The Neglected Senses

Read this passage from “The Neglected Senses” that describes the author’s experience after she has blindfolded herself and begun walking up the street with Choden and Yangchen. What is the most accurate conclusion that can be drawn from this passage about the senses?

• All our senses are needed to confidently go about even ordinary daily

  activities.

• Because they cannot see, the blind need much assistance to do everyday

  tasks.

• When we cannot see, we immediately become more aware of our other

  senses.

• Even blindfolded, a sighted person cannot fully appreciate the experience

  of being blind.

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9-10.RI.KID.2

9-10.RI.KID.3

Why was the author of “The Neglected Senses” so surprised at how Choden and Yangchen found their way around Lhasa using sensory information as cues to where they were?

• She was accustomed to depending upon sight alone to find her way rather

  than by relying on other senses.

• She thought Choden and Yangchen would negotiate the city purely by

  relying upon their memories of the streets.

• She had always paid careful attention to senses other than sight and had

  found them inadequate for finding her way.

• She thought her own senses were sharper than those of Choden and

  Yangchen because she could visually check her surroundings to confirm

  their accuracy.

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9-10.RI.KID.1

Which passage from the selection supports why was the author of “The Neglected Senses” so surprised at how Choden and Yangchen found their way around Lhasa using sensory information as cues to where they were?

• They know their realm so well that after a few days at the school, I began

  to forget that they were blind and would not have been entirely surprised

  to find a blind child successfully juggling three apples or using the banister

  as a balance beam.

• Until Yangchen mentioned it, I had not noticed the sound of many

  televisions. I had vaguely heard some background noise beyond us, an

  insignificant presence at the periphery of my attention, but distracted by

  my nervousness, I had not identified it.

• The girls coaxed me forward with their slender arms, never breaking their

  stride. I heard passing voices speaking Tibetan and Chinese, the sound of a

  small spluttering engine like that of a generator or an idling motorbike, the

  distant shrieks of children .…

• I had detected very little of what was taking place around me on this walk,

  perhaps because I was nervous and disoriented, but also because I was so

  used to navigating with my eyes that my other senses, relative to the senses

  of the blind girls, were atrophied.

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9-10.RI.KID.1

What is the main or central idea of “The Neglected Senses”?

• To fully appreciate the world, we need to use all of our senses, not just

  sight.

• Blindness is a serious limitation in navigating our world, but there are

  ways to get by.

• Although sight is a useful sense, the other senses can give us more

  accurate information about the world.

• Blind people cannot see, but by developing their other senses, they can get

  some limited information about the world.

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9-10.RI.KID.2

Which excerpt from the selection supports what the main or central idea of is “The Neglected Senses”?

• I realized that those who had some vision actually moved more hesitantly

  than those who were completely blind.

• I was surprised by the ease and harmony the blind students had with their

  physical realm and was eager enough to understand it that at Sabriye’s

  suggestion I agreed to let myself be blindfolded and led through the streets

  of Lhasa by two blind teenage girls, Choden and Yangchen.

• “That is men always selling televisions in a shop,” Yangchen said.

  “Sometimes it is war films. When we hear the televisions, we know we

  must turn left.”

• In their presence, I saw that I had been missing a great deal of what was

  happening in my daily life, and I realized that it was not the blind person’s

  deficiency that was drawing me into this subject but the revelation of my

  own.

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9-10.RI.KID.1

What does the author of “The Neglected Senses” expect to learn by blindfolding herself for a walk-through Lhasa?

• She expects to learn how the people of Lhasa react to the blind students.

• She expects to learn how the blind students navigate the city so

  confidently.

• She expects to learn what Yangchen and Choden did when they were not

  in school.

• She expects to learn why Yangchen and Choden seemed to enjoy walking

  through Lhasa.

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9-10.RI.KID.3

Choden tells the author that she is blind because a cow kicked her mother in the stomach while she was pregnant with Choden. According to “The Neglected Senses,” how does the author view this explanation?

• She thinks Choden’s blindness is a result of an illness she contracted

  while still an infant.

• She thinks Choden believes the blindness is a result of karmic retribution,

  or something she did is a previous life.

• She thinks Choden’s blindness was more likely the result of some

  accident after Choden was born.

• She thinks the kick damaged the visual network of the unborn child at a time when it was most vulnerable.

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9-10.RI.KID.3

Which sense is often considered the most neglected according to the passage 'The Neglected Senses'?

• Sight

• Hearing

• Smell

• Touch

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In the context of 'The Neglected Senses', which literary device is used to emphasize the importance of non-visual senses?

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Personification

• Hyperbole

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CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

What is the main theme of the passage 'The Neglected Senses'?

• The dominance of sight in human perception

• The importance of taste in daily life

• The role of technology in enhancing senses

• The significance of non-visual senses

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

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