AUDIO (Slow)

AUDIO (Normal)

 

Noise-cancelling headphones may cause hearing problems

Wherever we look nowadays, we see people wearing headphones or earbuds. They are becoming increasingly popular with the younger generation, for work and for leisure. However, a new report from the BBC suggests noise-cancelling earphones could lead to hearing loss. The BBC interviewed doctors and audiologists (hearing specialists) at audiology departments in five UK hospitals. The doctors told reporters they are seeing many young people who are finding it more and more difficult to process sounds. The young patients say they can hear sounds, but they're often not sure where the sounds are coming from. The doctors say noise-cancelling earphones could be the problem.

The BBC spoke to Dr Renee Almeida, an audiologist at London's Imperial College. She said there was an increase in the number of young people complaining about poor hearing. She said people need to hear many kinds of sounds. One important listening skill is to focus on and decide which sounds are helpful. Our ears must filter out sounds we don't think are important. Dr Almeida said: "There is a difference between hearing and listening. We can see that listening skills are suffering." Another audiologist suggested that headphones can lead to bad listening habits. She said we can "forget" to hear important sounds, like cars beeping. Headphones may even cause problems in hearing spoken words.

 

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Chat

Talk about these words from the article.

nowadays / headphones / popular / generation / hearing hearing loss / / complaining / poor hearing / skill / listening / bad habits / cars beeping / words 

 

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True / False

1) The article says everyone wears headphones and earbuds.  T / F

2) Headphones are becoming more popular with older people.  T / F

3) The BBC interviewed doctors who were experts in hearing.  T / F

4) Some young people don't know where the sounds they hear come from.  T / F

5) More and more older people are complaining about hearing problems.  T / F

6) A doctor said people need to hear different kinds of sounds.  T / F

7) The doctor said hearing and listening are the same.  T / F

8) The doctor said headphone use could make people forget some sounds.  T / F 

 

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Discussion

What do you think about what you read?

What can people do if they have poor hearing?

What are your favourite sounds?

What are your least-liked sounds?

What's the difference between hearing and listening?

What sound is it really important to hear?

What will headphones be like in the future?

What questions would you like to ask the audiologists?