Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?

　When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen….

At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.

Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.

I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.

1. Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of ______.

A. observing her school routine     B. expressing her satisfaction

C. impressing her classmates       D. preserving her history

2.What caused a change in the author’s understanding of keeping a diary?

A. A dull night on the journey.

B. The beauty of the great valley.

C. A striking quotation from a book

 D. Her concerns for future generations.

3.What does the author put in her diary now?

A. Notes and beautiful pictures.

B. Special thoughts and feelings.

C. Detailed accounts of daily activities.

D. Descriptions of unforgettable events.

4.The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is ______.

A. to experience it             B. to live the present in the future

C. to make memories           D. to give accurate representations of it

 

　　Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity. I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day’s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary. I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper. After all, isn’t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?

　　When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well-equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera. During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across. I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels. On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand. The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows. I automatically took out my pen….

　　At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley. All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.

　　Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling. I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful. I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful. I’m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old. I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.

　　I don’t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes. Maybe I won’t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I’ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me. I don’t live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.

　　51. Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of ______.

　　A. observing her school routine

　　B. expressing her satisfaction

　　C. impressing her classmates

　　D. preserving her history

　　52. What caused a change in the author’s understanding of keeping a diary?

　　A. A dull night on the journey.

　　B. The beauty of the great valley.

　　C. A striking quotation from a book.

　　D. Her concerns for future generations.

　　53. What does the author put in her diary now?

　　A. Notes and beautiful pictures.

　　B. Special thoughts and feelings.

　　C. Detailed accounts of daily activities.

　　D. Descriptions of unforgettable events.

　　54. The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is ______.

　　A. to experience it

　　B. to live the present in the future

　　C. to make memories

　　D. to give accurate representations of it

　　

Professor Martin's report says that children who attend a number of different schools, because their parents have to move around the country, probably make slow progress in their studies. There are also signs, says Professor Martin, that an unusually large number of such children are mentally affected.

　　The professor says, "It's true, my personal feeling is that children should stay in one school. However, our findings are based on research and not on any personal feelings that I or my assistants may have on the subject."

　　Captain Thomas James, an Army lecturer for the past 20 years and him self a father of two, said," I've never heard such rubbish. Taking me for ex ample, no harm is done to the education of my children who change schools regularly－if they keep to the same system, as in our army schools. In my experience, I've known quite a few of them－Army children are as well－adjusted（调整）as any others, if not more so. What the professor doesn't appear to appreciate is the fact that in such situations children will adapt（适应）much better than grown-ups."

　　When this was put to Professor Martin, he said that at no time had his team suggested that all such children were backward or mentally affected in some way, but simply that in their experience there was a clear tendency（倾向）.

　　"Our findings show that while the very bright child can deal with regular changes without harming his or her general progress in studies, the majority of children suffer from constantly having to enter a new learning situation."

　　1．According to this passage, Professor Martin's personal feeling_______.

　　　　A. is the opposite of what his report has shown

　　　　B. is in a way supported by his research

　　　　C. has played a big part in his research

　　　　D. is based on his own experience as a child

　

　　2．From the passage, we can conclude that Captain James's children_________.

　　　　A. have been affected by changing schools

　　　　B. go to ordinary State schools

　　　　C. can get used to the Army school education

　　　　D. discuss their education regularly with their father

　　

　　3.About children and grown-ups, Captain James says that children______.

　　　　A. are generally well-adjusted

　　　　B. are usually less experienced

　　　　C. can adapt much more easily

　　　　D. can deal with changes quickly

　　

　　4．According to Professor Martin, _________ suffer from changing schools regularly.

　　　　A. Army children

　　　　B. quite a few children

　　　　C. bright children

　　　　D. few children

 

“Most experiences of absent-mindedness ,forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room , are caused by a simple lack of attention, ” says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded（编码） it deeply.”

　Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impression on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create troublesome situations. If you　put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your cupboard.  “Your memory itself isn’t failing you, ” says Schacter, “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”  http://wx.jtyjy.com/

　Lack of interest can also lead to absent -mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago, ” says Zelinski, “ may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.”Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that.

　　“Visual cues（ 视觉提示 ）can help prevent absent--mindedness, ”says Schacter, “But be sure the cue is clear and available. ”If you want to remember to take a medicine with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine box and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

　　Another common experience of absent - mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time, ”says Zelinski. “The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.”

1.The writer of the passage thinks that encoding properly is very important because ________.

　　A. it enables us to recall something from our memory

　　B. it slows down the process of losing our memory

　　C. it helps us understand our memory system better

　　D. it helps us to get back to where we were

2.One possible reason why women have a little better memories than men is that________.

　　A. they rely more on the environment

　　B. they have a wider range of interests

　　C. they have an unusual power of focusing their attention

　　D. they are more interested in what’s happening around them

3.Why can a note in the pocket hardly serve as a reminder? ________.

　　A. It will easily get lost

　　B. It is out of your sight

　　C. It’s not clear enough for you to read

　　D. It might get mixed up with other things

4.From the last paragraph we can learn that________.

　　A. repetition might help improve our memory

　　B. memory depends to a certain extent on the environment

　　C. we’d better return to where we were if we forget things

　　D. we should think about something else while doing one thing

5.The passage is mainly about ________.

　　A. the memory system of persons

　　B. a way of encoding and recalling

　　C. the causes of absent-mindedness

　　D. the impression of the environment on memory