5．Where is that noise coming from？Not sure？Try living with your eyes closed for a few years．
Blind people are better at locating sounds than people who can see，a new study says，without the benefits of vision the ears seem to work much better．
Previous studies have shown that blind people are better than others at reaching out and touching the sources of sounds that are close by．Researchers from the University of Montreal wanted to see if blind people were also better at locating sounds that are far away．
Twenty-three blind people participated in the study．All had been sightless for at least 20years．Fourteen of them had lost their vision before age 11．the rest went blind after age 16．The experiment also included 10people who could see but were wearing blind-folds．
In one task，volunteers had to pick the direction of a sound coming from about 3metres away．When the sound was in front of them or slightly off center in front，both groups performed equally well．
When sounds came from the side or the back，however，the blind group performed much better than the blindfolded group．The participants who had been blind since childhood did slightly better than those who lost their sight later．
Recognizing the locations of distant sounds can be a matter of life-or-death for blind people，say the researchers．Crossing the street，for instance，is much harder when you can't see the cars coming．
Still，the researchers were surprised by how well the blind participants did，especially those who went blind after age 16．In another experiment，the scientists also found that parts of the brain that normally deal with visual information became active in locating sound in the people who were blind by age 11．These brain parts didn't show sound-location activity in the other group of blind people or in the sighted people．The scientists now want to learn more about the working of brains of"late-onset"blind people．
51．The recent study shows blind people are better at tellingB．
A．The sources of loud sounds．
B．the locations of distant sounds
C．the direction of sharp sounds
D．the distance of a sound in front of them
52．If people were asked to tell the direction of a sound from the side，who would perform best？B
A．Those who are blind．
B．Those who have gone blind since childhood．
C．Those who went blind at age 16．
D．Those who are blindfolded．
53．Which of the following is true according to the passage？A
A．Whether to be able to locate the sounds can be of vital importance for the blind．
B．All the volunteers in the experiment are sightless．
C．All the participants did equally well when picking sounds from whatever direction．
D．The later people become blind，the better they can perform in telling the direction of sounds．
54．What do we know about that parts of brain dealing with visual information are active in locating sounds？D
A．This happens in almost all the testers．
B．This only occurs in the people who were blind after age 16．
C．It remains nothing new to the scientists any more．
D．It remains a mystery why it is so．
分析 本文屬于說明文閱讀，作者通過這篇文章向我們介紹了一項關于盲人與正常人定位聲音能力的研究．
解答 51．B 推理判斷題，根據(jù)第二段Blind people are better at locating sounds than people who can see，a new study says，without the benefits of vision the ears seem to work much better．可知最新的研究表明，盲人能更好的 辨別遠處聲音的方位，故選B．
52．B 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第六段When sounds came from the side or the back，however，the blind group performed much better than the blindfolded group．The participants who had been blind since childhood did slightly better than those who lost their sight later．可知如果有人被要求從側面說出聲音的方向，從小就失明的人表現(xiàn)的更好，故選B．
53．A 細節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第七段Recognizing the locations of distant sounds can be a matter of life-or-death for blind people，say the researchers可知能否能夠定位聲音對盲人至關重要，故選A．
54．D 推理判斷題，根據(jù)最后一段The scientists now want to learn more about the working of brains of"late-onset"blind people．可知如今科學家們還不知道大腦處理視覺信息的部分是如何定位聲音的，故選D．
點評 考查學生的細節(jié)理解和推理判斷能力．做細節(jié)理解題時一定要找到文章中的原句，和題干進行比較，再做出正確選擇．在做推理判斷題時不要以個人的主觀想象代替文章的事實，要根據(jù)文章事實進行合乎邏輯的推理判斷．
