Famed singer Stevie Wonder can’t see his fans dancing at his concerts. He can’t see the hands of his audience as they applaud wildly at the end of his superstition.
Blind from birth, Wonder has waited his whole life for a chance to see. Recently, Wonder visited Mark Humayan, a vision specialist. He thought that a new device currently being studied by Humayan might offer him that chance.
The device, a retinal prosthesis, is a tiny computer chip implanted inside a patient’s eye. The chip sends images to the brain and allows some sightless people to see shapes and colors. Wonder hoped the retinal prosthesis might work for him. “I’ve always said that if ever there’s possibility of my seeing,” said Wonder, “then I would take the challenge.”
Unfortunately for Wonder, that challenge will have to wait. Humayan explained that the device isn’t ready for people who have been blind since birth. Their brains may not be able to handle signals from a retinal prosthesis because their brains have never handled signals from a healthy eye.
The retinal prosthesis and other devices, however, show great promise in helping many other sightless people who once had vision see again. Perhaps one day soon, some formerly sightless people may be in Wonder’s audience looking up—and seeing him—or the very first time.
Wonder’s willingness to take part in retinal prosthesis studies and the results of those studies are giving new hope to people who thought they would be blind for the rest of their lives. More than one million people in the United States are considered legally blind, meaning that their eyesight is severely impaired. Another one million are totally blind.
Two types of specialized cells in the retina—rods and cones—are critical for proper vision. Light enters the eye and falls on the rods and cones in the retina. Those cells convert the light to electrical signals which travel through the optic nerve to the brain. The brain interprets those signals as visual images. Rods detect light at low levels of illumination. For instance, rods allow you to see faint shadows in dim moonlight. Cones, on the other hand, are most sensitive to color. Some diseases can damage cells in the retina. For instance, macular degeneration causes blindness and other vision problems in 700,000 people in the United States each year. The condition is caused by a lack of adequate blood supply to the central part of the retina. Without blood, the rods, cones, and other cells in the retina die.
Devices such as the retinal prostheses won’t prevent or cure our eye diseases, but they may help patients who have eye disorders regain some of their vision. Different forms of retinal prostheses are currently being developed. On one type, a tiny computer chip is embedded in the eye. The chip has a grid of about 2,500 light-sensing elements called pixels.
Light entering the eye strikes the pixels, which convert the light into electrical signals. The pixels then send the electrical signals to nerve cells behind the retina. Those cells send signals via the optic nerve to the brain for interpretation.
Many people who have had a retinal prosthesis implanted say they can see shapes, colors, and movements that they couldn’t see before. “It was great,” said Harold Churchey, who received his retinal prosthesis 15 years after he became totally blind. “To see light after so long—it was just wonderful. It was just like switching a light on.”
1. Why did Steve Wonder visit Mark Humayan?
2. Whom is Mark’s retinal prosthesis ready for?
3. For detecting colors, we depend, in the first place, on ____.
4. Why does macular degeneration cause blindness and other vision problems?
5. Which of the following statements about the function of retinal prosthesis is true according to the passage?
问题1选项
A.He thought Mark’s device might recover his eyesight.
B.He thought Mark might need his help in developing the device.
C.He thought Mark might want to listen to his Superstition.
D.He thought Mark might implant a chip into his right eye.
问题2选项
A.For those who have been blind from birth.
B.For those who still have faint vision.
C.For the blind who once had eyesight.
D.For those who still have one healthy eye.
问题3选项
A.interpretation by the brain
B.cones of the retina
C.rods of the retina
D.optic nerve
问题4选项
A.Macular degeneration causes improper interpretation by the brain.
B.Macular degeneration makes the retina less sensitive to the light.
C.Macular degeneration changes the functions of rods and cones.
D.Macular degeneration causes inadequate supply of blood in the retina.
问题5选项
A.It can prevent some eye disorders.
B.It can cure some eye disorders.
C.It can help recover eyesight to some degree.
D.It can repair the damaged cones.
第1题:A
第2题:C
第3题:B
第4题:D
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
Why did Steve Wonder visit Mark Humayan? Steve Wonder为什么拜访Mark Humayan?
A. He thought Mark’s device might recover his eyesight. A. 他认为Mark的设备可能会恢复他的视力。
B. He thought Mark might need his help in developing the device. B. 他认为Mark可能需要他的帮助来开发这个设备。
C. He thought Mark might want to listen to his Superstition. C. 他觉得Mark可能会想听听他迷信的想法。
D. He thought Mark might implant a chip into his right eye. D. 他认为Mark可能会在他右眼植入芯片。
【答案】A
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】第二段讲“Wonder从出生起就双目失明,他一生都在等待一个能看见的机会。最近,Wonder拜访了视觉专家Mark Humayan。他认为Humayan目前正在研究的一种新设备可能会给他提供这种机会。”由此可知,Steve Wonder拜访Mark Humayan的原因是他认为Mark Humayan的设备可能会恢复他的视力,选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B、C选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
D选项根据第三段第一句“这种设备是视网膜假体,是植入病人眼睛内的一个微型电脑芯片” 第四段前两句“不幸的是,对Wonder来说,这个挑战还得等等再说。Humayan解释说,这种设备还不适合那些天生失明的人”可知,该选项表述错误,属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Whom is Mark’s retinal prosthesis ready for? Mark的视网膜假体是为谁准备的?
A. For those who have been blind from birth. A. 给那些生来就瞎眼的人。
B. For those who still have faint vision. B. 给那些视力还很差的人。
C. For the blind who once had eyesight. C. 给曾经看得见的盲人。
D. For those who still have one healthy eye. D. 给那些还有一只健康眼睛的人。
【答案】C
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】第五段第一句讲“然而,视网膜假体和其他装置在帮助许多曾经有过视力的盲人(many other sightless people who once had vision see again)重见光明方面展现出了巨大的希望。”由此可推断,Mark的视网膜假体装置是为那些曾经有过良好视力的人准备的,所以选项C符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项定位到第四段第二句“Humayan解释说,这种设备还不适合那些天生失明的人(people who have been blind since birth)”,属于反向干扰;
B、D选项文中没有提及,属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
For detecting colors, we depend, in the first place, on ____. 为了识别颜色,我们首先依赖于____。
A. interpretation by the brain A. 大脑解读
B. cones of the retina B. 视网膜的视锥细胞
C. rods of the retina C. 视网膜杆状体
D. optic nerve D. 视神经
【答案】B
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】第七段第一句讲“网膜中的两种特殊细胞——视杆细胞和视锥细胞——对正常视力至关重要”;第七句讲“另一方面,视锥细胞对颜色最敏感。”由此可知,选项B正确
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项均不符合原文内容,属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Why does macular degeneration cause blindness and other vision problems? 为什么黄斑变性会导致失明和其他视力问题?
A. Macular degeneration causes improper interpretation by the brain. A. 黄斑变性会引起大脑的错误解读。
B. Macular degeneration makes the retina less sensitive to the light. B. 黄斑变性使视网膜对光的敏感度降低。
C. Macular degeneration changes the functions of rods and cones. C. 黄斑变性改变视杆细胞和视锥细胞的功能。
D. Macular degeneration causes inadequate supply of blood in the retina. D. 黄斑变性导致视网膜血液供应不足。
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据关键词“macular degeneration”定位到第七段后半部分的内容“例如,黄斑变性导致美国每年有70万人失明和其他视力问题。这种情况是由于缺乏足够的血液供应到视网膜的中央部分。没有血液,视网膜中的杆状细胞、视锥细胞和其他细胞就会死亡。” 由此可知,选项D符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项原文均没有提及,属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following statements about the function of retinal prosthesis is true according to the passage? 根据文章,下列关于视网膜假体功能的陈述哪一个是正确的?
A. It can prevent some eye disorders. A. 它可以预防一些眼部疾病。
B. It can cure some eye disorders. B. 它可以治疗一些眼部疾病。
C. It can help recover eyesight to some degree. C. 它可以在一定程度上帮助恢复视力。
D. It can repair the damaged cones. D. 它可以修复受损的视锥细胞。
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】倒数第三段第一句讲“视网膜假体等设备无法预防或治愈我们的眼病,但它们可能帮助患有眼病的患者恢复部分视力。”由此可知,C选项符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项与原文“视网膜假体等设备无法预防或治愈我们的眼病”表述相反,属于反向干扰;
D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。