AgDARE - Agricultural Disability Awareness and Risk Education

Hearing Loss - "Sound Advice throughout the Years" Answer Key

Sound Advice throughout the Years ¹

Answer Key

Instructions

Compare your answers to the questions in the story to the answers and ideas listed in this key. Discuss the answers and any differences of opinions with your friends and the instructor. Your ideas are important and can help to improve this exercise. Therefore, please don't mark additional answers or change the answers you marked on your answer sheet.

Question A

F		1.Shotguns produce noise loud enough to temporarily affect hearing. Years of shooting combined with years of working around noisy farm equipment can cause permanent hearing loss.
F		2.Without hearing protection the noise of even one gunshot can damage a person’s hearing. In this situation, all four guns will fire repeatedly every time the hunters flush a bunch of quail.
F		3.Properly fitted earplugs, or sound-filtering earmuffs, reduce noise to safe levels and protect hearing. Without hearing protection, the noise from even one shot can damage hearing.
F		4.Earplugs and earmuffs don’t block out all noise, only damaging sounds. Hunters should shoot only when they see the quail fly up out of the brush.
F		5.When it is quiet, people can hear each other talking while wearing hearing protection. Anyway, the boys shouldn’t be talking while they are flushing quail.
F		6.Cotton and other homemade earplugs don’t reduce damaging noise enough to protect hearing effectively. It’s a lot easier, more comfortable, and safer to use earplugs or earmuffs made especially to protect hearing.
F		7.Without earplugs or earmuffs, at the end of the day after many gunshots a person’s ears will feel stuffy and will ring for a few hours. This is the first sign of damage to hearing. The damage is permanent and cumulative over time.

Question B

F		8. The ringing means a person has been exposed to loud sounds that have damaged hearing. Although permanent damage has been done, it may take years before the permanent hearing loss is noticed.
F		9. It is true that loud sounds can cause pain and damage hearing. But loud sounds from guns or farm machinery that don’t cause pain also are dangerous because they gradually damage hearing.
T		10. This is a symptom of damaged hearing. At first, exposure to loud sounds results in a temporary hearing loss. But with continued exposure to loud noise, the damage results in permanent hearing loss.
T		11. A plugged up feeling is the ear’s way of telling you it has been damaged by loud noise. It means you have been exposed to harmful levels of noise.
F		12. Covering up loud noises with another noise cannot protect hearing. Turning up the radio just blasts a person’s ears with more noise and causes more damage to hearing.

Question C

T		13. This is a common excuse, but there are many kinds of comfortable earplugs made from foam or silicone rubber. There are many kinds of earmuffs as well. Both earplugs and earmuffs are widely available at hardware, farm supply, home improvement and other stores.
T		14. People often think hearing protectors are expensive. Earplugs usually cost less that $5.00 for 10 pairs. Good ears muffs cost only about $10 to $15 and last for years. On the other hand, a standard hearing aid costs about $3,000 or more and the batteries have to be changed regularly.
T		15. Another common excuse! That’s why earplugs should be kept in jacket pockets or in small containers on noisy equipment. Then the earplugs are there when needed. Ear canal inserts (plugs on a band) are also convenient.
T		16. People often think earplugs don’t work. But if worn every time they are needed, earplugs (or muffs) will protect a person’s hearing for a lifetime.
T		17. After they have been exposed to loud noise, many people think that their hearing is OK if a few hours later their ears stop ringing or don’t feel stuffy. This is a common misconception! Hearing loss can begin in the teen years or earlier. The loss can be so gradual that the person doesn’t notice it until they think about situations where they have trouble hearing. After Pete shut off the chainsaw, he had trouble hearing what JR was saying to him, but didn’t think he had a hearing loss because in a few hours he could hear OK. Pete already had serious permanent damage to his hearing.

Question D

T		18. Telephones don’t transmit bass (low) frequencies, only high pitch tones. With hearing loss caused by exposure to loud noises, the ability to hear high pitch sounds is the first to go.
T		19. If you have a friend or relative who is “hard of hearing” you know what this means. It is easy to be left out of a conversation if you can’t hear. You may also misunderstand comments others make and respond inappropriately. For example if someone said, “Did you hear Martha died?” You might think the person said, “Did you hear my father tried?” and respond by saying, “That’s good.” Others will think you are weird, impolite, or a smart aleck.
T		20. Because Pete couldn’t hear Ellen’s warning cries, he ran over his granddaughter. If you don’t protect your hearing now, you could be like Pete. You might not hear a warning cry and because of that something terrible could happen.
T		21. If someone needs your help and calls to you, but you can’t hear them, you can’t respond. The person calling for your help may think you don’t care about them.
F		22. A hearing aid can help, but hearing loss can never be restored. Hearing aids only help a person use what’s left to its fullest capacity.
T		23. An average hearing aid costs about $3,000. Most families don’t have $3,000 to spare. Hearing aids also need to be repaired or replaced every few years, and the batteries are expensive. Finding the money can be a big problem.
T		24. With a hearing loss you may be able to hear music or the TV if the volume is turned up high, but it may sound more like noise than normal music or conversation. When a movie has background music you will have difficulty hearing the dialog among the actors.
T		25. People who can’t hear well often fail to respond to others and have a hard time carrying on a conversation. Their hearing loss is often mistaken for being “aloof” or “stuck up.” Students with hearing loss can get into trouble at school because teachers think they are not paying attention, not doing what they were are asked to do, or are being disrespectful.
F		26. This is a common misunderstanding. Many people with noise-induced hearing loss have a constant ringing, howling, or unpleasant chirping noise in their ears that will never stop. The noise can be so loud and distracting that the person has trouble concentrating, participating in conversation in a group, or sleeping. Some people with this condition become severely depressed and even suicidal.

Finding Your Score

Compare your answers to those on the answer key. Count the number you got correct.

If you got _____, you are:

25-26	Expert
20-24	Pretty good
14-23	Trying
0-13	In big trouble

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¹ This answer key is to be used with the “Sound Advice Throughout the Years” exercise problem booklet.

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