World Braille Day is on the 4th of January every year. That’s the date of birth of Louis Braille, the man who invented the system that helps blind people read and write. Braille was a Frenchman who lived between 1809 and 1852. He became blind at the age of three. He was a very talented boy. At school he learnt the cello and organ and toured France to play in churches. He was just 15 when he invented his reading and writing system. It was a stroke of genius. He used just six raised dots on paper so people could feel each letter of the alphabet with their fingertip. Braille changed the lives of blind people forever. He had no idea how important his invention was because he died aged 43. Two years after his death, France officially recognized his system.

每年的1月4日是世界盲文日。这天是路易斯·布莱叶的生日，他发明了帮助盲人读写的文字系统布莱叶点字法。布莱叶（1809——1852）三岁时失明。他很有天赋。上学期间，他学习了大提琴和管风琴，并在法国的教堂中巡回演出。他发明点字法时才15岁。这真是天才之举。他只使用了纸张上6个凸点，这样人们就可以用手指来感觉每一个字母。盲文永久性的改变了盲人的命运。他不知道他的发明为盲人带来了什么，因为他去世时只有43岁。他去世两年后，法国官方承认了他的发明点字法系统。

International (World) Braille Day is celebrated all over the world. It recognizes how Louis Braille has revolutionized the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired. Braille is a key to improving social and economic opportunities to millions. It has given the blind a means to be more independent and to educate themselves. Without it, many people would beilliterate. People used to use a special typewriter calleda Brailler to write. Nowadays, computers make it very easy for people to read and write using Braille. A worker with America’s blind, Des Kenny, said: “Braille is to the blind person what the printed word is to the sighted individual - access to information and contact with the outside world”. So, January 4th celebrates the magic of six small dots.

全世界都庆祝世界盲文日。这一节日使人们意识到布莱叶是如何改变了盲人和视觉障碍人群的生活。盲文是千百万人提升社会机遇和经济机遇的关键。有了它，盲人变得更加独立，并能自学成才。没有盲文，许多盲人将会成为文盲。过去人们使用布莱叶盲文打字机写字。如今，电脑使得盲人可以很方便地用盲文读写。美国工人登斯·肯尼说：“盲文之于盲人，就像文字之于正常人——盲人可以通过它获取信息，与外部世界联系。所以，1月4日庆祝的是六点魔法。

1. visually impaired 视觉障碍

And some people, such as the visually impaired, cannot see CAPTCHA images at all, so this technique exhibits poor accessibility, and can even be illegal in some circumstances.

有些人，比如视觉障碍人士，根本无法看不到 CAPTCHA 图像，所以这个技巧的适用性比较差，在某些情况下甚至可能是不合法的。

2. to contact with 交流

In the current Asian outbreak, the vast majority of cases have been traced to contact with animals.

此次（禽流感）在亚洲爆发，绝大多数病例都可以追溯到与动物的接触史。

3. all over the world 全球

The films manufactured by Hollywood are saturated in the cinemas all over the world.

好莱坞影片渗透了全球的电影市场。

4. raised dot 凸点

Louis Braille, French inventor of the raised-dot system of writing used by the blind, was born near Paris.

路易斯·布莱叶，法国发明家，生于巴黎附近，发明了供盲人使用的凸点书写系统。