Helen Keller

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a healthy baby girl
to Arthur and Kate. Helen loved playing with the animals on their farm. When Helen was one and
a half years old, she became very sick with a high fever and headache that lasted a few days.
Helen fortunately survived, but she had lost her ability to see and hear.

Helen had a difficult time communicating her wants and needs with others, even when
she used gestures to explain herself. She would become frustrated, which led to her throwing
tantrums, kicking, and hitting other people. Helen’s parents knew she needed special help. The
Kellers contacted the Perkins Institute for the Blind. They sent a former student, Annie
Sullivan, who was just 14 years older than Helen. Annie used to be blind, but a surgery helped
restore her eyesight. She helped Helen for the next 50 years.

Annie helped Helen learn words by pressing the letters in her hands. She then taught her
how to read in Braille, a system of raised dots that stand for letters, numbers, and symbols
and can be read with the fingertip by people who are blind or who have low vision.
When Helen was 10, she was ready to learn how to speak. Sara Fuller helped her with
this. Sara was a teacher for the deaf. She knew certain techniques that would help. As she
spoke, Helen would place her hand on Sarah’s lips. Instead of hearing the sound, she felt the
sound vibrations and felt how the lips moved to make certain sounds. Helen herself started
saying a few letters and sounds. Eventually, she learned complete words. And with hard work
and determination, she was able to say full sentences.

When Helen was 16, she attended Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. Annie went with
her. She worked on writing about her experiences being deaf and blind. Her stories were
published as magazine articles and were later turned into a book. Helen graduated with honors
in 1904 when she was 24.

Helen wanted to help others. She became a member of the American Foundation for
the Blind and gave speeches to help raise money for the organization. She also visited
wounded soldiers during World War II and encouraged them not to give up. Helen spent a
lot of her life raising money and awareness for people with disabilities.

Helen passed away on June 1, 1968, in Arcan Ridge, Easton, Connecticut at the age of 87.
Her legacy still lives on. Many movies, plays, and books have been based on her life. Perhaps the
most famous film was The Miracle Worker, which won two Academy Awards.
Al-Mustapha High School–Hara March ________ , 2023
Name _____________________
Grade 7 (A/B/C)
Listening Test
10
Helen Keller

A. Listen and respond. Write True (T) or False (F). Correct the error. (3pts)
1. Helen wrote about her experiences being deaf and blind. _____________
2. Helen felt the sound vibrations and how the lips moved to make certain sounds. __________
3. Braille is a system made of carved dots that stand for letters, numbers, and symbols. __________
4. Helen Keller lived 77 years. ___________
5. Hellen Keller was born blind and deaf. ____________
6. Helen was born in Alabama and passed away in Connecticut. ___________

B. Listen and choose the correct answer. (3pts)

1. What was the name of the college Helen attended?
a. Arcan Ridge.
b. The American foundation for the Blind.
c. Radcliff College.

2. Why did Helen Keller become angry and upset when she was a child?
a. Keller was a spoiled child.
b. Keller was frustrated that she couldn't communicate with her family and friends.
c. Keller was treated unkindly by her brothers and sisters because of her disabilities.

3. Who was Helen Keller’s teacher and companion for much of her life?
a. Kate Keller
b. Kelly Seaton
c. Annie Sullivan

4. Who was Sara Fuller?

a. A teacher for the deaf who helped Hellen Keller speak words and sentences
b. the teacher before Annie Sullivan
c. Helen Keller’s step mother

5. Which of the following statements about Helen Keller is not correct?

a. Hellen Keller learned how to read Braille, use a type writer, and even speak.
b. Helen Keller lived a very isolated life, surrounded only by family and few friends.
c. Helen Keller became an author and a political and social activist.

6. Helen went to college at age _________ and graduated at age _________.

a. 16, 24
b. 18, 24
c. 20, 24

C. Answer the following questions.

1. Write three details from the passage about Annie Sullivan. (1.5pts)
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2. Name three of the achievements of Hellen Keller. (1.5pts)

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3. What was the name of the movie that was based on Helen’s life that won two Academy Awards? (1pt)
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