How Do Ears Work?耳朵是如何工作的？

We live in a wonderful world and hear all kinds of voices every day. Why can we hear these sounds？ Which organ of our body works？ Yes， it is the ears. How do ears transmit sound to our brains？

我們生活在一個(gè)奇妙的世界，每天都會(huì)聽(tīng)到各種各樣的聲音。為什么我們能聽(tīng)到這些聲音呢？這主要是我們身體的哪個(gè)器官在起作用呢？是的，就是耳朵。耳朵又是如何將聲音傳遞到我們大腦的呢？

You know， the components of the ears have their own functions， and they are indispensable. They are the key to the sound we can hear. How do ears make us hear？ Let's explore this problem today！

要知道，耳朵的各個(gè)部件都有各自的作用，它們?nèi)币徊豢?。它們是我們能?tīng)到聲音的關(guān)鍵所在。那耳朵是怎樣使我們聽(tīng)到聲音的呢？今天就讓我們來(lái)探究這個(gè)問(wèn)題吧！

When we clap our hands， it causes rhythmic vibration of air molecules， which produces sound waves.

當(dāng)我們拍拍手，引起空氣分子有節(jié)奏地振動(dòng)，這就產(chǎn)生了聲波。

Sound waves reach the external ear with the air， transmit the sound into the external acoustic pore and hit the tympanic membrane through the sound collection function of the auricle.

聲波隨著空氣到達(dá)外耳，通過(guò)耳郭的集音作用把聲音傳入外耳道并撞擊鼓膜。

When the sound wave strikes the tympanic membrane， it causes the tympanic membrane to vibrate. This force also vibrates the auditory ossicles composed of the smallest bones of our human body： malleus， incus and stapes. These three auditory ossicles form a set of lever system to amplify the vibration force and transmit it to the cochlea.

當(dāng)聲波撞擊鼓膜時(shí)，引起鼓膜振動(dòng)，這股力量使我們?nèi)梭w中最小的骨頭——錘骨、砧骨、鐐骨組成的聽(tīng)小骨也振動(dòng)起來(lái)，這三塊聽(tīng)小骨形成了一套杠桿系統(tǒng)，把振動(dòng)力量放大，并傳遞到耳蝸中。

The cochlea is shaped like a snail shell， filled with lymph and thousands of hair cells， with basement membrane above the hair cells.

耳蝸形似蝸牛殼，內(nèi)部充滿(mǎn)著淋巴液，并有數(shù)以千計(jì)的毛細(xì)胞，毛細(xì)胞的上方有基底膜。

When the vibration comes， it vibrates the basement membrane through the lymph， and the basement membrane touches the hair cells. Finally， the hair cells transmit the electrical signal to the brain through the cochlear nerve， and we hear the sound！

當(dāng)振動(dòng)傳來(lái)，通過(guò)淋巴液而振動(dòng)基底膜，基底膜又觸動(dòng)了毛細(xì)胞。最后，毛細(xì)胞把（生物）電信號(hào)通過(guò)耳蝸神經(jīng)傳達(dá)到大腦，我們就聽(tīng)到聲音啦！

Notes：

transmit v.傳送;輸送""" sound waves聲波

the components of ……的組成部分""" external ear 外耳

indispensable adj.不可或缺的;必需的""" lever system杠桿系統(tǒng)

rhythmic adj.有節(jié)奏的""" lymph n.淋巴液

vibration n.振動(dòng)"" "cell n.細(xì)胞

molecules n.分子;微粒""" basement membrane 基底