The curb cut (路缘坡) is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder in more ways than one, such as carrying baggage, pushing a bicycle or a wheelchair or riding a skateboard etc. — all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind.
It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help disadvantaged (弱势的) people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity (公平). The first time l even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, there is a deeply rooted social belief among them that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. What the curb cut effect reveals though, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, almost everyone wins.”
One such example is closed captioning (字幕), originally intended to help deaf people understand movies and TV shows without needing to hear dialogue or sounds. But it’s easy to think of other applications for closed captioning: it’s convenient for customers watching TV in a noisy bar or gym, second-language learners who want to read as well as listen, or students who use it as a study aid.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk — think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but almost all of us.
12. What is the purpose of the examples listed in the first paragraph?
A.To call on us to care about the disadvantaged groups. |
B.To offer some background information about the curb cut. |
C.To tell us that people ignore the existence of the curb cut. |
D.To make us aware of the convenience of the curb cut to our daily life. |
13. Why do many people see equity “as a zero-sum game” according to Angela Blackwell?
A.Because they believe it’s impossible to have everyone treated equally. |
B.Because they believe it is right to give the disadvantaged more help than others. |
C.Because they believe the health of the disadvantaged should be considered equally. |
D.Because they believe it is a win-win situation when society creates convenience to the disadvantaged. |
14. Which of the following examples best shows the “curb cut effect”?
A.The four great inventions of ancient China spread to other countries in the world. |
B.Reading machines for blind people help build the digital maps that the drivers use to navigate. |
C.Your reaching out to the disadvantaged contributes to more people doing it. |
D.A butterfly flapping its wings in one country leads to a Tornado in another country. |
15. What is the main idea of the text?
A.The curb cut is a convenient ramp designed to benefit the disabled. |
B.Everyone in a society should be treated equally. |
C.Supporting disadvantaged groups often ends up benefiting much larger ranges of society. |
D.How disability rights activists fought for equity that changed the life of his fellow men. |