第十篇：How Deafness Makes It Easier to Hear

Most people think of Beethoven's hearing loss as an obstacle tocomposing music. However, he producedhis most powerful works in the last decade of his life when he was completelydeaf.

This is one of the most glorious cases of the triumph of will overadversity, but his

biographer, Maynard Solomon, takes adifferent view. 1 . In his deaf world Beethoven

could experiment, free from the sounds ofthe outside world, free to create new forms and

harmonies. Hearing loss does not seem to affect the musical ability of musicianswho become deaf. They

continue to"hear" music with asmuch, or greater, accuracy than if they were actually hearing it

being played. 2 . He described a fascinating phenomenonthat happened within three months:" my former musical experiences began toplay back to me. I couldn't differentiate between what I heard and realhearing. 2 After many years, it is still rewarding to listen to theseplaybacks, to ' hear' music which is new to me and to find many quietaccompaniments for all of my moods. "

How is it that the world we see, touch, hear, and smell is both"out there" and at the same time within us? There is no betterexample of this connection between external stimulus and internal perceptionthan the cochlear implant. 3 . However, it might be possible to use thebrain's remarkable power to make sense of the electrical signals the implantproduces.

When Michael Edgar first" switched on" his cochlear implant,the sound's he heard were not at all clear. Gradually, with much hard work, hebegan to identify everyday sounds. For example," The insistent ringing ofthe telephone became clear almost at once. "

The primary purpose of the implant is to allow communication withothers. When people spoke to Eagar, he heard their voices "coming throughlike a long-distance telephone call on a poor connection. " But when itcame to his beloved music, the implant was of no help. 4 . He said," I play the piano as Iused to and hear it in my head at the same time. The movement of my fingers andthe feel of the keys give added ' clarity' to hearing in my head. ''

Cochlear implants allow the deaf to hear again in a way that is notperfect, but which can

change their lives. 5 . Even the most amazing cochlear implantswould have been useless to Beethoven ashe composed his Ninth Symphony at the end of his life.

注釋：

1.the triumphof will over adversity：the successful overcoming of difficulty through determination用意志力成功戰(zhàn)勝不幸

2.I couldn’tdifferentiate between what I heard and real hearin9.我不能分辨我聽到的和真實的聲音有什么不同。

3.cochlearimplant：a device，surgically placed in the ear，that changes soundsinto electric signals人工耳蝸;耳蝸植入

4.But when itcame to his beloved music，the implant was of no help.但是，如果碰到鐘愛的音樂，人工耳蝸沒有任何幫助。(我不用人工耳蝸就能聽出來)

5.The movementof my fingers and the feel of the keys give added“clarity”to hearingin my

head.由于我手指在鋼琴上的飛動，我能感覺到琴鍵，因而使我聽到的東西在腦海里更加清晰。

練習(xí):

A Noman-made device could replace the ability to hear.

B When he war, ted to appreciate music, Eagar played the piano.

C Still, as Michael Eagar discovered, when it comes to musical harmonies,heating is irrelevant.

D Michael Eagar, who died in 2003, became deaf at the age of 21.

E Beethoven produced his most wonderful works after he became deaf.

F Solomon argues that Beethoven's deafness "heightened" hisachievement as a composer.

答案與題解：

1.F本段的開頭講：貝多芬的例子是一個意志力戰(zhàn)勝耳聾的極好的例子。但是，他的傳記作家Maynard Solomon卻持不同的意見。貝多芬的耳聾不是一種災(zāi)難;相反，對他成為作曲家起到了促進(jìn)作用。后一句解釋了耳聾是如何使貝多芬更好地創(chuàng)作。

2.D該句是本段的開頭，根據(jù)后一句：他描述了在三個月之內(nèi)發(fā)生的奇妙的現(xiàn)象：我先前的音樂經(jīng)歷開始在我的腦海里回放。再有后一句的what I heard and real hearing可以判定D是恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?/p>

3.A依據(jù)前一句：只有人工耳蝸才能使外部刺激和內(nèi)心感知聯(lián)系起來(耳聾的人通過人工耳蝸聽到外部的聲音)。人工耳蝸就是一種man.made device，后一句也是在講人工耳蝸的功

能。所以A是對的。

4.B依據(jù)后一句的playthe piano呼應(yīng)When he wanted to appreciate music，Eagar played the

piano，可以斷定答案為B。

5.c前一句講人工耳蝸的作用：它能使耳聾的人聽到聲音，盡管不完美，但改變了他們的生活;Still表示轉(zhuǎn)折，該句承上啟下，雖然人工耳蝸能幫助耳聾的人，但談到音樂的韻律時，聽力是不相關(guān)的(聽力不起作用)。所以后一句講貝多芬在他生命的最后時刻創(chuàng)作第九交響樂時，無論多么完美的人工耳蝸對他來說都沒有用。

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（責(zé)任編輯：vstara）

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