Who Was Helen Keller 海伦·凯勒 BRAILLE

（单词翻译）

MANY BLIND PEOPLE READ BY TOUCH INSTEAD OF SIGHT. THEY RUN THEIR FINGERS OVER PAGES THAT ARE PRINTED IN RAISED DOTS. DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENTS OF DOTS STAND FOR DIFFERENT LETTERS. LOUIS BRAILLE INVENTED THIS SPECIAL KIND OF WRITING.

LOUIS BRAILLE WAS BORN IN 1809 IN A SMALL TOWN IN FRANCE. HE BECAME BLIND AT THE AGE OF FOUR. MOST BLIND PEOPLE THEN COULDN’T READ OR WRITE. MANY HAD TO BEG TO MAKE A LIVING. BUT LOUIS WAS LUCKY. HE WENT TO A SCHOOL FOR BLIND BOYS. HE LEARNED¹ TO READ LETTERS THAT WERE MADE BY PRESSING COPPER² WIRE INTO A SHEET OF PAPER TO MAKE A RAISED SHAPE. LOUIS COULD READ, BUT HE STILL DID NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE.

THEN, ONE DAY, A SOLDIER CAME TO THE SCHOOL. HE SHOWED THE STUDENTS A SYSTEM CALLED “NIGHT WRITING.” IT HELPED SOLDIERS IN BATTLE COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER IN THE DARK WITHOUT HAVING TO TALK. IT WAS BASED ON A SERIES³ OF RAISED DOTS.

LOUIS WAS VERY EXCITED BY THIS NEW KIND OF WRITING. HE SAW HOW USEFUL IT COULD BE. HE EXPERIMENTED UNTIL HE FOUND A SYSTEM OF USING SIX DOTS. BLIND PEOPLE COULD READ IT. AND THEY COULD ALSO WRITE IT. THEY USED A STYLUS (A POINTED⁴ PEN-LIKE TOOL) TO MAKE THE DOTS.

TODAY, BRAILLE HAS BEEN ADAPTED FOR ALMOST EVERY LANGUAGE AND IS USED ALL OVER THE WORLD.