Jiang Songning turned twenty-three this autumn, and he had a new hand. Six years ago, a machine accident in his family factory took his right hand away. For a long time he would not leave the house. When he finally walked on the street, he saw hands everywhere, and he felt that he could never be part of the crowd again.
A few months after the accident, he got his first artificial hand. It was a simple model, but it let him carry things and help with housework, and slowly some of his confidence came back. This year he tried a newer one, shown at the internet conference in Wuzhen in early November. Its skin looks close to a real hand, so people a few steps away may notice nothing different.
The new hand is controlled by an interface that needs no surgery. Small electrodes are placed on the skin above the arm that is left, and they pick up the weak electrical signals that nerves and muscles still produce there. A program then works out what the person means to do and turns it into orders for each finger. That is why he can move one finger at a time and even play the piano.
Supporters say the change is not only about movement. A person who can open a cup or play a song is a person who is needed again at home. At the exhibition, visitors wearing artificial hands and legs wrote their names and climbed stairs in front of the cameras. The technology is still young, and its cost and conditions of use have not been widely reported. But for those who tried it, the hand is a way back into ordinary life.
One sentence from the report stays in the mind: what kept him in his room for years was not the door but the thought that he was different now. Technology can repair a hand, yet what it really repairs is the way a person sees himself. That is the warmest thing a device can do.
Words to know:
- artificial (人造的，人工的)
- confidence (信心)
- electrode (电极)
- signal (信号)
- nerve (神经)
- muscle (肌肉)
- exhibition (展览，展会)
- ordinary (普通的，平常的)
长难句拆解 · 介词 + 关系代词引导定语从句
原句：Small electrodes are placed on the skin above the arm that is left, and they pick up the weak electrical signals that nerves and muscles still produce there. 主干：Small electrodes are placed on the skin.（电极被贴在皮肤上） 第一个从句：that is left 是定语从句，修饰 the arm，意思是「剩下的那条手臂」。 第二个从句：that nerves and muscles still produce there 也是定语从句，修饰 the signals，there 指那条手臂。 语法定点：that is left 是被动语态的定语从句，等于 the remaining arm；and they pick up 中 they 指 electrodes，两个分句靠 and 并列。 直译：小电极被贴在那条留下来的手臂上方的皮肤上，它们捕捉神经和肌肉在那里仍在产生的微弱电信号。
长难句拆解 · 宾语从句 + 并列谓语
原句：A program then works out what the person means to do and turns it into orders for each finger. 主干：A program works out and turns.（两个谓语共用一个主语） 宾语从句：what the person means to do 作 works out 的宾语，由 what 引导，what 本身在从句里作 do 的宾语。 语法定点：turn A into B 是「把 A 变成 B」，这里 it 指前面那个 what 从句说的意思；mean to do 中的 mean 表示「打算」，不是「意思是」。 直译：程序随后推断出这个人打算做什么，再把它变成给每根手指的指令。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
雅思阅读最爱把原文换个说法再出题，下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是常见替换，先遮住右边自测。
- took his right hand away → cost him his right hand / left him without a right hand（事故类叙述的常用替换）
- he felt that he could never be part of the crowd again → he felt unable to fit in / he felt cut off from others（表达「无法融入」，写作高频）
- some of his confidence came back → he regained some of his confidence / his confidence returned（心理变化，注意 come back 与 regain 互换）
- needs no surgery → requires no operation / works without an implant（科技类说明，强调「无创」）
- they pick up the weak electrical signals → detect the faint signals / capture the weak signals（技术动作，常与 signal 搭配）
- works out what the person means to do → figures out the intention / reads the persons aim（动词短语替换，指「推断意图」）
- its cost and conditions of use have not been widely reported → little has been said about the price / details are not public（信息缺口类表述）
阅读自测 · 3 题
- True / False / Not Given: The new hand requires an operation before it can be used.
- 简答：According to the passage, what can the young man do with the new hand that older models could not do?
- 选词填空（选一个）：The electrodes ____ the weak signals produced by the nerves. (pick up / give up / put off)
参考答案与解析
- FALSE。第三段开头说这种接口 needs no surgery（无需手术），全篇都以此为前提；考题把「无创」偷换成「需要手术」，属典型反义替换干扰。
- He can move one finger at a time and even play the piano。答案在第三段最后一句，原文用一个完整的句子点明这种单指控制；若答 carry things，则混淆了他第一代假手的功能，属时间错位干扰。
- pick up。第三段 They pick up the weak electrical signals。give up 意为「放弃」，put off 意为「推迟」，均为形近或语义无关的干扰项。
中文译文
姜颂宁今年秋天二十三岁，有了一只新手。六年前，他家工厂里的一场机器事故夺走了他的右手。很长一段时间，他都不肯走出家门。等他终于走上街头，看到满街都是一双双手，他觉得自己再也融不进人群了。
事故发生几个月后，他装上了第一只假手。那只是个简单的型号，却能让他搬东西、帮着做家务，他的自信也一点点回来了。今年，他试了一只更新的手，十一月初在乌镇的世界互联网大会上展出。这只手的皮肤看起来接近真手，隔几步远的人也许看不出有什么不同。
这只新手由一套无需手术的接口控制。几片小电极贴在那条留下来的手臂上方的皮肤上，捕捉神经和肌肉在那里仍在产生的微弱电信号。程序随后推断出这个人打算做什么，再把它变成给每根手指的指令。正因为如此，他能一根一根地活动手指，甚至弹钢琴，而更早的型号做不到这样的精细动作。
支持者说，变化不只是动作。一个能端起杯子、弹出一首曲子的人，是一个在家里重新被需要的人。在展会上，戴着仿生手和仿生腿的参观者在镜头前写下自己的名字，走上台阶。这项技术还很年轻，它的售价和使用条件也还没有被广泛披露。但对试过它的人来说，这只手是回到平常生活的一条路。
报道里有一句话让人记很久：把他关在房间里这么多年的，不是那扇门，而是「我如今不一样了」这个念头。技术能修好一只手，但它真正修好的，是一个人看待自己的方式。这大概就是一件设备能做的、最温暖的事。