Total Percentage: 5%
Time: 10 min
SAMPLE READING 1 (5 points)
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AEars are something most of us take for granted, only noticing these small biological miracles when they irritate us or cause us pain. At the same time, if you have ever suffered from an ear-related illness, you know how maddening this type of affliction can be. In fact, statistically there is very little chance you have never suffered from one ear illness or another. There are three main types of ear malady that match the three different parts of the ear, but there are also thousands of sub-categories for each of these, with symptoms ranging from mild irritation all the way to nightmarish nausea and incapacitation; and yes, if not properly diagnosed and treated, some ear maladies can even be fatal.
BThe human ear is an incredible instrument tasked with multiple duties in the day-to-day operation of any given person, but what we often think of as the ‘ear’ is simply a flap of tissue called a pinna, and is of relatively little use to us today. Some scientists theorize that our ears used to be much larger and angled to catch sounds in front of us; sounds as much as seven times less audible than we are capable of hearing now. Other scientists disagree, pointing out that the larger these pinnas are, the less likely earlier humans could have heard predators approaching from behind. Moreover, the animals that most closely resemble humans, such as apes, have only slightly larger pinnas than human beings. Unfortunately, neither group of scientists has yet been able to produce undeniable proof of their claims because pinnas are not bone but merely cartilage, and as such are not present in discoveries of ancient human skeletons.
CThe actual organ used for hearing, or what medical professionals refer to as the ‘ear,’ has three main parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear includes the pinna, followed by the ear canal, which focuses sounds simply due to the fact that this tunnel becomes increasingly narrow. At the end of the canal is the perfectly-named ‘eardrum,’ which looks just like a tiny version of the musical instrument for which it is named, with the top of the drum dividing the outer and middle sections of the ear. In other words, your outer ear is not much more than a shallow hole in the side of your head.
DUnfortunately, when water, dirt, or other foreign substances come into the ear canal, they may sometimes cause small cuts or increased sensitivity of the skin. Most of the time, this kind of outer ear infection, commonly known as an “ear ache” or “swimmer’s ear,” results only in slight pain, and can be relieved through the application of ear drops, which reduce the swelling. These small pains may also simply go away over time. Doctors warn that the worst possible approach to relieving this type of pain is the introduction of your finger or a cotton-covered swab into the canal, which can harm the sensitive area further and may even turn into an infection. You may also have an earache if you sit next to an air-conditioning vent and much colder air than your body is prepared for enters into your ear canal.
EBeyond the eardrum at the end of the canal is the sensitive middle ear. Here, sounds are greatly amplified as they hit the drum before they continue on to the inner ear. In the outer and middle ear sections, sound waves travel through two separate sections of air before reaching the inner ear. It is in the inner ear that ‘hearing’ actually happens, as all noises are absorbed and then communicatedthrough liquid, a process that makes each sound much more distinct. This liquidification of the sound wave ends up helping the brain to separate intermixed noisesinto recognizable sounds—even such soft vibrationsas the creak of a chair and traffic outside the window.
FOver the last fifty years, the rate of middle ear infections hasincreased to the point that it is estimated three in four children will have multiple ear infections by the time they reach their twentieth birthdays. This represents by far the majority of ear-related diseases. While middle ear infections are similar to outer ear irritations in that they arise from ear tissue swelling, they are quite different because the middle ear is not exposed to outside air, so the source of these infections is almost always blockage from colds, allergies, and the flu. In other words, when your nose is blocked, there is always a chance that this will turn into a middle ear infection. The cure is usually just antibiotics, but if these infections are left untreated, they can lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss and can even lead to brain damage due to the proximity of the ear to the brain. Currently, scientists who work on the spread of diseasesare looking into ways to reverse this disturbing rise in middle ear illnesses.
GWhile both outer and middle ear infections can be quite painful, neither can compare with the inner ear illness known as vertigo. Imagine walking down a hallway on a day like any other, when all of a sudden you feel so incredibly dizzy and your stomach is so upset that you collapse on the floor but it really feels like you are on the ceiling, and you are convinced you will fall at any moment. Medical practitioners and researchers alike are not entirely certain of the causes of vertigo but they theorize that miniscule crystals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance become unsettled due to a virus or the spread of a middle ear infection. Medicine may provide some relief but full recovery is only possible once the crystals all return to their proper places in the inner ear. This can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months, and in extreme cases, the subject’s balance may never return.
HEars are one of the two human organs responsible for both sensory input and normal daily function—the tongue also doubles as both the body’s taste receptor and language producer. In contrast to the relatively simple biological construction of the tongue, however, the ear contains three fundamentally different sections with hundreds of different parts, about some of which very little is truly understood. Even as most people are aware of the taste of delicious food upon their tongues, few of us stop to think about the miracle that is the human ear in the midst of a beautiful symphony or a concert given by a favorite singer. Perhaps in the future, ears will be better appreciated for all of their amazing complexity.