Question

    Losing an arm means losing the ability to grab, as well as losing the sense of touch. Scientists have been working on mind-controlled prostheses (义肢) and have successfully built a few to help patients regain their ability to grab. But restoring the sense of touch has been quite a challenge – until now.

Seven years ago, a group of Swedish scientists created a new type of prostheses, which has since then been tried out on three patients to see how they perform in people’s daily lives. The study result was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

According to the study, this is the first time that people who have had an arm amputated (截肢) can experience sensations of touch in mind-controlled arm prostheses.

The new product is named “neuromusculoskeletal” prosthesis. As the name indicates, the prosthesis is connected directly to a user’s nerves, muscles and skeleton. The sensation of touch becomes possible by stimulating nerves that used to be connected to the biological hand before the amputation.

When a patient grabs an object, for example, force sensors planted in the prosthetic thumb would measure contact and pressure. The collected information would then be transmitted to the patient’s nerves that lead to the brain. In this way, the patient can “feel” the characteristics of the object being touched and perceive (感知) its pressure against the prosthetic hand, which can be crucial when handling delicate objects – an egg, for example.

“The ability of the patients to discern (觉察) smaller changes in the intensity of sensations has improved,” Max Ortiz Catalan, Associate Professor at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, who is the leader of the study, told Science Daily.

According to Catalan, the new study has demonstrated that their prosthesis is qualified as a “clinically viable replacement for a lost arm”.

“The sensors are not the obstacle for restoring sensation,” Catalan added. “The challenge is creating neural interfaces (接口) that can seamlessly (无缝地) transmit large amounts of artificially collected information to the nervous system, in a way that the user can experience sensations naturally and effortlessly.” And they did it.

With the development of prosthesis technology, people who suffer from limb loss will have a greater chance of getting their normal lives back.

1.Neuromusculoskeletal prosthesis’ unique advantage is helping people with arm amputations to _____ .

A.carry heavy objects again B.regain the ability to grab objects

C.move their prostheses as they wish D.experience the sense of touch again

2.The new prosthesis is connected directly to __________.

① user’s nerves  ② user’s brains  ③ user’s muscles  ④ user’s skeleton

A.① ② ③ B.① ③ ④ C.② ③ ④ D.① ② ④

3.How do the new prostheses work?

A.They collect information about objects and process it.

B.They stimulate the cut nerves to restore the sense of touch.

C.They measure the size of objects and send the information.

D.They detect the material of objects and send the information.

4.What can patients perceive with the new prosthesis?

A.The intensity of an object. B.The structure of an object.

C.The pressure from an object. D.The changes inside an object.

5.What is the difficulty in developing the new technology?

A.Measuring the pressure of objects. B.Connecting the sensors to nerves.

C.Creating good neural interfaces. D.Building responsive sensors.

6.What’s the author’s attitude towards the prospect of prosthesis technology?

A.Optimistic. B.Neutral.

C.Critical. D.Unconcerned.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.C

5.C

6.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。失去一只手臂意味着失去抓取的能力，以及失去触觉。科学家们一直在研究精神控制假肢，并且已经成功地制造了一些帮助病人重获抓举能力的假肢。文章主要介绍了这项能够被截肢的人能够在意念控制的假肢中体验到触觉的新研究，介绍了技术的优势、工作原理以及仍面临的挑战。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段According to the study, this is the first time that people who have had an arm amputated (截肢) can experience sensations of touch in mind-controlled arm prostheses.可知根据这项研究，这是第一次那些被截肢的人能够在意念控制的假肢中体验到触觉。由此可知，神经肌肉骨骼假体的独特优势是帮助截肢的人再次体验触觉。故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段中As the name indicates, the prosthesis is connected directly to a user’s nerves, muscles and skeleton.可知顾名思义，假肢直接与使用者的神经、肌肉和骨骼相连。由此可知，新的假肢是直接连接到使用者的神经、肌肉和骨骼。即选① ③ ④。故选B。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中The sensation of touch becomes possible by stimulating nerves that used to be connected to the biological hand before the amputation.可知触觉是通过刺激神经而实现的，而这些神经在截肢前是连接在生物手上的。由此可知，新的假肢通过刺激受伤的神经以恢复触觉。故选B。

4.细节理解题。根据第五段中When a patient grabs an object, for example, force sensors planted in the prosthetic thumb would measure contact and pressure.可知例如，当病人抓取一个物体时，植入假体拇指中的力传感器会测量接触和压力。由此可知，有了新假肢，病人能感知到来自物体的压力。故选C。

5.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中“The challenge is creating neural interfaces (接口) that can seamlessly (无缝地) transmit large amounts of artificially collected information to the nervous system, in a way that the user can experience sensations naturally and effortlessly.”可知“我们面临的挑战是创建能够无缝地将大量人工收集的信息传输到神经系统的神经接口，以使用户能够自然而轻松地体验感觉的方式。”由此可知，开发新技术的困难是创建良好的神经接口。故选C。

6.推理判断题。根据最后一段With the development of prosthesis technology, people who suffer from limb loss will have a greater chance of getting their normal lives back.可知随着假肢技术的发展，失去肢体的人将有更大的机会恢复正常生活。由此可推知，作者对假肢技术的前景持乐观态度。故选A。