单项选择题
Although there are many skillful Braille readers, thousands of other blind people find it difficult to learn that system. They are thereby shut
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from the world of books and newspapers, having to
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on friends to read aloud to them.
A young scientist named Raymond Kurzweil has now designed a computer which is a major
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in providing aid to the
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. His machine, Cyclops, has a camera that
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any page, interprets the print into sounds, and then delivers them orally in a robot-like
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through a speaker. By pressing the appropriate buttons
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Cyclops"s keyboard, a blind person can "read" any
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document in the English language.
This remarkable invention represents a tremendous
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forward in the education of the handicapped. At present, Cyclops costs $50,000.
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, Mr. Kurzweil and his associates are preparing a smaller
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improved version that will sell
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less than half that price. Within a few years, Kurzweil
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the price range will be low enough for every school and library to
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one. Michael Hingson, Director of the National Federation for the Blind, hopes that
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will be able to buy home
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of Cyclops for the price of a good television set.
Mr. Hingson"s organization purchased five machines and is now testing them in Maryland, Colorado, Iowa, California, and New York. Blind people have been
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in those tests, making lots of
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suggestions to the engineers who helped to produce Cyclops.
"This is the first time that blind people have ever done individual studies
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a product was put on the market, Hingson said." Most manufacturers believed that having the blind help the blind was like telling disabled people to teach other disabled people. In that
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, the manufacturers have been the blind ones.
A.producing
B.researching
C.ascertaining
D.assisting