Question

One in five U.S teenagers have some degree of hearing loss, according to researchers who said the problem is growing, “Teenagers really underestimate how much noise they are exposed to.” Dr, Josef Shargorodsky said. 　①　

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, compared national survey between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s. In the first survey, about 15 percent of teenagers had some degree of hearing loss. 　② Most of the hearing loss was in one ear only. While it was usually slight, one in 20 adolescents had more pronounced（顯著的）problems —up 50 percent since the first survey.

Hearing loss is very common in the elderly, Grimes said, but she added that it was concerning to see it come into the younger age groups. In babies and young children, hearing problems are known to delay language development, which in turn influences performance in other areas. Slight hearing loss, for instance, makes it difficult to distinguish between high-frequency consonants like “s” and “f.”

　③ The science is less clear for adolescents, but it is easy to imagine how being hard of hearing could influence learning, said Grimes. “We know from a lot of data that noisy classrooms are one of the biggest challenges to learning.”

The reasons for the rise are still uncertain. When asked about noise exposure—on the job, from firearms of recreational activities, for instance—the teenagers didn’t indicate any change. But Shargorodsky said, “We knew from before that it is difficult to ask this age group about noise exposure—they underestimate it ” ④　 Although it’s not clear that these devices are to blame, Grimes said it was still a good idea to turn down the volume. But she pointed out the advice would likely fall on deaf ears. She said the American Academy of hearing had also contacted Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, about adding a volume limiter on iPods. But they never heard back.

1. In which place should the sentence “Few people would call it noise when they listen to music on their MP3 player, for instance.” be put?

　 A. ①　　　 B. ②　　　　 C. ④　　　　 D. ③

2. What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?

　 A. Hearing loss was very common in the elderly in the country

　 B. The sounds like “s” and “f” are hard to distinguish by babies.

　 C. Babies and teenagers are also facing problems of hearing loss.

　 D. The number of teenagers with hearing problems is decreasing.

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

　 A.. The surveys have been carried out for at least 15 years.

　 B. The reasons of the hearing loss are known to the researchers

　 C. The reasons for the rise are clear to the researchers.

　 D. The results of surveys have been published in a newspaper.

4. The American Academy of hearing contacted the CEO of Apple in order to _______.

A. share the surveys with the CEO of Apple company

B. get more help in financial from the Apple company

C. express warn and threats to the CEO of Apple

D. remind the company to add a volume limiter on iPods

 

Answer 1

　1—4　 CCAD