Reading

1 You are going to read a blog written by Martin,

who has colour visiondeficiency(CVD), sometimes
known as colourblindness. Discussthese questions
with a partner.
1 Make a list of situations when it is important to
be able to tell different colours apart.
2 Look at the two photos of a stir-fry meal. The
second shows the meal as seen by someone with
CVD. What are the main differences?
3 How do you think having CVD might affect
someone's life?
2 Read Martin's blog to find out what he says about
the topics in exercise 1.

I've just had a brilliant weekend despite my CVD. Let me explain. Well, for a start, you'll have noticed
that I prefer to call it colour vision deficiency rather than colour blindness. CVD is the inability or
decreased ability to see colour, or perceive colour differences, under normal lighting conditions. There
is no actual blindness, but there is a lack of normal colour vision. In northern Europe it affects about
8% of the male population and 0.5% of the female population. And it's usually a genetic thing. Now
that I've got that basic stuff off my chest, I want to tell you about my weekend.

I've been going out with Emma for about four months now and I decided that this week I'd invite
her round to my flat and cook her a meal. Now, you might just be thinking, that's nice ... but I wonder
if he can cook, but cooking a meal when you've got CVD is not exactly straightforward. I have
problems with reds and greens. So, making sure that meat is thoroughly cooked and there are no
unintended pink bits left is a bit tricky. So I decided to play it safe and cook a veggie stir fry and serve
it with rice. I thought I'd be OK with rice because it's white - no problems there.

I'd got all the ingredients listed in the recipe from the market and I was assured they were really
fresh. I had to trust the stall holder because quite honestly the red peppers, carrots, broccoli and
other vegetables I'd bought all looked an unappealing shade of dull green. And I must admit at that
point I was beginning to doubt the wisdom of my offer to cook dinner.

Anyway, Emma came round and looked happy. OK, she was puzzled when I said her blue jeans
looked great and she had to reveal that they were purple. She knows I've got CVD and just accepts
that she should never take my compliments about clothes seriously.

I started cooking and the recipe said I should make sure not to overcook the veg. I cooked them
for just a couple of minutes and they still looked terrible to me. But when Emma saw the dish served
up, she looked really impressed. And I know she wasn't just being polite because she asked for
seconds.

So it was a wonderful success! Well it was until I went to tum on a lamp (to enhance the romantic
atmosphere). I'd bought this really cool antique lamp and had had to pt.Ii a new plug on it. And in
the UK, you have to know which is the red wire and which is me green 1"fk:N1wire. Well, when I
switched on the lamp it exploded and my flat was plunged !!t.o ~ ~ next 30 minutes were
spent trying to find a torch and fix everything. Anyway, Emma SEBned ~ Bl.ii she did seem a bit
worried when I told her that I was going to start driving lessons""&:!'! '991! ~ rnenooned something
about red and green traffic lights ...