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Question 19M.3.SL.TZ2.6b

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Date May 2019 Marks available [Maximum mark: 3] Reference code 19M.3.SL.TZ2.6b
Level SL Paper 3 Time zone TZ2
Command term Describe Question number b Adapted from N/A
b.
[Maximum mark: 3]
19M.3.SL.TZ2.6b

Hearing loss can range from mild to severe. Cochlear implants have been used in those with profound hearing loss such as children who are born deaf. The image shows a cross section of the ear with a cochlear implant.

[Source: NIDCD (www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants)]

(b)

Describe the use of cochlear implants in deaf patients.

[3]

Markscheme

a. sound picked up by microphone relayed electronically to speech processor ✔

b. speech processor filters background noise/selects only speech frequencies ✔

c. «radio» signal from transmitter to receiver/stimulator which converts it to electric signal ✔

d. «electrical impulses» sent to electrode «array» in cochlea
OR
cochlear implant bypasses the hair cells in the cochlea ✔

e. electrode/electrical signal stimulates auditory nerve «fibers in cochlea» ✔

f. signals «generated by implant» sent to brain «which recognizes signals as sound» ✔

OWTTE

Examiners report

Although many had a reasonable idea about how cochlear implants function, they were unable to describe this in sufficient detail. Many students talked about amplifying sound, not changing the sound into electric signals.