Question

turn it down!
a recent study revealed that one in five teenagers has at least some hearing loss, and that the prevalence of hearing loss among young people has grown significantly since about 1990. in response to the finding, experts are urging kids to turn down the volume on their digital music players. these experts suggest that listening to loud music through earbuds may be responsible for the increase.
for the study, researchers analyzed and compared data from two nationwide health surveys of hearing.
question 4
according to the article, why is slight hearing loss sufficient to cause problems in school?
a. because people with slight hearing loss cannot hear sounds above 24 decibels
b. because people with slight hearing loss cannot hear vowel sounds clearly
c. because people with slight hearing loss have admitted to faking comprehension
d. because people with slight hearing loss might miss some consonant sounds

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The article doesn't mention 24 decibels as a threshold for hearing, so this is incorrect.
• Option B: There's no info about vowel sounds specifically in the context of slight hearing loss causing school problems, so this is wrong.
• Option C: Faking comprehension isn't related to the cause of school problems from slight hearing loss as per the article's context, so this is incorrect.
• Option D: Slight hearing loss can make people miss consonant sounds (which are important for understanding speech, like in classroom instructions/lessons), leading to academic difficulties. This aligns with how hearing loss affects auditory perception and learning.

Answer:

D. Because people with slight hearing loss might miss some consonant sounds