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Text 1
Three Days to See
About the author:
During her life, Helen Keller was one of
the world's great heroes. Her remarkable story was well known
throughout the world. Born in 1880, she contracted an illness
when she was less than 2 years old that left her unable to
hear and see. At a time when the lives of most people, and
certainly, most disabled people, were constrained by their
society's medical, philosophical, social, and economic limitations,
Miss Keller went on to develop formidable powers of intellectual
and emotional achievement. She traveled to the farthest reaches
of the world; became a leading figure who publicly campaigned
on behalf of civil rights, human dignity, women's suffrage,
and world peace; and met the most celebrated personalities
of her time. It is therefore not surprising that Helen Keller
today remains a woman whose astounding personality and accomplishments
attract widespread admiration and awe.
About Anne Sullivan:
Anne Sullivan had lost most of her sight at the age
of five. By the age of ten, her mother died and her father
deserted her. She and her brother Jimmie were sent to the
poorhouse in February 1876.
Anne's brother died in the poorhouse. It was October 1880
when Anne finally left and went to commence her education
at the Perkins Institution. One summer during her time at
the institute, Anne had two operations on her eyes, which
led to her regaining enough sight to be able to read normal
print for short periods of time.
Anne graduated from Perkins in 1886 and began to search for
work. Finding work was terribly difficult for Anne, due to
her poor eyesight, and when she received the offer from Michael
Anagnos to work as the teacher of Helen Keller, a deaf-blind
mute, although she had no experience in this area, she accepted
it willingly. She worked very hard and was instrumental in
the education of Keller.
About the text:
"Three Days to See" is the most beautiful piece
of writing ever written by a blind person. Its language is
lucid ,subtle and prosaic. It tells us the exact perception
of a blind and perhaps only a blind can write such a wonderful piece.
Helen Keller, from the point of view of a blind, tells us
how to value our sight.
Language notes:
1. Sometimes
it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four
hours.
(有限的时光或长达一年或短至24小时。)
In this sentence, the word “it” refers to “a limited and specified
time” mentioned in the previous sentence.
2. The
Epicurean motto(享乐主义的信条)
Epicurus
:(342-270 B.C.), a Greek philosopher
who founded Epicureanism. He defined philosophy as the art of
making life happy, saying that pleasure is the highest and
only good. Epicurus also advocated honesty, prudence, and
justice in dealing with others.
3.
When
we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable.
(当我们身体健康时，死亡是件难以想象的事。)
in buoyant health: in good health condition
4. Particularly
does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and
hearing in adult life.
(这一观点特别适用于那些在成年后才丧失视觉和听觉的人。)
Inversion is used here for rhetoric effort, and its natural order
should be: This observation particularly applies to those
who have lost sight and hearing in adult life.
5.
Now
and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what
they see.
Seeing friends: 有视力的朋友。
6.
He
would try to awake their dormant and sluggish faculties.
(他将尽力唤醒他们那些昏睡懒散的器官。)
Faculties refers to the natural powers of the mind or body.
7.
The
eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine
of their surroundings, and they actually see only the startling
and spectacular.
The startling and spectacular means things that are startling and
spectacular.
Text 2
Beethoven
About the author:
Anne Pimlott Baker is a Research Associate on the New Dictionary
of National Biography. From an Anglo-American background (in
1898 her grandmother was the first woman to qualify for a
Harvard PhD), she read Modern History at Oxford and has taught
history at Benenden School.
Beethoven is an excellent book written by Anne Pimlott
Baker. This biography of the great composer was only just
over 100 pages long, and in a generously spaced layout. It
was good, in a bare-bones kind of way. It contains the basic
facts of Beethoven's life, talks about when he was composing
what, discusses his deafness and his personal relationships
with others.
On the other hand, there is no real discussion of the music,
neither its characteristics nor its impact on the people around
Beethoven. Beethoven also comes across as an eccentric misanthrope
in a rather unqualified way. Perhaps this is accurate, but
there just isn't space in the book to provide more nuances.
About Beethoven:
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of the greatest, if
not the greatest, composer to ever live. Most people are
familiar with a few of his works, if nothing more than the
beginning of the Fifth Symphony, the Finale of the Ninth
Symphony and the "Moonlight" Sonata. Beethoven's story is one
of personal triumph over tragedy and supreme musical
achievement.
Language notes:
1. Elector:
one of the German princes entitled to elect the emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire.
2.
Gradus
ad Parnassum (1725):
a treatise on sixteenth-century
counterpoint in the style of
Palestrina by Johann Joseph
Fux,(1660-1741),teacher of
Caldara in 1716,
Zelenka and
Quantz in 1717, and imperial
court composer in Vienna from 1715. In 1745 Gradus was
translated into German by Bach's pupil Lorenz Christoph Mizler.
3. op.表示作品第几号，如 piano
sonata,op.2, 钢琴奏鸣曲作品第二。
4. piano
concerto in Bь,op.19: 降B 大调钢琴奏鸣曲作品第19。Bь表示降B大调。
5. C#
major: 升C大调。
6. Although
in general he disliked teaching, he had a soft spot for some
of the aristocratic young ladies who came to him for
lessons, and when the young countesses Josephine and Therese
von Brunsvik came to Vienna from Hungary in 1799, he taught
them for four or five hours a day on sixteen consecutive days,
and refused any payment.
In this sentence the expression "had a soft
spot for" means "had a feeling of special kindness or liking
for".
7. Eroica:
Heroic.
8. Concordat:
an agreement between the pope and a
secular government regarding ecclesiastical matters.
9. Sinfonia
Eroica: the Latin name for Heroic Symphony.
10. The
symphony had a mixed reception, and many people felt it was
far too long.
( 人们对这首交响乐的反应好坏不一，许多人认为它太长。)
The phrase "mixed reception" refers to the controversial opinion
of the work.
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