Wetalkaboutpeoplebeing"color﹣blind"butveryfewofusare．Eventhosewhodescribethemselvesascolor﹣blindarenormallyjustcolorlack．Astronglycolor﹣blindpersonwillstillbeabletotell20differentcolors，compar

题目详情

We talk about people being"color﹣blind"but very few of us are．Even those who describe themselves as color﹣blind are normally just color lack．A strongly color﹣blind person will still be able to tell 20different colors，compared to the 100or so that normal﹣sighted people see．

Pingelap，a tiny island in the Pacific，is a beautiful spot but one that has a genetic trouble．It is known as Color Blind Island because so many people who live on this remote island can only see in black and white．

Not being able to see in color is bad enough．But one islander，Herrol，who's a fisherman，also struggles in full sunlight because all he sees is a painful burnt﹣out image．"I find it difficult to go outside in the sun，"he says，"because when it's sunny I cannot see to do my work．"

But if being truly color﹣blind is rare，why is it that around 10% of the population of Pingelap lire in a totally black and white world？

Well，we know that in 1780the population of Pingelap was all but wiped out by a tsunami．As few as 20people survived，one of whom was the king．It's believed he had a genetic fault that causes color﹣blindness and he passed this fault on to his many generations．

There is one advantage．Herrol can see well，really well，in the dark．So when it gets dark，Herro1and his friends get in their boats and hunt flying fish．They hang up flaming torches and the fish are attracted to the flames．"This type of fishing is fun，"Herrol says，"especially if we catch plenty．So even though it's hard work we enjoy it．"