Blind people usually possess one advantage over other people who can see. Their sense of hearing is far more acute. Bats, whose sight is poor, use a sound location system to help them avoid blocks in the dark. They send out pulses of sound waves, pitched at 50,000 cycles per second, far above the limits of the human ear, which can hear sounds up to frequencies of about 20,000 cycles per second. As the echoes bounce back off obstacles such as trees and walls, the bats are able to take proper action.
The first steps to help blind people to see with sound are based on exactly the same principle. The sound is given off by an ultrasonic (超声的) torch, whose shape is different from a normal electric torch. It is double-barreled. It works in a similar way to a sonar (声呐) unit on a warship or submarine. The unit’s transmitter sends out pulses of ultrasonic waves at the same frequency as the bat and the receiver picks up the returning echoes. Because these are still above the frequency at which the human ear can pick them up. The echoes are filtered (过滤) through circuits that turn them into “bleeps” which can be clearly heard before passing them into headphones.
This means that a person holding the torch can point it ahead of him and scan the area for obstacles over a range of about 25 feet. If there are no return echoes coming through the headphones, then there is nothing in the way. If echoes do come back, then the closer the obstruction the faster the succession of bleeps and the deeper the pitch of each bleep. With practice, the torch could help a blind person to lead a more normal life.
At present, the experimental ultrasonic torch requires a shoulder bag to carry the batteries, cables for the power supplies and earphones, as well as the torch itself. Fortunately, reducing the size of the electronic equipment is progressing and it should not be long before the whole set-up can be reproduced in a form small enough to fit into a pair of glasses. The wearer would face in the direction he wanted to check, and lift or lower his head just as a sighted person would.
【小题1】Which statement of the following is NOT true according to the article?
A.Bats can avoid blocks in the dark. |
B.Blind people have more acute sense of hearing than normal people. |
C.The shape of ultrasonic torch is different from a normal electric torch. |
D.The ultrasonic torch doesn’t send out the same pulse frequency as the bat does. |
【小题2】What is the ultrasonic torch used for?
a. Helping the blind to walk.
b. Helping deaf children to watch sports.
c. Helping the blind to lead a better life.
d. Being used in a warship or submarine during a war.
【小题3】What can we infer from this article?
A.The ultrasonic glasses have been produced. |
B.The blind with the ultrasonic torch can walk themselves. |
C.The blind should not go further without return echoes. |
D.The filtered bleeps would be passed on to their ears. |
【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?
A.The ultrasonic torch can improve the life of the blind. |
B.Animals can help scientist invent new equipment. |
C.The technology is progressing rapidly. |
D.The ultrasonic torch is not easy to carry now. |