英语：16Stories学案-lessen3Life Stories（北师大版选修 6）,. Backgroundinformation-Introduction to Helen Keller,If Helen Keller were to shake hands with you today and then meet you and shake hands again five,years later, she would remember you.,Mark Twain once said, “The two most interesting characters of the nineteenth century are Napoleonand Helen Keller.” When Mark Twain said that, Helen Keller was only fifteen years old. Today she still,remains one of themost interesting characters of thetwentieth century.,In 1882 ababy girl caught a fever that was so fierceshenearly died. Shesurvived but the fever left,its mark shecould no longer seeor hear. Because shecould not hear shealso found it very difficult to,speak.,So how did this child, blinded and deafened at 19 months old, grow up to becomea world-famous,author and public speaker?,Thefever cut her off from theoutsideworld, depriving her of sight and sound. It was as if she had,been thrown into a dark prison cell from which therecould be no release.,Luckily Helen was not someonewho gave up easily. Soon shebegan to explore the world by using,her other senses. Shefollowed her mother wherever shewent, hanging onto her skirts; shetouched and,smelled everything she cameacross. Shecopied their actions and was soon able to do certain jobs herself,like milking thecows or kneading dough, sheeven learnt to recognize people by feeling their faces or,their clothes. Shecould also tell whereshewas in the garden by thesmell of the different plants and the,feel of theground under her feet.,By theage of seven shehad invented over 60 different signs by which shecould talk to her family,If shewanted bread for example, shewould pretend to cut a loaf and butter the slices. If shewanted ice,cream shewrapped her arms around herself and pretended to shiver.,Helen was unusualin that shewas extremely intelligent and also remarkably sensitive. By her own,efforts shehad managed to make somesenseof an alien and confusing world. But even so she had,limitations.,At theage of five Helen began to realize shewas different from other people. Shenoticed that her,family did not usesigns like shedid but talked with their mouths. Sometimes shestood between two,people and touched their lips. Shecould not understand what they said and she could not makeany,meaningful sounds herself. Shewanted to talk but no matter how shetried she could not makeherself,understood. This makeher so angry that she used to hurl herself around the room, kicking and screaming,in frustration.,As shegot older her frustration grew and her rages becameworseand worse. Shebecamewild and,unruly. If shedidnt get what shewanted shewould throw tantrums untilher family gave in. Her favorite,tricks included grabbing other peoples food from their plates and hurling fragile objects to thefloor. Once,sheeven managed to lock her mother into the pantry. Eventually it becameclear that something had to be,done. So, just beforeher seventh birthday, the family hired a private tutor Anne Sullivan.,Anne was carefulto teach Helen especially thosesubjects in which shewas interested.As a result,Helen becamegentler and she soon learnt to read and writein 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,Tadomaand it is a skill that very, very few people manage to acquire. She also learnt to speak, amajor,achievement for someonewho could not hear at all.,Helen proved to bea 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 shewas still at college shewroteTheStory of My Life. This was an immediate success and,earned her enough money to buy her own house.,She toured thecountry, giving lectureafter lecture. Many books werewritten about her and several,plays and films weremade about her life. Eventually she becameso famous that shewas invited abroad,and received many honors from foreign universities and monarchs. In 1932 shebecamea vice-president,of the Royal National Institute for theBlind 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 oneof the biggest organizations,working with blind people overseas.,坚强的海伦 凯勒,1882 年，一名女婴因高发烧差点丧命。她虽幸免于难，但发烧给她留下了后遗症 她再也,看不见、听不见。因为听不见，她想讲话也变得很困难。,那么这样一个在 19 个月时就既盲又聋的孩子，是如何成长为享誉世界的作家和演说家的呢？,高烧将她与外界隔开，使她失去了视力和声音。她仿佛置身在黑暗的牢笼中无法摆脱。,万幸的是海伦并不是个轻易认输的人。不久她就开始利用其它的感官来探查这个世界了。她,跟着母亲，拉着母亲的衣角，形影不离。她去触摸，去嗅各种她碰到的物品。她模仿别人的动作且,很快就能自己做一些事情，例如挤牛奶或揉面。她甚至学会靠摸别人的脸或衣服来识别对方。她还,能靠闻不同的植物和触摸地面来辨别自己在花园的位置。,七岁的时候她发明了 60 多种不同的手势，靠此得以和家里人交流。比如她若想要面包，就会,做出切面包和涂黄油的动作。想要冰淇淋时她会用手裹住自己装出发抖的样子。,海伦在这方面非比一般，她绝顶的聪明又相当敏感。通过努力她对这个陌生且迷惑的世界有,了一些知识。但她仍有一些有足。,海伦五岁时开始意识到她与别人不同。她发现家里的其他人不用象她那样做手势而是用嘴交,谈。有时她站在两人中间触摸他们的嘴唇。她不知道他们在说什么，而她自己不能发出带有含义的,声音。她想讲话，可无论费多大的劲儿也无法使别人明白自己。这使她异常懊恼以至于常常在屋子,