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VOA慢速英语20061008b

时间:2006-12-15 16:00来源:互联网 提供网友:sync550b   字体: [ ]
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PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Out of a World of Darkness and Silence, Helen Keller Brought Hope to MillionsBy Katherine Clarke

Broadcast: Sunday, October 08, 2006

VOICE ONE:

I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Ray Freeman. Every week we tell about a person who was important in the history of the United1 States. This week we tell about Helen Keller. She was blind and deaf but she became a famous writer and teacher.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:


Helen Keller

The name Helen Keller has had special meaning for millions of people in all parts of the world. She could not see or hear. Yet Helen Keller was able to do so much with her days and years. Her success gave others hope. Helen Keller was born June twenty-seventh, eighteen eighty in a small town in northern Alabama. Her father, Arthur Keller, was a captain in the army of the South during the American Civil War. Her mother was his second wife. She was much younger than her husband. Helen was their first child.

Until she was a year-and-one-half old, Helen Keller was just like any other child. She was very active. She began walking and talking early. Then, nineteen months after she was born, Helen became very sick. It was a strange sickness that made her completely2 blind and deaf. The doctor could not do anything for her. Her bright, happy world now was filled with silence and darkness.

VOICE TWO:

From that time until she was almost seven years old, Helen could communicate only by making signs with her hands. But she learned3 how to be active in her silent4, dark environment. The young child had strong desires. She knew what she wanted to do. No one could stop her from doing it. More and more, she wanted to communicate with others. Making simple signs with her hands was not enough. Something was ready to explode inside of her because she could not make people understand her. She screamed and struggled when her mother tried to control her.

VOICE ONE:

When Helen was six, her father learned about a doctor in Baltimore, Maryland. The doctor had successfully5 treated people who were blind. Helen's parents took her on the train to Baltimore. But the doctor said he could do nothing to help Helen. He suggested the Kellers get a teacher for the blind who could teach Helen to communicate. A teacher arrived from the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston. Her name was Anne Sullivan.

She herself had once been almost completely blind. But she had regained6 her sight. At Perkins, she had learned the newest methods of teaching7 the blind.

VOICE TWO:

Anne Sullivan began by teaching Helen that everything had a name. The secret to the names was the letters that formed them. The job was long and difficult. Helen had to learn how to use her hands and fingers to speak for her. But she was not yet ready to learn. First, she had to be taught how to obey, and how to control her anger. Miss Sullivan was quick to understand this. She wrote to friends in Boston about her experiences teaching Helen.

(MUSIC)

VOICE THREE:

The first night I arrived I gave Helen a doll. As she felt the doll with one hand I slowly formed the letters, d-o-l-l with my fingers in her other hand. Helen looked in wonder and surprise as she felt my hand. Then she formed the letters in my hand just as I had done in hers. She was quick to learn, but she was also quick in anger. For seven years, no one had taught her self-control. Instead of continuing to learn, she picked up the doll and threw it on the floor. She was this way in almost everything she did.

Even at the table, while eating, she did exactly as she pleased. She even put her hands in our plates and ate our food. The second morning, I would not let her put her hand on my plate. The family became troubled and left the room. I closed the door and continued to eat. Helen was on the floor, kicking and screaming and trying to pull the chair out from under me.

This continued for half an hour or so. Then she got up from the floor and came to find out what I was doing. Suddenly she hit me. Every time she did this I hit her hand. After a few minutes of this, she went to her place at the table and began to eat with her fingers. I gave her a spoon to eat with. She threw it on the floor. I forced her to get out of her chair to pick the spoon up. At last, after two hours, she sat down and ate like other people. I had to teach her to obey.

But it was painful to her family to see their deaf and blind child punished. So I asked them to let me move with Helen into a small one-room house nearby. The first day Helen was away from her family she kicked and screamed most of the time. That night I could not make her get into bed. We struggled, but I held her down on the bed. Luckily, I was stronger than she. The next morning I expected more of the same, but to my surprise she was calm, even peaceful.

Two weeks later, she had become a gentle child. She was ready to learn. My job now was pleasant. Helen learned quickly. Now I could lead and shape her intelligence8. We spent all day together. I formed words in her hand, the names of everything we touched. But she had no idea what the words meant.

As time passed, she learned how to sew clothes and make things. Every day we visited the farm animals and searched for eggs in the chicken houses. All the time, I was busy forming letters and words in her hand with my fingers. Then one day, about a month after I arrived, we were walking outside. Something important happened.

We heard someone pumping water. I put Helen's hand under the cool water and formed the word w-a-t-e-r in her other hand. W-a-t-e-r, w-a-t-e-r. I formed the word again and again in her hand. Helen looked straight up at the sky as if a lost memory or thought of some kind was coming back to her.

Suddenly, the whole mystery of language seemed clear to her. I could see that the word w-a-t-e-r meant something wonderful and cool that flowed over her hand. The word became alive for her. It awakened9 her spirit, gave it light and hope. She ran toward10 the house. I ran after her. One by one she touched things and asked their name. I told her. She went on asking for names and more names.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

From that time on Helen left the house each day, searching for things to learn. Each new name brought new thoughts. Everything she touched seemed alive. One day, Helen remembered a doll she had broken. She searched everywhere for the pieces. She tried to put the pieces together but could not. She understood what she had done and was not happy. Miss Sullivan taught Helen many things -- to read and write, and even to use a typewriter. But most important, she taught Helen how to think.

VOICE TWO:

For the next three years, Helen learned more and more new words. All day Miss Sullivan kept touching11 Helen's hand, spelling words that gave Helen a language. In time, Helen showed she could learn foreign languages. She learned Latin12, Greek13, French and German. Helen was able to learn many things, not just languages.

She was never willing14 to leave a problem unfinished, even difficult problems in mathematics15. One time, Miss Sullivan suggested leaving a problem to solve until the next day. But Helen wanted to keep trying. She said, I think it will make my mind stronger to do it now.

VOICE ONE:

Helen traveled a lot with her family or alone with Miss Sullivan. In eighteen eighty-eight, Helen, her mother and Miss Sullivan went to Boston, Massachusetts. They visited the Perkins Institution where Miss Sullivan had learned to teach. They stayed for most of the summer at the home of family friends near the Atlantic Ocean. In Helen's first experience with the ocean, she was caught by a wave and pulled under the water. Miss Sullivan rescued her. When Helen recovered, she demanded, Who put salt in the water?

VOICE TWO:

Three years after Helen started to communicate with her hands, she began to learn to speak as other people did. She never forgot these days. Later in life, she wrote: No deaf child can ever forget the excitement of his first word. Only one who is deaf can understand the loving way I talked to my dolls, to the stones, to birds and animals. Only the deaf can understand how I felt when my dog obeyed my spoken command. Those first days when Helen Keller developed the ability to talk were wonderful. But they proved to be just the beginning of her many successes.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the first part of the story of Helen Keller. It was written by Katherine Clarke. Your narrators16 were Sarah Long, Ray Freeman and Shirley Griffith. Listen again next week at this time to People in America, a program in Special English on the Voice of America.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 united Yfmz2c     
adj.和谐的;团结的;联合的,统一的
参考例句:
  • The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
  • The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。
2 completely lvmzzZ     
adv.完全地,十分地,全然
参考例句:
  • She never completely gave up hope.她从不完全放弃希望。
  • I feel completely in the dark on this question.这件事使我感到茫然。
3 learned m1oxn     
adj.有学问的,博学的;learn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
  • In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里,他被视为有学问的人。
4 silent eEVz8     
adj.安静的,不吵闹的,沉默的,无言的;n.(复数)默剧
参考例句:
  • Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话,大家顿时安静下来。
  • The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。
5 successfully jsrwd     
adv.圆满地;顺利地;成功地
参考例句:
  • The meeting passed off successfully.会议开得很成功。
  • At last we successfully put through the business deal.最终我们成功地完成了这桩交易。
6 regained 51ada49e953b830c8bd8fddd6bcd03aa     
复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 ); 赢回; 重回; 复至某地
参考例句:
  • The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
  • She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻,但很快恢复了镇静。
7 teaching ngEziT     
n.教学,执教,任教,讲授;(复数)教诲
参考例句:
  • We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
  • He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。
8 intelligence IbtzQ     
n.智力,聪明,智能;情报
参考例句:
  • He was a man of intelligence and of firmness of will.他是个聪明而又意志坚定的人。
  • He equals me in strength but not in intelligence.他和我力气相等,但智力不同。
9 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
11 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的,使人感伤的
参考例句:
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
12 Latin 9pWzAI     
adj.拉丁的,拉丁语的,拉丁人的;n.拉丁语
参考例句:
  • She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
  • Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。
13 Greek 7flxN     
adj.希腊(人)的,希腊语的;n.希腊人;希腊语
参考例句:
  • The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。
  • Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet.δ是希腊字母中的第四个字母。
14 willing 1gwwV     
adj.愿意的,自愿的,乐意的,心甘情愿的
参考例句:
  • We never lack food and clothing if we're willing to work.如果我们愿意工作,就不会缺吃少穿。
  • He's quite willing to pay the price I ask.他很愿意照我的要价付钱。
15 mathematics VBgxK     
n.(用作单)数学;(用作单或复)计算(能力)
参考例句:
  • He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
  • She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。
16 narrators 007d28934ca83719d9b464211b043137     
(故事的)讲述者,(戏剧、电影等的)解说员( narrator的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The narrators have a mordant contempt for everyone and everything, including themselves. 叙述者们都尖酸刻薄地蔑视一切人和事,包括他们自己。
  • Germany Pavilion's virtual narrators Jens and Yan Yan will guide visitors to tour the pavilion. 德国馆的虚拟解说员“严思”和“燕燕”将会带领游客参观展馆。
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TAG标签:   慢速英语  voa  慢速英语  voa
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