【导读】 海伦·凯勒,美国著名的盲聋女作家、教育家。她幼时患病,两耳失聪,双目失明。她以一颗不屈不挠的心灵坦然接受生命的挑战,以惊人的毅力面对生活的困难,在黑暗中寻找着人生的光明,然后又把生命的全部奉献给残疾人慈善事业。
The Story of My Life (Excerpt)
In October,1896,I entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies,to be prepared for Radcliffe.
When I was a little girl,I visited Wellesley and surprised my friends by the announcement,“Some day I shall go to college—but I shall go to Harvard!”When asked why I would not go to Wellesley,I replied that there were only girls there.The thought of going to college took root in my heart and became an earnest desire,which impelled me to enter into competition for a degree with seeing and hearing girls,in the face of the strong opposition of many true and wise friends.When I left New York the idea had become a fixed purpose;and it was decided that I should go to Cambridge.This was the nearest approach I could get to Harvard and to the fulfillment of my childish declaration.
At the Cambridge School the plan was to have Miss Sullivan attend the classes with me and interpret to me the instruction given.
Of course my instructors had no experience in teaching any but normal pupils, and my only means of conversing with them was reading their lips.My studies for the first year were English history, English literature,German,Latin,arithmetic,Latin composition and occasional themes.