Singing Alarms Could Save the Blind
If you cannot see, you may not be able to1 find your way out of a burning building — and that could be fatal. A company in Leeds could change all that2 1 directional sound alarms capable of guiding you to the exit.
Sound Alert, a company 2 the University of Leeds, is installing the alarms in a residential home for 3 people in Sommerset and a resource centre for the blind in Cumbria. 4 produce a wide range of frequencies that enable the brain to determine where the 5 is coming from.
Deborah Withington of Sound Alert says that the alarms use most of the frequencies that can be 6 by humans. “It is a burst of white noise 7 people say sounds like static on the radio,” she says. “Its life-saving potential is great.”
She conducted an experiment in which people were filmed by thermal-imaging cameras trying to find their way out of3 a large 8 room. It 9 them nearly four minutes to find the door _10_ a sound alarm, but only 15 seconds with one.
Withington studies how the brain 11 sounds at the university. She says that the 12 of a wide band of frequencies can be pinpointed more easily than the source of a narrow band. Alarms 13 the same concept have already been installed on emergency vehicles.
The alarms will also include rising or falling frequencies to indicate whether people should go up 14 down stairs. They were 15 with the aid of a large grant from British Nuclear Fuels.
1.在謂語動詞中，不能並列使用兩個情態動詞，如 may和 can就不能並列使用。如果由於表達需要，要同時用“可能”和“能夠”，就得說(寫)成 may be able to。 I may be may be able to come tomorrow, but 1 cannot promise. 我可能明天來，但我不可能作出承諾。 2. that指第一句所表達的意思。
3. … find their way out of…：意為“找到從……出去的路”。
練習：
1. A without B with C having D selling
2A run by B changed by C decorated by D criticized by
3. A slow B deaf C blind D lame
4. A Alarms B Alarm C The alarm D The alarms
5. A noise B sound C music D bell
6. A watched B produced C learnt D heard
7. A where B what C that D how
8. A smoked B smoke-filled C filled with smoke D smoke-filling
9. A has taken B takes C took D will take
10. A on B near C without D from
11. A processes B produces C possesses D proceeds
12. A feature B quality C diagram D source
13. A basis on B base on C basing on D based on
14. A on B and C but D otherwise
15. A developed B determined C discovered D delivered
答案與題解：
1. B 空格後是一種裝置，用它來改變火災時找不到出口的危險境況。表達“用……裝置”這層意思就要用介詞 with。其他幾項均不符合句子的意思。
2. A Sound Alert是一家公司的名字， a company是 Sound Alert的同位語，從句意判斷，應選擇 run by，意為“由……經營的”。其他的選項雖然說法 正確，但都與句意不符。
3. C 從文章的標題，以及文章內容和本句後面部分 resource center for the blind，可以推斷這裡昀好的選擇就是 C。
4. D 因為這種警告裝置已在上文中提到：第一段中的 directional sound alarms，第二段中的 installing the alarms in a residential home…，所以，這裡的 alarms是特指，要用定冠詞。選項 C是錯誤的，因為它是單數形式。
5. B 句子的前半句有 a wide range of frequencies，發出來的應該是 sound，而不是令人煩躁的 noise。用 music或 bell都有些突然，與上下文的意思不連貫。
6. D 文章一直在討論警報器、聲音和波長，所以首先排除選項 A;從上下文的意思看，不可能是選項 B和 C，因為警報器的製造，就是為了讓失明的人聽到。
7. C 選擇 A、B、D均不能構成語義連貫的句子，而且語法上也有問題。選項 C能使句子結構成為 “It is … that”的強調句型。
8. B 從所給的選項可以看出，這裡要表達的意思是“煙火瀰漫的`房間”。有了這個理解，現在要做的就是選擇正確的表達形式。 A是“煙燻的”， D是“使……煙火瀰漫的”，所以意思不對， C填入後就出現 filled with smoke room，不符合語法。只有 B是正確的選項。
9. C 這裡顯然是“ It takes somebody + time +動詞不定式”的句型，但選擇什麼時態是關鍵。從上句看，應選擇一般過去時，因為整個段落是對一次試驗的描寫，而且上而一句也使用了一般過去時。
10. C後半句的 one指上半句中的 a sound alarm。該句上半句和下半句由 but連線，表示相反的意思，從後半句的 with可以看出，兩個相對比的事物是： the door without a sound alarm和 the door with a sound alarm。所以選擇 C。
11. A 選項 B、C和 D顯然是錯誤的，因為詞義不符。只有選項 A是答案。句子的意思是， Withington在她的大學裡研究大腦如何處理聲音。
12. D 句子中的 more … than表示該句是對兩樣事物的對比。 than後面是 the source of a narrow band，這裡的 narrow和前半句的 wide形成反比，從上下文中可以看出， the source of a narrow band of (frequencies)是和 the source of a wide band of frequencies形成對比。
13. D 這個句子有主語 alarms，有謂語 have been installed，這裡應填入動詞的分詞形式。 be based on是常用的搭配，所以，應選擇動詞的過去分詞形式。選項 A的 basis是名詞，明顯是錯的。
14. A 根據上半句中的 rising or falling frequencies，這裡應填入 or，與上半句表達的意思相一致。音訊升高表示上樓，音訊降低表示下樓。
15. A 首先確定主語 They指的是第一句中的主語 The alarms，後半句說這種裝置得到大筆資助。根據上文內容，我們知道資助的目的是開發這種 alarms，所以應該選擇 developed。
