Helen Keller（amended by Wang Jing）

海词积累

1. vaguely adv. 含糊地

2. tussle n. 争执

3. fragment n. 碎片

4. spout n. 水柱

5. crib n. 幼儿床

The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher， Anne Mansfield Sullivan， came to me. It was the third of March， 1887， three months before I was seven years old.

On the afternoon of that eventful day， I guessed vaguely from my mother’s signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me.

The morning after my teacher came，she led me into her room and gave me a doll. When I had played with it a little while， Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word “d-o-l-l”. I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate（模仿） it. When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many new words. But my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.

Earlier in the day we had had a tussle over the words “m-u-g” and “w-a-t-e-r”. Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that “m-u-g” is mug and that “w-a-t-e-r” is water， but I remained confused about the two. In despair，she had dropped the subject for the time， only to renew it at the first opportunity. I became impatient at her repeated attempts and， seizing the new doll， I dashed it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still， dark world in which I lived there was no strong sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep the fragments to one side of the hearth（爐边）， and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of my discomfort was removed. She brought me my hat， and I knew I was going out into the warm sunshine.

We walked down the path to the well house. My teacher placed my hand under the spout. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten-a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul， gave it light， hope， joy， set it free！ There were barriers still; it was true， but barriers that could in time be swept away.

I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother， father， sister， teacher were

among them-words that were to make the world blossom for me. It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day， and for the first time longed for a new day to come.

-From The Story of My Life

Reading Check

What made Anne Mansfield Sullivan a miracle worker and how did she change Helen Keller's fate？

__________________________________________

Language Study

Difficult sentence

The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher， Anne Mansfield Sullivan， came to me. 我記得我一生中最重要的一天是我的老师安妮·曼斯菲尔德·莎莉文来到我身边的那一天。

【点石成金】本句中的I remember in all my life是一个省略了that的定语从句，修饰先行词day;on which my teacher， Anne Mansfield Sullivan， came to me是一个由“介词+关系代词”引导的定语从句，Anne Mansfield Sullivan作的是my teacher的同位语。