D
Parties, iPods, concerts, movies, TV shows, video games, traffic. All of these things of the modern world make life entertaining and enjoyable. But our 21
st-century lifestyle is also loud and, if we don’t take notice, it can have an effect on our hearing.
Most teenagers don’t think about hearing loss. But if you experience any of the following
symptoms（症状）, you may already be hearing damaged: you make efforts to hear normal talk, you have to turn up the TV or radio so high that others complain, you watch other people’s expressions to understand what they are saying, you ask people to repeat themselves, you misunderstand what people are saying or you hear ringing in your ears.
iPods and other MP3 players are as common as the clothes you wear, and just as fashionable. But if you turn up an iPod to more than 60 percent of its
maximum volume（最大音量）, and listen to music for more than an hour, you are asking for trouble. And, it does not matter if the music you play is classical, rock or heavy metal.
Some researchers find that young people who break the so-called 60-percent/60-minute rule in listening to iPods are at the risk of suffering hearing loss.
Why is an iPod dangerous? With ear buds placed directly in the ear canal and high-volume music played over a long period of time, it’s like working in a loud factory all day, being a
maintenance（修理）person under a jet airplane or using a
jackhammer（手提钻）on a building site.
Similarly, iPod music can cause a short time or
permanent（永久的）hearing damage. A loud iPod can cause a
ruptured（破裂的）eardrum and, over time, may cause permanent damage to the tiny hairs in the inner ear. If these tiny hairs are damaged, they cannot effectively send sounds to the
auditory nerves（听觉神经）that connect to the brain. If this happens, hearing loss becomes permanent.
小题1:Which of the following shows that you are suffering hearing loss?
| A．You are interested to listen to others’ talking. |
| B．You have to read others’ expressions to understand them. |
| C．You can only understand others over the phone. |
| D．You always think you hear the ringing of the phone. |
小题2: Which of the following is TRUE when you listen to music?
| A．Listen at least an hour every time. |
| B．Turn up the volume to the highest level. |
| C．keep the sound lower than 60% of its highest volume. |
| D．Choose classical, rock or heavy metal music. |
小题3:What is the correct order of causing permanent hearing loss?
a. The eardrum is broken.
b. The auditory nerves cannot receive sounds.
c. Tiny hairs are damaged.
d. Ear buds are placed directly in the ear canal.
e. High-volume music is played over a long time.
| A．d-a-c-b-e | B．e-c-a-b-d | C．b-c-a-d-e | D．d-e-a-c-b |
小题4:This passage is mainly about
.
| A．music that teenagers like | B．hearing problems caused by the loud world |
| C．ways that teenagers enjoy music | D．dangerous modern lifestyles of teenagers. |