新潟市立総合教育センター
20th Century Greats

2　Helen Keller　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Part 1　　　　　ALTによるReading　(slow)　 (fast)　
　　　Helen Keller was born in the United States in 1880. When she was 19 months old, she became very sick. She got better after a few weeks. But after her illness, she couldn’t see or hear at all.
　　　Helen’s only young friend at home was Martha Washington, the six-year-old daughter of the family cook. Martha and Helen made a special language together. The language helped Helen communicate with her family.
　　　As she grew older, Helen’s parents took her to see many doctors. They even took her to meet Alexander Graham Bell, who was working with deaf and blind children at the time. The doctors didn’t know how to make Helen better, but Mr. Bell gave Helen’s parents some good advice. He told them to take her to a special school in Boston for children like Helen.
　　　Helen and her parents visited the school in 1886. They were introduced to Anne Sullivan, a teacher at the school. Miss Sullivan agreed to live with the Keller family and become Helen’s teacher.
　　　Miss Sullivan changed Helen’s life. She began to teach Helen the names of everyday things. She spelled the words “doll”, “mug”, and “water” on the palm of Helen’s hand. But Helen didn’t understand the meaning of the words. Helen became angry because she couldn’t understand her teacher.

Part 2　　　　　ALTによるReading　(slow)　 (fast)
　　　One day, Miss Sullivan had an idea. She took Helen to the pump and put the girl’s hand under the water. Then she spelled “water” on Helen’s palm. Helen became very excited. She finally understood the meaning of “water”.
Helen quickly learned the names of all the things around her. She even learned to write, talk, and read braille. Helen loved to study, and she wanted to go to college, like Miss Sullivan. Finally she entered a college, and with Miss Sullivan’s help she graduated. She was the first deaf and blind person in the world to graduate from college.
　　　Helen Keller helped handicapped people for the rest of her life. She wrote books about her life, and she traveled around the world to talk about her experiences. She even visited Japan several times. When she died in 1968, at the age of 87, Helen Keller was one of the most admired people in the world.

＜注＞　
illness（病気），not〜at all（全く〜ない），Martha Washington（マーサ・ワシントン），
six-year-old（６歳の），cook（料理人，コック），special（特別の），
communicate（情報・考えを伝える），as（〜の時），grew＜grow（成長する），
took＜take（連れて行く)，Alexander Graham Bell（アレクザンダー・グラハム・ベル），
deaf（耳の聞こえない），blind（目の見えない），at the time（当時），
advice（アドバイス，助言），Boston（ボストン），everyday（日常の），
spell（つづる），doll（人形），mug（マグ），palm（手のひら），meaning（意味），
pump（ポンプ），finally（ついに，とうとう），college（大学），enter（〜に入る），
graduate from〜（〜を卒業する），handicapped（障がいのある），rest（残り），
travel（旅行する），around the world（世界中を），experience（経験），
even（〜さえ），several times（数回），age（年齢），admired（賞賛された）

Questions and Answers:  Please answer the following questions
in English in a complete sentence, with a subject and a verb.

Q1. How old was Helen Keller when she became deaf and blind?

A1.


Q2. When Helen was a little girl, who helped her communicate with her family?

A2.


Q3. What did Anne Sullivan agree to do?

A3.


Q4. Why was Helen angry with her teacher?

A4.


Q5. How did Miss Sullivan teach Helen the meaning of “water”?

A5.  





＜解答例＞
A1. When she was 19 months old(, she became deaf and blind).

A2. Martha Washington did.

A3. She agreed to live with the Keller family and become Helen’s teacher.

A4. (She was angry) because she couldn’t understand her teacher.

A5. She took Helen to the pump and put the girl’s hand under the water.
　　　Then she spelled “water” on Helen’s palm.