A blind baby is doubly handicapped. Not only is it unable to see, but because it cannot receive the visual stimulus（刺激）from its environment that a sighted child does, it is likely to be slow in intellectual development. Now the ten-month old son of Dr. and Mrs. Dennis Daughters is the subject of an unusual psychological experiment designed to prevent a lag（滞后）in the learning process. With the aid of a sonar-type electronic that he wears on his head, infant(婴儿) Dennis is learning to identify the people and objects in the world around him by means of echoes(回声).
The device is an improvement of the “Sonicguide”, an instrument produced by Telesensory Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif, and used by blind adults in addition to a smart or guide dog. As adapted for Dennis, it consists of a battery-powered system about the size of a half dollar that is on a headgear. A transmitter sends out an ultrasonic(超声的) pulse that creates an 80 degree cone of sound at 6 feet. Echoes from objects within the cone are perceived (felt) as sounds that vary in pitch(音调) and volume(音量) with the size and distance of the object.
The closer an object is, the lower the pitch, and the larger the object, the louder the signal. Hard surfaces produce a sharp ping, while soft ones send back signals with a slightly fuzzy quality. An object slightly to the right of Denny’s sends back a louder sound to his right ear than to the left. Thus , by simply moving his head right and left and up and down, he can not only locate an object but also get some notion of its shape and size, thanks to the varying qualities of sounds reaching his ears as the cone of ultrasound(超声波) passes its edges. Dennis likes to use the device to play a kind of peek-a-boo with his mother. Standing on her knee and facing her directly, he receives a strong signal in both ears. By turning his head away, he makes her seem to disappear. “From the first time he wore it,” says Mrs. Daughters, “it was like a light going on in his head.”
What remains to be determined is how well the device will help Dennis cope with his surroundings as he begins to walk and venture further into his environment.
Meanwhile, Telesensory, Inc, is working on the development of sonar(声纳) device with somewhat the same sensitivity as Dennis’s for use by school-age children.
【小题1】Dr. and Mrs. Daughters’ research is directed to .A．helping the blind to see and learn as well as othersB．benefiting the learning process of blind childrenC．solving blind children’s psychological problemsD．finding out how children develop intellectually【小题2】Infant Dennis bees the subject of the experiment most probably because .A．he already lags behind the sighted childrenB．he leads a life as normal as any other childrenC．he is at the early stage of the learning processD．he has the aid of a sonar-type electronic device【小题3】What can we learn about infant Dennis’ device?A．Its first design was designed for blind adults.B．Its battery is as small as a half-dollar coin.C．It is functionally similar to a sane and guide dog.D．It has been improved by Telesensory Systems, Inc.【小题4】In the third paragraph, “its edges” refers to .A．the edge of an objectB．the edge of the deviceC．the boundary of Dennis’ movementD．the boundary of the sound pitch.B
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(答案→)B
解析：本文主要介绍了一项针对盲童学习过程的研究。
【小题1】细节理解题。首段第三句末的不定式“to prevent a lag(滞后) in the learning process”表明了Daughters夫 妇研究的目的是为了使盲童的学习过程受益。另外，文章一开头就提到了本文讨论的重点是针对blind baby的，由此可见，选项B为本题答案。
【小题2】细节理解题。首段首句提到的“a blind baby”，第三句提到的“ten months old”和末句提到的“infant” 等词都表明Dennis成为研究对象是因为Daughters夫妇 研究的是盲童从小的学习过程，Dennis年龄很小，正处 于学习的最初阶段，符合Daughters夫妇做研究的条件， 因此选项C为本题答案。
【小题3】细节理解题。第二段首句中的“improvement”表 明Dennis用的声呐定位仪是Sonicguide的改良版，也就是说Sonicguide是Dennis的声呐定位仪的原型，根据该句对其功能的描述The device is an improvement of the “Sonicguide”, an instrument produced by Telesensory Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif, and used by blind adults in addition to a smart or guide dog.可以确定Dennis用的声呐定位仪原来是为盲人成年人使用的，选项A为本题答案。
【小题4】细节理解题。第三段第四句中的“thanks to”表 明此处解释了Dennis的声呐定位仪的运作机制，即通 过声波描绘物体的形状，该句中the cone指的就是该定 位仪，而its edge应指周围物体的边缘，当声波碰到物体的边缘时，就能通过声音描绘出物体的形状了，因此本题答案应为A。