雅思经典阅读Visual-Symbols-and-the-Blind(含题目及解题思路)

VisualSymbolsandtheBlindPart1Fromanumberofrecentstudies,ithasbecomeclearthatblindpeoplecanappreciatetheuseofoutlinesandperspectivestodescribethearrangementofobjectsandothersurfacesinspace.Butpicturesaremorethanliteralrepresentations.Thisfactwasdrawntomyattentiondramaticallywhenablindwomaninoneofmyinvestigationsdecidedonherowninitiativetodrawawheelasitwasspinning.Toshowthismotion,shetracedacurveinsidethecircle(Fig.1).Iwastakenaback.Linesofmotion,suchastheonesheused,areaveryrecentinventioninthehistoryofillustration.Indeed,asartscholarDavidKunzlenotes,WilhelmBusch,atrend-settingnineteenth-centurycartoonist,usedvirtuallynomotionlinesinhispopularfiguresuntilabout1877.WhenIaskedseveralotherblindstudysubjectstodrawaspinningwheel,oneparticularlycleverrenditionappearedrepeatedly:severalsubjectsshowedthewheel’sspokesascurvedlines.Whenaskedaboutthesecurves,theyalldescribedthemasmetaphoricalwaysofsuggestingmotion.Majorityrulewouldarguethatthisdevicesomehowindicatedmotionverywell.Butwasitabetterindicatorthan,say,brokenorwavylines–oranyotherkindofline,forthatmatter?Theanswerwasnotclear.SoIdecidedtotestwhethervariouslinesofmotionwereaptwaysofshowingmovementoriftheyweremerelyidiosyncraticmarks.Moreover,Iwantedtodiscoverwhetherthereweredifferencesinhowtheblindandthesightedinterpretedlinesofmotion.Tosearchouttheseanswers,Icreatedraised-linedrawingsoffivedifferentwheels,depictingspokeswithlinesthatcurved,bent,waved,dashedandextendedbeyondtheperimeterofthewheel.Ithenaskedeighteenblindvolunteerstofeelthewheelsandassignoneofthefollowingmotionstoeachwheel:wobbling,spinningfast,spinningsteadily,jerkingorbraking.MycontrolgroupconsistedofeighteensightedundergraduatesfromtheUniversityofToronto.Allbutoneoftheblindsubjectsassigneddistinctivemotionstoeachwheel.Mostguessedthatthecurvedspokesindicatedthatthewheelwasspinningsteadily;thewavyspokes,theythought,suggestedthatthewheelwaswobbling;andthebentspokesweretakenasasignthatthewheelwasjerking.Subjectsassumedthatspokesextendingbeyondthewheel’sperimetersignifiedthatthewheelhaditsbrakesonandthatdashedspokesindicatedthewheelwasspinningquickly.Inaddition,thefavoureddescriptionforthesightedwasthefavoureddescriptionfortheblindineveryinstance.Whatismore,theconsensusamongthesightedwasbarelyhigherthanthatamongtheblind.Becausemotiondevicesareunfamiliartotheblind,thetaskIgavetheminvolvedsomeproblemsolving.Evidently,however,theblindnotonlyfiguredoutmeaningsforeachlineofmotion,butasagrouptheygenerallycameupwiththesamemeaningatleastasfrequentlyasdidsightedsubjects.Part2Wehavefoundthattheblindunderstandotherkindsofvisualmetaphorsaswell.Oneblindwomandrewapictureofachildinsideaheart–choosingthatsymbol,shesaid,toshowthatlovesurroundedthechild.WithChangHongLiu,adoctoralstudentfromChina,Ihavebegunexploringhowwellblindpeopleunderstandthesymbolismbehindshapessuchasheartsthatdonotdirectlyrepresenttheirmeaning.Wegavealistoftwentypairsofwordstosightedsubjectsandaskedthemtopickfromeachpairthetermthatbestrelatedtoacircleandthetermthatbestrelatedtoasquare.Forexample,weasked:Whatgoeswithsoft?Acircleorasquare?Whichshapegoeswithhard?Alloursubjectsdeemedthecirclesoftandthesquarehard.Afull94%ascribedhappytothecircle,insteadofsad.Butotherpairsrevealedlessagreement:79%matchedfasttoslowandweaktostrong,respectively.Andonly51%linkeddeeptocircleandshallowtosquare.(SeeFig.2.)Whenwetestedfourtotallyblindvolunteersusingthesamelist,wefoundthattheirchoicescloselyresembledthosemadebythesightedsubjects.Oneman,whohadbeenblindsincebirth,scoredextremelywell.Hemadeonlyonematchdifferingfromtheconsensus,assigning‘far’tosquareand‘near’tocircle.Infact,onlyasmallmajorityofsightedsubjects–53%–hadpairedfarandneartotheoppositepartners.Thus,weconcludedthattheblindinterpretabstractshapesassightedpeopledo.27、InthefirstparagraphthewritermakesthepointthatblindpeopleAmaybeinterestedinstudyingart.Bcandrawoutlinesofdifferentobjectsandsurfaces.Ccanrecognizeconventionssuchasperspective.Dcandrawaccurately.（Fromanumberofrecentstudies,ithasbecomeclearthatblindpeoplecanappreciatetheuseofoutlinesandperspectivestodescribethearrangementofobjectsandothersurfacesinspace.Butpicturesaremorethanliteralrepresentations.）28、ThewriterwassurprisedbecausetheblindwomanAdrewacircleonherowninitiative.Bdidnotunderstandwhatawheellookedlike.Cincludedasymbolrepresentingmovement.Dwasthefirstpersontouselinesofmotion.（Toshowthismotion,shetracedacurveinsidethecircle(Fig.1).Iwastakenaback.）29、FromtheexperimentdescribedinPart1,thewriterfoundthattheblindsubjectsAhadgoodunderstandingofsymbolsrepresentingmovement.Bcouldcontrolthemovementofwheelsveryaccurately.Cworkedtogetherwellasagroupinsolvingproblems.Dgotbetterresultsthanthesightedundergraduates.（Evidently,however,theblindnotonlyfiguredoutmeaningsforeachlineofmotion,butasagrouptheygene-rallycameupwiththesamemeaningatleastasfrequentlyasdidsightedsubjects.）