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Grade 11A Name:______________________________ Class: _________________Technology:Overcoming HandicapsWhile You ReadThink about why you read. Do you know anyone with a visual or hearing impairment? As you read, look for sentences that tell about machines that people with impairments use every day.When a person cannot hear very well or is deaf, we say that he or she has a hearing impairment. New technology, or inventions, can help people with hearing problems. Technology uses science to make devices that do useful things.Many people with hearing problems wear hearing aids. A hearing aid is a smallLANGUAGE CONNECTION Speakers change soundwaves into sounds that you can understand Music you hear from the radio comes out of speakers What other things have speakers?5 device that gets power from a battery. The hearing aid turns sound waves into electrical signals. It then sends the signals to speakers that turn the waves into sounds loud enough for a hearing-impaired person to hear. Special keyboard devices allow people with hearing impairments to use the telephone. When the telephone rings, these devices display the words that the person cannot hear but10 can read. An answer can then be typed on a keyboard and sent to the caller. When the telephone rings, a light flashes.Alarms have been invented for people with hearing problems. A fire alarm or an alarm clock makes a light flash when a person is awake and makes a pillow vibrate, or shake, when he or she is asleep. An alarm can also have a loud buzzer.CONTENT CONNECTIONCaptions come to television sets as signals A decoder, a device inside the set, turns the signals into captionsHow might closed-captioning technology also help people who are not hearing impaired?15Technology lets people with hearing problems enjoy movies and television at home. With technology called closed captioning, words at the bottom of a screen, or captions, spell out what is being said. This technology allows hearing-impaired people to understand a program or a movie. Captioning shows actors' words on the screen so that someone can read them instead of hearing them.20 Technology also can help people who are visually impaired—those who are unable to see well or to see at all. We say that someone who cannot see at all is blind. A screen reader helps a blind person use a computer. The screen reader reads the screen and speaks the words in a voice that sounds human. Other computers make the words on the screen larger and easier to read.25Braille is language that helps a blind person read and write raised dots withthe fingers. The dots stand for letters and words. A Braillewriter is a machine that types in Braille. The user presses buttons that make the dots on special paper. Note takers that talk also use Braille. A person writes by pressing buttons on the keyboard. The note taker reads the words aloud or prints them in Braille.30 A new technology for visually impaired people uses signs that talk. Small machines that send out signals are placed on streets or in buildings. A person holds a device and points it in a direction to learn about that area. For example, when the device is pointed one way, it might speak the word restroom. When pointed in another direction, the device might speak the word stairs. San Francisco, in35 California, is one of the cities that has these signs at work.After You ReadA. Organizing IdeasHow does technology help people with impairments? Complete the chart below. In the left column, write the name of a device that helps people. In the right column, write a sentence about how that device helps a person. Some blocks have been done for you.System or DeviceHow It Helps Peopleclosed captioninghas speakers that turn sound waves into sounds ahearing-impaired person can hearkeyboard for the telephonemake lights flash and cause beds and pillowsto vibrate or buzz very loudly so that a personnotices fire alarms or alarm clocksscreen readerlets a blind person read and write by feeling ormaking groups of raised dots that stand for lettersand wordsWhat did you learn about the technology that helps people with impairments after completing this chart? Write two or more sentences about one or two of the devices listed on your chart. Did this chart make the information easy to understand? Explain your answer.B. Comprehension SkillsTip!! Think about how to find answers. Look back at different parts of the text.What facts help you figure out how to complete the sentences?Mark box a, h, or c with an X before the choice that best completes each sentence.Recalling Facts1. A hearing aida. changes sound waves into electrical signals.b. gives a person perfect hearing.c. is used only by older people.2. A person with a hearing impairment can be warned about a fire bya. the sound of fire engines.b. the sound of a smoke detector.c. a flashing light.3. Braillea. can make the words on a computer screen larger.b. uses raised dots that can be read with the fingers.c. is a kind of hearing aid.Understanding Ideas1. From the article, you can conclude thata. technology has helped more peoplewith hearing impairments thanthose with visual impairments. o b. technology can help only a fewpeople who have hearing problems.c. many devices make life easier for people with hearing or vision problems.2. In the future, it is most likely thata. all computers will print in Braille.b. computers will have more featuresfor people with disabilities.c. people with impairments will not need guide dogs for help anymore.4. Talking note takersa. can read words aloud or print them in Braille.b. are used by the hearing impaired.c. are used on telephones.5. Signs that talka. are special fire alarms.b. send out signals that are picked up by a handheld device.c. allow a person who is blind to use a computer.3. A person who is hearing impaired will probably get the most help froma. a device that allows him or her to talk on the phone.b. a hearing aid.c. talking signs.4. A blind person who wants to walk around safely in a city would be helped most bya. talking signs.b. a screen reader. c. a hearing aid.5. The only one of the following things that does not use technology isa. a flashing fire alarm.b. a talking watch.c. sign language.C. Reading Strategies1. Recognizing Words in ContextFind the word display in the article. One definition below is closest to the meaning of that word. One definition has the opposite or nearly the opposite meaning. The remaining definition has a meaning that has nothing to do with the other two words. Label the definitions C for closest, 0 for opposite or nearly opposite, and U for unrelated._________ hide_________ switch_________ show2. Distinguishing Fact from OpinionTwo of the statements below present facts, which can be proved. The other statement is an opinion, which expresses someone's thoughts or beliefs. Label the statements F for fact and 0 for opinion. a. _________ Closed captioning is the most important kind of technology for someone with a hearing impairment._________ Hearing aids can help people who have hearing problems to hear sounds._________ Blind people use their fingers to read Braille.3. Making Correct InferencesTwo of the statements below are correct inferences, or reasonable guesses, that are based on information in the article. The other statement is an incorrect inference. Label the statements C for correct inference and I for incorrect inference._________ Braille would be useful to deaf people._________ Technology helps keep people with hearing and vision impairments safe._________ Technology can help a blind person find his or her way around a city.4. Understanding Main IdeasOne of the statements below expresses the main idea of the article. Another statement is too general, or too broad. The other explains only part of the article; it is too narrow. Label the statements M for main idea, B for too broad, and N for too narrow.a. _________ Technology has helped people build many devices that help those with physical impairments to communicate and to stay safe. b. _________ Talking note takers can read words aloud or print them in Braille. c. Devices help blind and deaf people in many ways.5. Responding to the ArticleComplete the following sentence in your own words:Before reading "Technology: Overcoming Handicaps," I already knewD. Expanding VocabularyContent-Area WordsComplete each sentence with a word from the box. Write the missing word on the line.devices waves signals impairment keyboardHearing-impaired people can use a device for the telephone.Technology may help a person who has a physicalSounds travel through the air in invisibleVibrating alarm clocks and fire alarms arethat can wake a hearing-impaired person from sleep.A hearing aid changes electricalinto sounds a person can hear.Academic EnglishIn the article "Technology: Overcoming Handicaps," you learned that technology means "scientific knowledge or inventions that make processes simpler." Technology can apply to aids for people who have hearing or visual impairments. Technology can also apply to other inventions or systems, as in the following sentence.Cell-phone technology helps people talk to each other outside their plete the sentence below.I use computer technology to help me Now use the word technology in a sentence of your own.You also learned that display means "to show information in a way that people can see easily." Display can also be a noun meaning "something that people can see clearly," as in the following sentence.There is a new display of modern art at the plete the sentence below.A display of cakes for sale can be found at a ____________________________________________Now use the word display in two sentences of your own.0 ,y.lt os ................
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