her father, Arthur Keller, had fought in the Civil War for the South. After the war, he went home to his farm. After his first wife died, he married a woman named Kate Adams. His two sons from his first marriage and his young wife called Arthur Keller “Captain.” In addition to running his farm, Captain was also the editor of the local paper. He was a quiet, stern¹ man.

The first girl in the family, baby Helen lit up a room. She laughed and cooed. Helen was the apple of her mother’s eye. Her father adored² her. Helen wrote about her early life. She said, “The beginning of my life was simple and much like every other little life … I came, I saw, I conquered, as the first baby in the family always does.”

Helen was smart. She spoke³ early. Her first words were said to be “tea, tea, tea” and “wah-wah” for water. If she did not know the words for things, Helen made up signals to show her mother what she wanted. She learned to walk at an early age. Soon Helen was racing⁴ around the house.

Then before she was two years old, Helen became sick. Very sick. She ran a very high fever. At that time, there were few medicines to cure sickness. The doctor thought that Helen would die. Then, suddenly, the fever broke. Helen slept peacefully. Her family rejoiced⁵. Their golden daughter was fine again.

But Helen wasn’t fine. While Helen’s mother was bathing her, she moved her hand in front of Helen’s face. Helen did not blink⁶. Helen’s eyes stared straight ahead. Kate tried again. She hoped that she was wrong. But she wasn’t. Helen was blind. And that was not all.

Every evening, a bell was rung to call the family to dinner. Everyone heard the loud, clanging noise. They stopped what they were doing and came to dinner. But Kate noticed that Helen no longer turned her head toward the sound. Kate called to the Captain and his sister Evelyn, who lived with them. They shouted at Helen. They spoke softly. They clapped their hands next to her ears. Helen did not react. Mrs. Keller’s fear was true. Her daughter was deaf as well as blind.

Her parents took Helen to a doctor. The doctor checked her, but there was nothing he could do. How, Mrs. Keller wondered, would her smart, beautiful little girl learn to live in her silent, dark world?

1 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

2 adored   

爱慕，崇拜( adore的过去式和过去分词 )； 非常喜欢

参考例句：

• For all her faults, Tallulah's friends tolerated and even adored her. 尽管塔卢拉有缺点，她的朋友们却宽容她，甚至崇拜她。
• They adored her as a living goddess. 他们把她当作活女神崇拜。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 rejoiced   

（使）欣喜[高兴，快乐]( rejoice的过去式和过去分词 )； 非常高兴； 深感欣喜

参考例句：

• He rejoiced that all the work was after all finished in time. 他很高兴，全部的工作最终还是按时完成了。
• The news of victory rejoiced the heart of the whole nation. 胜利的喜悦使全国人民欢欣鼓舞。

6 blink   

vi.眨眼睛，闪烁；vt.眨（眼睛），使闪烁

参考例句：

• In a blink of an eye he had disappeared.一眨眼的工夫他就没影了。
• The boy disappeared around the corner in a blink of an eye.一眨眼，这男孩就在拐角处不见了。