Lesson 3: Helen Keller (1)

Key words: humanitarian, disabled, inventor, plantation

A

Talk about the picture.

1. Who is the woman in the picture?
2. What is she famous for?

Read about Helen Keller.

Helen Keller was a great humanitarian. She deeply cared for people who were sick and injured. These disabled people could not use a part of their body. Helen worked for these disabled people all through her life.

Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. Her father was Captain Arthur Keller, and her mother was Katherine Adams Keller. Her family was not rich, and its main source of income was a cotton plantation.

Helen was quite healthy when she was born. But in 1882, she had a high fever and became blind, deaf, and dumb. At that time, her father was a newspaper editor. He told Alexander Graham Bell about Helen. Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was working with deaf children at that time. Later, Bell met Helen and her parents. He suggested Perkins School for the Blind in Boston for Helen.

Captain Arthur went to the director of the school, Michael Anaganos. Mr. Anaganos sent one of his best students, called Annie Sullivan, to help Helen in 1887. Annie greatly helped Helen to communicate.

Match the words with their meanings.

| Words | Meanings | |---|---| | humanitarian | | | disabled | | | plantation | | | inventor | |

Meanings:

• making people’s sufferings less and improving their living conditions
• a large area of land where crops like sugar, banana, etc. are grown
• unable to use a part of the body easily or completely because of illness, injury, etc.
• a person who has discovered something

D

True or false? If false, give the correct answer.

1. Helen always helped the suffering people.
2. She came from a rich family.
3. She was born blind, deaf, and dumb.
4. Alexander Graham Bell was both an inventor and a social worker.
5. Annie Sullivan was a good teacher of Helen Keller.

E Answer the questions. 1 What did the Director do for Helen? 2 How did Helen increase her reading skills at Radcliffe College? 3 What is Helen famous for? F Find a humanitarian lady in your locality. Write a paragraph in 50 words about what she does for others.