Page 48 - psychometric_july_2019

2019 ‫מועד קיץ‬ - 47 - ‫ פרק שני‬- ‫אנגלית‬

Reading Comprehension

This part consists of two passages, each followed by several related questions. For each
question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the text.

Text I (Questions 13-17)

(1) Nearly 200 years ago, Louis Braille invented a system that enables blind people to
read using their fingers. Thanks to this system, blind people all over the world have
access to the written word.

Braille himself lost his sight when he was a child. He was fortunate enough to
(5) receive a scholarship to attend the National Institute for the Blind in Paris, one of the

few schools of its kind in the world. There, in 1821, Braille heard a lecture that had a
great impact on him. The speaker, formerly a captain in Napoleon's army, demonstrated
a "night writing" system developed to enable soldiers to send and receive messages in
the dark without speaking or using light. A message was "read" by running the fingers
(10) over a series of raised dots. The army ultimately rejected the system because it was too
complicated to be practical. Braille, however, recognized its potential and set about
adapting it to the needs of blind people.

Whereas night writing was based on arrangements of twelve dots, which
represented the sounds of speech, Braille's system used combinations of only six dots

(15) to represent letters and punctuation marks. These changes allowed blind people to read
relatively quickly – about 115 words a minute, compared with 250 words a minute for a
sighted reader. Eventually, number symbols were added, and the system was later
extended to include musical notes as well.

The Braille system opened up a new world for blind people. Texts from a multitude
(20) of languages have been transcribed into Braille. So significant was the development of

Braille that it has been likened to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century.

Questions

13. An appropriate title for this text would be -

(1) How the Braille System Works
(2) The Life and Achievements of Louis Braille
(3) Night Writing: Reading for the Blind
(4) Braille: Bringing the Written Word to the Blind

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬
.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬