Who Was Helen Keller 海伦·凯勒 Chapter 7 Years in New York

The door of the Perkins School had slammed shut, but another door opened. Annie learned about a new school for deaf children. Two men—Dr. Thomas Humason and John Wright—started the school in 1894 in New York City and it sounded perfect for Helen.

But how would the Kellers pay for it? Helen’s father had fallen on hard times. There was no money to spare. Fortunately, Helen had met many rich people, such as Dr. Bell, John D. Rockefeller, and John Spaulding. Spaulding offered to pay for Helen’s schooling¹. So Annie and Helen left for New York.

They settled into a fine house close to Central Park. At the Wright-Humason School, Helen studied arithmetic (still her least favorite subject), English literature (which she loved), American history, French, and German. She also studied lip-reading and speech.

Helen’s fame spread. A reporter from The New York Times came to interview her. He thought he would meet a quiet, shy girl. But fifteen-year-old Helen amazed him. Throughout the interview, Helen laughed, joked, and flirted².

Helen and her class visited the Statue of Liberty. She climbed to the top. To Helen, the air at the top smelled cleaner. The smell of the ocean reminded her of Cape³ Cod⁴. Another time Helen’s class went to a dog show at Madison Square Garden. Helen loved it because dogs were her favorite animal.

One trip affected⁵ Helen greatly. Annie and Helen went to the Lower East Side. This is where many new immigrants lived. They lived in tiny, crowded apartments in buildings called tenements⁶. As many as ten people lived in one small dark room.

Helen could not see the poverty. But she could feel it. The people’s clothes felt rough and ragged⁷ as they brushed Helen and Annie in the street. Helen also smelled the machine oil, the sawdust, the street dirt, and the salted fish. She could tell just how different life here was from hers.

Many famous people lived in New York. At a party, Helen met Mark Twain. Twain had written The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Twain watched Helen read lips. They talked together at the party. When Helen left, she put violets in his buttonhole. The two became lifelong friends.

After school, Helen liked going to Central Park. On winter days, Helen went bobsledding. She took riding lessons. Helen was growing up. She was becoming a beautiful, interesting, young woman.
 

1 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

2 flirted   

v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She flirted her fan. 她急速挥动着扇子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• During his four months in Egypt he flirted with religious emotions. 在埃及逗留的这四个月期间，他又玩弄起宗教情绪来了。 来自辞典例句

3 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

4 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 tenements   

n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Here were crumbling tenements, squalid courtyards and stinking alleys. 随处可见破烂的住房、肮脏的庭院和臭气熏天的小胡同。 来自辞典例句
• The tenements are in a poor section of the city. 共同住宅是在城中较贫苦的区域里。 来自辞典例句

7 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。