(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
A deaf and blind woman from Australia has become the first person to make a telephone call using a device that converts speech into Braille. Braille is a form of writing that uses raised dots on a surface that can be "read" by touching it.
The technology is being tested for the first time in Australia and the United States. One test involved a simple phone call between two sisters.
Michelle Stevens is deaf and blind. Ms. Stevens says the braille telephone will end years of feeling isolated, or feeling alone and apart from others. She is one of five Australians who is taking part in the new trials, or tests. These trials will take place at about the same time in Australia and the United States, where the technology was developed.
Ms. Stevens' vision suffered damage because she was born prematurely, or born too soon. She lost her hearing from serious ear infections.
The Braille telephone system, she said, will be a great help to her and others.
Ms. Stevens told VOA's Phil Mercer that this telephone system will be one way to break the isolation of deaf-blindness. She adds that with future developments, the phone system might be able to give deaf-blind people more job opportunities. Not being able to communicate in the office or on the telephone is a major employment barrier for people who are deaf-blind said Ms. Stevens.
However, the phone system is expensive. It costs about $2,500. The phones work by transferring spoken words onto what is called a "dynamic braille display."
A similar trial will also take place in the United States in a few months. Christopher Engelke is a director with the U.S. company Ultratec. He will carry out the trial in the U.S.
How does it work?
Mr. Engelke says the Braille phone system is an exciting project. He describes the system this way: a deaf person, or one who is hard of hearing, uses the phone just like any other phone. However, subtitles or captions of what is said appear on the phone's touch screen.
"The way that the whole system works is a deaf, or hard of hearing person, who speaks for themselves, would use the phone just like any other phone, except that much like getting subtitles on your TV, you get subtitles or captions to the conversation appearing on the screen, although for a Braille user they could read those captions in Braille bumps on a dynamic Braille display. So they would listen to as much as they can, speak with their own voice and then read everything that is being said to them by reading the Braille on the phone itself."
Mr. Engelke explains that vision-impaired people would listen to as much as they can, speak with their own voice and read everything that is being said to them from the Braille bumps on the phone.
Developers of the device say it could change the lives of those who cannot see or hear. In Australia alone, it is estimated there are 330,000 people who are deaf and blind. Some groups say that number is likely to reach 1.2 million by 2050.
I'm Anna Matteo.
词汇解释
1.Braille vt. 用盲字印 n. 布莱叶（法国盲人教育家）；盲人用点字法
My fingers scan a book in braille.
我的手指扫描着一本盲文书。
2.prematurely adv. 过早地；早熟地
The law could arrest the development of good research if applied prematurely.
如果草率施行，该法律将会阻滞高质量研究的进展。
3.subtitle n. 副标题；说明或对白的字幕 vt. 在…上印字幕；给…加副标题
The dialogue is in Spanish, with English subtitles.
这段对话是西班牙语的，配有英语字幕。
4.bump n. 肿块，隆起物；撞击 vi. 碰撞，撞击；颠簸而行 vt. 碰，撞；颠簸 adv. 突然地，猛烈地
She fell against our coffee table and got a large bump on her forehead.
她撞到了我们的咖啡桌跌倒了，前额起了一个大包。
内容解析
1. She is one of five Australians who is taking part in the new trials, or tests.
take part in 参加，参与
I was quite sulky, so I didn't take part in much.
我很烦，所以没有积极参与。
People who take part in sports must be in condition.
参加运动的人一定能保持良好的健康状态。
2.A similar trial will also take place in the United States in a few months.
take place 发生；产生；进行；举行
Elections will now take place on November the twenty-fifth.
选举现定于11月25号举行。
Elections were postponed the day before polling was due to take place.
在预定进行投票的前一天选举被延期。
参考译文
澳大利亚一名聋盲妇女成为第一个使用语音盲人转换设备来打电话的人，盲文是一种凸点书写形式，可以通过触摸来进行阅读。
这项技术首次在澳大利亚和美国进行测试，其中一项测试涉及两姐妹的简单通话。
米歇尔·史蒂文斯是聋盲人，她说盲文电话将让她结束多年的孤单感。她和另外四名澳大利亚人参与了这个新测试，测试将同时在澳大利亚和美国进行，这项技术是在美国开发的。
史蒂文斯因为早产，因此视力遭到破坏，又因为严重的耳朵感染而失去了听力。
她说盲文电话系统将对她和其他人有巨大帮助。
史蒂文斯告诉美国之音的菲尔·默塞，这个电话系统将能打破盲聋人的隔离状态，她说随着未来的发展，这种电话系统可能给盲聋人更多的就业机会。斯蒂文斯说，对于盲聋人来说，不能在办公室或进行电话沟通是主要的就业障碍。
然而，这种电话系统很昂贵，价格大约2500美元，这种电话通过将语音转换为所谓的“动态盲文展示器”来进行工作。
几个月后美国将进行类似的测试，克里斯多夫·恩格尔克是美国Ultratec公司负责人，他将在美国做这项测试。
这种电话是如何工作的呢？
恩格尔克说，盲文电话系统是一项令人激动的项目，他是这么描述这个系统的：一位聋人或听力不佳者像用其他电话那样使用这种电话。然而，他所说的话会出现在电话的触摸屏上。
“该系统的是这样工作的，一位聋人或听力不佳者像用其他电话那样使用这种电话，但这个就像是电视上出现的字幕那样，你对话的内容会出现在屏幕上，不过对于盲文使用者来说，他们可以阅读动态盲文展示器上出现的盲文凸点。这样他们就可以聆听，并用自己的声音讲话，然后通过阅读电话上的盲文来‘听到’自己所说的话。”
恩格尔克解释说，视力受损者可以用自己的声音讲话，然后通过阅读电话上的盲文来‘听到’自己所说的话。
该设备的开发者说它将改变聋人和盲人的生活，据估计仅澳大利亚就有33万聋盲人，一些组织称到2050年这个数字可能上升到120万。
我是安娜·马特奥。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
