The Neglected Senses

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

• Blind people cannot see, but by developing their other senses, they can get some limited information about the world.

• Although sight is a useful sense, the other senses can give us more accurate information about the world.

• Blindness is a serious limitation in navigating our world, but there are ways to get by.

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

The main or central idea of “The Neglected Senses” is:

• To fully appreciate the world, we need to use all of our senses.

• Blindness is a serious limitation in navigating our world, but there are ways to get by.

• The other senses can give us more accurate information about the world.

• Blind people cannot see, but they can get some information about the world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

• She thinks Choden’s blindness was more likely the result of some accident after Choden was born.

• 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 is a result of an illness she contracted while still an infant.

Why is the author of “The Neglected Senses” not aware at first of the televisions as she walks around Lhasa with Choden and Yangchen?

• The chatter of Choden and Yanchen drowned out the sound.

• Her hearing is not good enough to pick up the faint sound.

• She mistook them for distant crowd noises.

• She is distracted by her nervousness.

What is the most important reason that the author wrote “The Neglected Senses”?

• to show readers how sighted people can miss out on things by ignoring their other senses

• to demonstrate the challenges that face many blind people, regardless of  where they live

• to help readers understand the life experience of two blind girls in Tibet

• to show how blind people can learn to live more independently

What does this passage from “The Neglected Senses” tell you about the blind children at Braille Without Borders?

• They are angry and dissatisfied with their lives.

• They are surprisingly careless and thoughtless.

• They are wild and undisciplined children. 

• They are confident and self-assured.

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. The girls positioned themselves on either side of me, hooked their arms through mine, and we headed up the street. Immediately I had the sensation that the ground beneath my feet was tilting. Sound seemed to become louder, smells became stronger, and the breeze on my face felt more forceful and distracting. I tripped on a raised lip of pavement, and the girls quickly tightened their grip on my elbows to keep me from falling. The dragging clicking of one of the canes on the pavement sounded for all the world like the jittering ball in a spinning roulette wheel. What is the most accurate conclusion that can be drawn from this passage about the senses?

• Even blindfolded, a sighted person cannot fully appreciate the experience of being blind.

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

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

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

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 thought her own senses were sharper than those of Choden and Yangchen because she could visually check her surroundings to confirm their accuracy.

• She had always paid careful attention to senses other than sight and had found them inadequate for finding her way.

• She thought Choden and Yangchen would negotiate the city purely by relying upon their memories of the streets.

• She was accustomed to depending upon sight alone to find her way rather than by relying on other senses.

Which of the following excerpts from “The Neglected Senses” best illustrates the typical first-person point of view used by memoir writers?

• All the blind students spoke this way—We are watching you. Nice to see you. See you again. Please let me see that book. For them, the vocabulary of vision was metaphorical, a symbolic representation of human connection, interest, and concern.

• Yangchen, the older of the two, interjected nervously, “Cane? Well, no. Maybe no cane. Choden must have her own cane. Otherwise she can lose her road.”

• Choden, a year younger than Yangchen, was pink-cheeked and ever smiling. She too wore a ponytail, plaid flannel shirt, denim jacket and pants, baseball cap, and hiking boots.

• 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.