Happy Valley 2016 | Page 20

If you want to learn more about the ear and hearing, watch this short film: https://dotsub.com/view/9c7ca58c-0b1a49d5-bebc-3716e3c79ea0 NOISE Sound is mostly pleasant but it can be very disturbing if too loud. Such sound is called noise. It can come from nature (thunder, the sound of a waterfall) but often it is produced by man (traffic, machinery and other such devices). Long and frequent exposure to noise should be avoided because it can damage hearing. When do you think Bistra was the noisiest? When it was inhabited by monks, when the nobility lived here or perhaps today, with so many visitors? SOUND and NOISE It is difficult to draw a line between sound and noise because it depends both on the listener and the circumstances. Sounds experienced by someone as noise could be totally pleasant to another (such as listening to loud music, the sound of a racing car or computer games). It is also known that the person who produces a sound finds it less disturbing that the person who only listens to it. From the sounds in the book, pick the one that you find most pleasant and the one you think is just noise. NO SILENCE The opposite of sound is silence – which cannot be experienced by a normal-hearing person in everyday life. A special insulated room called an anechoic chamber is as close as it gets. Although we all sometimes want to be 'left in silence', we actually feel rather uncomfortable in a room completely free of all sound. Visit the Technical Museum of Slovenia where you will find a genuine anechoic chamber in the Almost Everything About Sound exhibition. See for yourself what it feels like in a room insulated from any exterior sound. SILENCE There are people who live in absolute silence because of a hearing impairment. They communicate with a special sign language based on hand movements, the expressions of the face, mouth and lips and by body movement. However, despite having excellent hearing, we still don't hear certain things. You may be very familiar with the complaint: » I can't hear!« Well, the reason might be that we don't hear because we simply don't want to...