World News for Students of English

06-09-2021 07:00

In August 1998, Scottish hotel owner Campbel Aird received the world’s first bionic arm. The 1.8-kilogram battery-powered device enabled the man to tie his shoelaces again.

Since then, the technology rapidly evolved, giving people a lot of hope and independence. 11-year-old John became the youngest person in Australia to receive an advanced multi-grip bionic arm, made from 3D printing. He could use his hand to do things that he couldn’t have done without it, such as playing chess. Mady Gardner rode a bike for the first time, sitting straight up, and her parents watched her with joy. 11-year-old Bella Tadlock received an R2-D2-style bionic arm, and she was excited to be able to use her fingers again.

A bionic arm works by picking up signals from a person’s muscles. When the person puts on his bionic arm and moves muscles in their residual limb just below the elbow, special sensors detect tiny naturally created electric signals. This cutting-edge technology is still evolving, and within the next year, amputees could be able to control their bionic arms with their thoughts.

Difficult words: residual (remaining after a great part is gone), cutting-edge (the latest or most advanced stage in the development of something), amputee (a person whose limb was surgically removed).

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