名人教英文：海伦凯勒：身残志坚 helen keller — disabled yet spirited
in 1909 helen keller published the world i live in. it described her everyday life. she began to get mail from all over the world from people who read her books.
john macy and helen keller joined the socialist party. keller was offended by the luxury of the wealthy and the ten-hour work days of ordinary people. the socialists believed everyone should have the same living standard.
anne sullivan did not agree with helen and john's political ideas. keller criticised rich men like john d rockefeller and andrew carnegie, who had personal fortunes. then andrew carnegie, who gave a lot to charitable causes, offered keller an income. he felt that her courage was making an outstanding contribution to society. keller politely turned the money down. she could not accept it from a rich man.
keller hung a large red flag from her bedroom window to show her support for socialism (社会主义). many of her friends were upset. they thought keller did not really understand politics. they felt that the socialists were using her. keller found out people were saying she was not able to understand complicated economic ideas. she struck back (反击). she said she felt insulted that anyone disrespected her like that. she said being blind and deaf had nothing to do with her mind.
keller and the macys were having financial problems. they decided to have a lecture tour. but, first keller had an operation on her eyes. one of her eyes jutted out (突出). that was why she was always photographed in profile. the operation would remove her sightless eyes and replace them with artificial eyes, giving her a more pleasing appearance.
in february 1913 keller made her first appearance in an auditorium (礼堂) in montclair, new jersey. she was terrified to go before the public. she prayed for strength. anne macy spoke first for about an hour, telling keller's story. then, helen came out and placed her fingers on anne's mouth. this showed the audience the skill of lip reading (读唇). then, helen keller gave a short talk. her comments were filled with hope and good will, but her voice was of poor quality. it was high pitched and odd. the final part of the presentation was a question and answer period. the entire presentation lasted about two hours.
the lecture tours supported keller for a while. but then anne's vision grew worse. sadly, her marriage to john macy ended in 1914. this left anne very depressed. anne could not help helen on the stage. so, a new assistant — polly thomson — was hired.with thomson assisting, keller continued to draw large crowds. thomas edison and former president howard taft came to see keller. the famous italian tenor (男高音), enrico caruso, sang to helen.
world war i had broken out in europe. helen keller joined women's peace groups. the groups campaigned against american involvement in the war. keller made some controversial remarks against war and capitalism. she called john d rockefeller a monster. she blasted president theodore roosevelt (罗斯福) as bloodthirsty (嗜杀的). she said this because he wanted the united states to join world war i.
keller was warned by friends that she could not continue to make such statements. people might consider her unpatriotic (不爱国). keller then said she would gladly go to jail for her beliefs if it came to that.
in 1916, keller joined the national woman's party, a militant (激进的) group campaigning for giving women the right to vote. keller believed in that strongly. keller also continued to speak out boldly in favour of socialism. she also spoke out against american participation in world war i.