Sarah Ezekiel found an old VHS tape from the 1990s. She thought it was just a nice home movie. In the video, she was looking after her daughter. But the 8-second video had something very precious: her real voice.

Sarah got MND (运动神经元疾病) in 2000. Soon after that, she couldn’t speak. Since then, she used a machine to talk. The machine’s voice sounded like a robot. Her daughter Aviva and son Eric, never heard their mom’s real voice before. 

Then the family found that short video. In it, Sarah was talking to baby Aviva. The family showed the video to Smartbox, a tech company. Smartbox worked with AI experts from ElevenLabs. They used AI to get Sarah’s voice from the noise. Then they made a full, natural voice for her.

When Sarah first heard her new voice, she was very delighted. “I love my voice back. I almost cried,” she said. Sarah said losing speech was the hardest part of MND. She felt she lost her identity (身份). Now her new voice shows who she is. She hopes her story helps others with MND. 

1. 1. Who were in the video?

A    Sarah and Aviva.

B    Aviva and Eric.

C    Sarah and her mom.

D    Sarah and Eric.

2. 2. What helped Sarah to talk after getting MND?

A    A robot.

B    A machine.

C    Her daughter.

D    Her son.

3. 3. Who helped Sarah make the natural voice?

A    Only Smartbox.

B    Only her family.

C    Her kids and friends.

D    Smartbox and ElevenLabs’ AI team.

4. 4. What does the underlined word “delighted” mean?

A    Happy.

B    Angry.

C    Bored.

D    Surprised.

5. 5. What did Sarah think was the hardest part of MND?

A    Losing her memory.

B    Having no friends.

C    Being unable to speak.

D    Being unable to walk.