Question

All That noise is damaging Children’s Hearing

       Michel become hooked on headphones in his early teens. He walked in the streets of Brooklyn day after day with his favorite music blasting directly into his ears. By his early 20s, Michel had lost much of his upper-range hearing.

       The Children’s Hearing Institute reports that hearing loss among children and young adults is rising in the United States, and that one third of the damage is caused by noise.

Surrounded By Noise

       We live in a noisy world. Young and old alike are beset by sounds over which we may have little or no control: power mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, cars and house alarms, sirens, motorcycles, Jet Skis, loudspeakers, even movie previews.

       We attend rock concerts, weddings, parties and sports events at which the music is so loud you can hardly hear the person sitting next to you. At home, televisions, stereos and computer games are often turned up so loud that listeners can not hear a doorbell or telephone. Many “modern ” restaurants have chosen noise enhancement instead of abatement(減輕). Any time you need to shout to be heard by someone near you, your hearing is most likely to be in a decibel(分貝) danger zone.

       As if environmental noise were not enough, now we surround children with noisy toys and personal listening devices that can permanently damage their hearing. Toys that meet the safety standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials can produce sound up to 138 decibels, as loud as a jet plane taking off. Yet workplace rules require hearing protection for those exposed to noise above 85 decibels.

Protecting Young Ears

       Before buying noisemaking toys, parents would do well to listen to how loud they are. If the toy comes with a volume control, monitor its use to make sure it is kept near the lowest level. Consider returning gifts that make loud noises, disable the noise-making function. Or limit the use of noisy toys to outside play areas.

Children who play computer games and stereo equipment should be warned to keep the volume down. Time spent in video arcades, where the noise level can be over 110 decibels, should be strictly limited. Most iPods have a control that allow parents to set a maximum volume.

       Don’t take children to loud action movies. If you do go and the sound seems deafening, ask the manager to turn down the volume or insist on you money back. Children who play in bands and teenagers who use power tools, gardening equipment or guns should be made to wear hearing protection, available at sporting goods stores.

The League for the Hard of Hearing urges parents to encourage participation in quiet activities, like reading, watching family-oriented films, doing puzzles, making thins with construction toys, playing educational computer games, drawing and painting, and visiting librarians and museums.

All That noise is damaging Children’s Hearing

Introduction	A boy lost much of his hearing due to being ___71___ to headphones.
Problem	More and more children have suffered from hearing ___72___ loss.
Causes of the problems	★___73___ noise from:   a) power mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, and etc.   b) the music at rock concerts, weddings, parties and sports events which ___74___ us hearing someone nearby;   c) televisions, stereos and computer games ___75___ than doorbells or telephones   d) “modern ” restaurants ★Noise from:   toys and listening devices which cause ___76___ damage to hearing.
___77___ to the problem	★Monitor the volume of toys ★___78___ gifts making loud noise ★Limit children's time spent in video arcades ★___79___ taking children to loud action movies ★Make children wear hearing protection when around loud noise ★Encourage children to ___80___ in quiet activities

Answer 1

addicted         loss                Environmental              prevents/ stops              louder/ noisier

permanent      Solutions        Return                   Avoid                    participate In order to preserve its intellectual property, in October, 2008, Microsoft decided to black out the desktop screen of pirated software users, which has aroused/ stirred up a heated discussion on the Internet.      From the point of view of Microsoft, since it has invested large sums of money in developing new products, it has the unquestionable right to profit from them. What’s worse, the company’s loss resulting from pirated software can reach up to billions of US dollars annually. As a consequence, this measure is no doubt a must.          Nevertheless, netizens think absolutely differently. In the first place, large numbers of people have no alternatives but to use pirated software, just because they can’t bear the high price of the legitimate copy, and facing this situation, the company has the responsibility to take it into account that there exists a wide gap in purchasing power between developing and developed countries. In the second place, the company should fight against piracy in a proper and legal way. As it is, it has infringed on the privacy of the users concerned, and caused great loss to them.    As far as I’m concerned, on one hand, we should do everything in our power to stop using pirated software in order to encourage companies to develop more advanced products. On the other hand, companies like Microsoft need to take wiser measures to protect themselves. After all, extreme action can’t solve problems at all.