历时近两个月的英语“阅读沙龙”活动经过胡仲宇老师与两位作者数轮的修改完善，两篇一等奖文章最终定型。特公布于此，供大家学习与交流。
A Gift by God
--- On Three Days to See
Helen Keller, a doomed female who became blind and deaf at 19 months old but grew up to be a world-famous author and public speaker, is a perfect gift by God in a unique manner. I often get intoxicated in her gorgeous yet natural words, abandoning myself in the delicate feelings and noble sentiments revealed in the book Three Days to See. The thrilling stories, depicting how Helen has overcome the obstacles in her life and study, never fail to fill my eyes with tears no matter how many times I read them.
Helen Keller is a gift by God to show how powerful a desperate heart can become with the nourishment of knowledge. A sickness having left Helen blind and deaf, she becomes a wild child who ‘kicks and screams’ until she is exhausted from her occasional anger. Fortunately, there occurs a turning point in her life when Miss Sullivan comes to impart knowledge and educate Helen with all her patience. It is a good education that restores Helen to her human heritage, eventually impressing upon her the fact that the tender affections grow out of endearing words and actions, coupled with companionship. It is quite reasonable for us to say this acquisition paves way for her later achievements.
Helen is a gift from God to demonstrate the overriding importance of faith, persistence and inner might. It is not difficult to imagine the setbacks and hardships facing Helen, such as completing assignments via a Braille type-writer and taking courses along with normal students. By means of all her determined inborn characteristics, nonetheless, she succeeds in being admitted to Harvard University. If Helen, having being stricken blind and deaf, could obtain her ambitious goals, how much easier will it become for the unimpaired?
Helen is a gift with her mission to act as a contrast to the unimpaired who take their blessed faculties for granted. In one sense, being blind and deaf has kept her away from many lures to which common people are subject. Thus, we spend most of our days eating, drinking and being merry. In another sense, walking in the valley of twofold solitude, Helen converses with the outside --- not merely through touch, but with her whole being. This is why the smooth skin of a silver birch, the velvety texture of a flower, which are nothing special to us, are overwhelmingly valuable and fantastic to Helen. It is no wonder every single word by teachers in class (where we are always absent-minded) is as precious as to arrest her attention. Granted that Helen manages to have a good command of various languages, algebra and geometry without sight and hearing, what a tremendous difference would take place if we lived each day with gentleness, vigor and appreciation?
In the last chapter Spend Your Days, Helen questions, “can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends?’’ Apparently, many fail! The eyes of seeing persons have become accustomed to the routines of their surroundings, thereby using the gift of sight as a mere convenience rather than a means of adding fullness to life.
What is it that we are supposed to do to lead a more rewarding life?
The reply by Helen is: to become aware of our listless attitude toward life; to realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight and hearing; to be more appreciative of health; to live each day as if we should die tomorrow; to emphasize sharply the values of life! （081410205 韩晓露）
