1 . Anyone who has ever witnessed the miracle in which infants progress from mewling to “Mama” to “Mine!” knows how critical it is for youngsters to hear normally before they speak their first words. _______, many children who don’t talk by age two turn out to be deaf. The sooner their disability is discovered and _______, the less likely they are to fall behind in the development of important language and social skills. That is why a growing number of hearing specialists (audiologists) and parents are campaigning for _______ screening of newborns for hearing loss.

Their _______ has registered in some powerful ears. To date, 22 states have passed legislation requiring at least partial screening programs. Part of the push stems from _______ in technology that, among other things, allow children as young as two months to be _______ hearing aids. But there are limits to the technology. One thing parents should realize before they start is that the screening tests are far from _______. A bad result doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem.

Audiologists estimate that 3 out of every 1,000 babies are born with some kind of hearing loss. Of those three infants, one is profoundly deaf. About half the time, doctors can identify a possible cause, such as a birth weight less than 5 pounds, or a family history of _______. The rest of the time there is simply no _______ as to why a newborn’s hearing may have been affected.

The screening tests work by introducing a sound into a baby’s ear and then measuring either the ________ of the ear’s internal mechanisms or the electrical activity of the auditory portion of the brain (the auditory brain-stem response test). Just because a baby fails either test, ________, does not mean that there is a hearing problem. A temporary buildup of fluid in the ear canal or excessive noise in the nursery can ________ the results. For this reason, experts say, hospitals should ________ the screening tests for any baby who doesn’t pass the first time before telling the parents to consult an audiologist for more thorough testing.

It is at this stage that things get a bit ________. Though 20 of every 1,000 babies fail the two-step screen, most prove on further examination to be just fine. Is it worth ________ 17 families of perfectly normal children - not to mention asking them to spend several hundred dollars on advanced tests — to identify three infants with hearing loss?

4 . BILLIARD   TABLES bought and sold. Mr Villis. (02805) 66 (Bucks).

GIFT CHAMPAGNE. We post a bottle with your message. From £14.50 incl. Orders or details 0642 45733

CHRISTINE’S beauty treatment and body therapy. 402 6499, 0473 4004

SMOKED SALMON

8oz sliced £5.75, 1 lb sliced £ 11, 2 lb 4oz side £16.90, 2 lb 8 oz side £ 19.50, 400 gms offcuts £ 5. Prices include UK 1st class postage. Cheques with order. Cornish Smoked Fish Co.Ltd,Charlestown, St.Austell,Cornwell.

400-YEAR-OLD thatched cottage between Winchester/Basingstoke: 3 dble beds, sec gdn & extras. £ 110,000. (0962)88109

CHATEAU LATOUR, 1964. 24 bottles, £ 75 each.Phone(0227) 9848 evenings.

GOING IN TO BUSINESS? Send £ 7.45 inc p&p for ‘The Beginners Guide to Success in Business.’ Comquip Ltd, 189 Highview, Meopham, Gravesend, Kent. (0732) 22315.

SILVER CROSS detachable coach Pram (navy), shopping tray, excellent clean condition, £30; Carry Cot, £ 5; Baby Bath, £ 2.50; Atari system, joystick and paddle sticks, in good working order, needs a new mains adapter, £40; 5 Atari Cassettes, £10 each, very good condition, ideal Xmas presents. – Apply 34 Kynaston Road, Didcot, Oxon. evenings. 215702

HAVANA CIGARS

And other fine cigars at wholesale prices. Send for list to James Jordan Ltd, Shelly, Huddars-field. Tel,: 0484 60227

C-SCOPE METAL DETECTORS. The ideal family gift to treasure from £ 39.99 to £449.50. Tel. Ashford (0233) 2918 today for free colour brochure.

BEAUTIFUL farm estate, total 700 acres. Diplomats 4 bed 1832 house, £ 220,000 ono. 0639 730825 BEDROOMED HOUSE in quiet mid-Wales village. 1 acre of land, fishing and shooting available. £ 42,000. Tel: 059 787 687 (after 6 p.m.).

THE TIMES (1814-1985). This Xmas give someone an original issue dated the very day they were born, £ 12,50 or 2 for £ 21. Tel 01-486 6305 or 0492 3314

PARTYMANIA, everything for your party in one “fun-tastic” store.- 179 Kingston Road, Oxford 51339, own parking. 37685

OXFORD: lively divorcee, mid forties, bored with solitude and the cat, seeks male, preferably tall, to share local pleasures and pastimes, music, the arts etc. Box (50) 2050.

LADIES NARROW SHOWS. AA and narrower, sizes 2-11. Also wide EE. SAE Muriel Hitchcock Shoes, 3b Castle Mews, Arundel BN18 9DG.

HAVE a very happy birthday Paul!

10 . “Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence.” With that, in January 1997, the French coast guard transmitted its final message in Morse code.

Wrecked ships had radioed out SOS signals from the era of the Titanic. In near-instant time, the beeps could be decoded by Morse-code stations thousands of miles away. First used to send messages over land in 1844, Morse code outlived the telegraph age. But by the late 20th century, satellite radio was turning it into a dying language. In February 1999, it officially ceased being the standard for maritime communication.

Nestled within the Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco, KPH Maritime Radio is the last operational Morse-code radio station in North America. The station — which consists of two buildings some 25 miles apart — once watched over the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It shut down in 1997, but a few years later, a couple of radio enthusiasts brought it back to life. The group has gotten slightly larger over the years, who call themselves the “radio squirrels”. Every Saturday, they beep out maritime news and weather reports. Much of their communication is with the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, a World War II-era ship permanently parked at a San Francisco pier.

Last July, the photographer Ann Hermes visited these “radio squirrels” and stepped into their time machine. To send a message, they tapped each Morse-code letter into a gadget, generating a loud noise that repeated throughout the whole building. “It’s almost like jazz,” Hermes told me — a music of rhythm and timing that can sound slightly different depending on who is doing the tapping. Some of the machines date back to World War II. The “radio squirrels” do their own repairs, and search eBay for replacement parts on the newer units.

Though many of the “radio squirrels” are retired or nearing retirement, Morse code is not quite extinct: The U.S. Navy still teaches it to a few sailors. Besides, in 2017, a British man who had broken his leg on a beach used it to signal for help in the dark with a flashlight.