一、Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension
1、Question 1 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、The majority of drivers prefer to drive and park themselves.
B、Human drivers become easily distracted or tired while driving.
C、Most drivers feel uncertain about the safety of self-driving cars.
D、Most drivers have test driven cars with automatic braking features.
2、Question 2 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、Their drivers would feel safe after getting used to the automatic features.
B、They would be unpopular with drivers who only trust their own skills.
C、Their increased comfort levels have boosted their sales.
D、They are not actually as safe as automakers advertise.
3、Question 3 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、Thefts of snowmobile dogs in Alaska.
B、A series of injuries to snowmobile drivers.
C、Attacks on some Iditarod Race competitors.
D、A serious accident in the Alaska sports event.
4、Question 4 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、He stayed behind to look after his injured dogs.
B、He has won the Alaska Iditarod Race four times.
C、He received a minor injury in the Iditarod Race.
D、He has quit the competition in Alaska for good.
5、Question 5 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、It sank into the sea due to overloading.
B、It ran into Nicaragua’s Big Corn Island.
C、It disappeared between two large islands.
D、It turned over because of strong winds.
6、Question 6 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、13.
B、25.
C、30.
D、32.
7、Question 7 is based on the news report you have just heard.
A、He has helped with the rescue effort.
B、He is being investigated by the police.
C、He was drowned with the passengers.
D、He is among those people missing.
8、Question 8 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、At a shopping centre.
B、At a community college.
C、At an accountancy firm.
D、At an IT company.
9、Question 9 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Helping out with data input.
B、Arranging interviews.
C、Sorting application forms.
D、Making phone calls.
10、Question 10 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、He enjoys using computers.
B、He needs the money badly.
C、He wants to work in the city centre.
D、He has relevant working experience.
11、Question 11 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Purchase some business suits.
B、Learn some computer language.
C、Improve his programming skills.
D、Review some accountancy terms.
12、Question 12 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、They are keen on high technology.
B、They are poor at technology skills.
C、They often listen to National Public Radio.
D、They feel superior in science and technology.
13、Question 13 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Japanese.
B、Germans.
C、Poles.
D、Americans.
14、Question 14 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Emailing.
B、Texting.
C、Science.
D、Literary.
15、Question 15 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、It is undergoing a drastic reform.
B、It lays emphasis on creative thinking.
C、It has much room for improvement.
D、It prioritizes training of practical skills.
16、Question 16 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、They have small roots.
B、They grow white flowers.
C、They taste like apples.
D、They come from Central Africa.
17、Question 17 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、They turned from white to purple in color.
B、They became popular on the world market.
C、They became an important food for humans.
D、They began to look like modern-day carrots.
18、Question 18 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、They were found quite nutritious.
B、There were serious food shortages.
C、People discovered their medical value.
D、Farm machines helped lower their prices.
19、Question 19 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、She could update her family any time she liked.
B、She could call up her family whenever she liked.
C、She could locate her friends wherever they were.
D、She could download as many pictures as she liked.
20、Question 20 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、She liked to inform her friends about her success.
B、She enjoyed reading her friends’ status updates.
C、She felt quite popular among them.
D、She felt she was a teenager again.
21、Question 21 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、She could barely respond to all her 500 Facebook friends.
B、She spent more time updating her friends than her family.
C、She could barely balance Facebook updates and her work.
D、She didn’t seem to be doing as well as her Facebook friends.
22、Question 22 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、They have strong muscles.
B、They live a longer life than horses.
C、They eat much less in winter.
D、They can work longer than donkeys.
23、Question 23 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、It was a pet of a Spanish king.
B、It was bought by George Washington.
C、It was brought over from Spain.
D、It was donated by a U.S. Ambassador.
24、Question 24 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、They met and exchanged ideas on animal breeding.
B、They participated in a mule-driving competition.
C、They showed and traded animals in the market.
D、They fed mules with the best food they could find.
25、Question 25 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、The wider use of horses.
B、The arrival of tractors.
C、A shrinking animal trade.
D、A growing donkey population.
二、Part III Reading Comprehension
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
26、(1)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
27、(2)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
28、(3)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
29、(4)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
30、(5)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
31、(6)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
32、(7)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
33、(8)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
34、(9)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can perk them right up again. During (26)_____exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a (27)_____ called “central fatigue,” in which an imbalance in the body’s chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements (28)_____. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly (29)_____in the exercise itself—such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteers a carbohydrate (30)_____either with a moderate dose of caffeine—which is known to stimulate the central nervous system—or as a placebo without, during 3 hours of (31)_____. After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eye-tracking cameras to see how well their brains could still (32)_____their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, (33)_____their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine—the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee—was (34)_____to counteract this effect, with some cyclists even displaying (35)_____eye movement speeds, the team reports today in Scientific Reports. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.
35、(10)
A、increased
B、limited
C、cycling
D、cautiously
E、slowing
F、sensitive
G、effectively
H、involved
I、phenomenon
J、vigorous
K、sufficient
L、solution
M、commit
N、preventing
O、control
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
36、36. People with HSAM have the same memory as ordinary people when it comes to impersonal information.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
37、37. Fantasy proneness will not necessarily cause people to develop HSAM.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
38、38. Veiseh began to remember the details of his everyday experiences after he met his first young love.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
39、39. Many more people with HSAM started to contact researchers due to the mass media.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
40、40. People with HSAM often have to make efforts to avoid focusing on the past.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
41、41. Most people do not have clear memories of past events.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
42、42. HSAM can be both a curse and a blessing.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
43、43. A young woman sought explanation from a brain scientist when she noticed her unusual memory.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
44、44. Some people with HSAM find it very hard to get rid of unpleasant memories.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The Blessing and Curse of the People Who Never Forget
A handful of people can recall almost every day of their lives in enormous detail—and after years of research, neuroscientists are finally beginning to understand how they do it.
【A】For most of us, memory is a mess of blurred and faded pictures of our lives. As much as we would like to cling on to our past, even the saddest moments can be washed away with time.
【B】 Ask Nima Veiseh what he was doing for any day in the past 15 years, however, and he will give you the details of the weather, what he was wearing, or even what side of the train he was sitting on his journey to work. “My memory is like a library of video tapes, walk-throughs of every day of my life from walking to sleeping,” he explains.
【C】 Veiseh can even put a date on when those tapes started recording: 15 December 2000, when he met his first girlfriend at his best friend’s 16th birthday party. He had always had a good memory, but the thrill of young love seems to have shifted a gear in his mind: from now on, he would start recording his whole life in detail. “I could tell you everything about every day after that.”
【D】 Needless to say, people like Veiseh are of great interest to neuroscientists (神经科学专家) hoping to understand the way the brain records our lives. A couple of recent papers have finally opened a window on these people’s extraordinary minds. And such research might even suggest ways for us all to relive our past with greater clarity.
【E】 “Highly superior autobiographical memory” (or HSAM for short), first come to light in the early 2000s, with a young woman named Jill Price. Emailing the neuroscientist and memory researcher Jim McGaugh one day, she claimed that she could recall every day of her life since the age of 12. Could he help explain her experiences?
【F】McGaugh invited her to his lab, and began to test her: he would give her a date and ask her to tell him about the world events on that day. True to her word, she was correct almost every time.
【G】It didn’t take long for magazines and documentary film-makers to come to understand her “total recall”, and thanks to the subsequent media interest, a few dozen other subjects (including Veiseh) have since come forward and contacted the team at the University of California, Irvine.
【H】 Interestingly, their memories are highly self-centred: although they can remember “autobiographical” life events in extraordinary detail, they seem to be no better than average at recalling impersonal information, such as random (任意选取的) lists of words. Nor are they necessarily better at remembering a round of drinks, say. And although their memories are vast, they are still likely to suffer from “false memories”. Clearly, there is no such thing as a “perfect” memory—their ordinary minds are still using the same flawed tools that the rest of us rely on. The question is, how?
【I】 Lawrence Patihis at the University of Southern Mississippi recently studied around 20 people with HSAM and found that they scored particularly high on two measures: fantasy proneness (倾向) and absorption. Fantasy proneness could be considered as a tendency to imagine and daydream, whereas absorption is the tendency to allow your mind to become fully absorbed in an activity—to pay complete attention to the sensations (感受) and the experiences. “I’m extremely sensitive to sounds, smells and visual detail,” explains Nicole Donohue, who has taken part in many of these studies. “I definitely feel things more strongly than the average person.”
【J】 The absorption helps them to establish strong foundations for a recollection, says Patihis, and the fantasy proneness means that they revisit those memories again and again in the coming weeks and months. Each time this initial memory trace is “replayed”, it becomes even stronger. In some ways, you probably go through that process after a big event like your wedding day—but the difference is that thanks to their other psychological tendencies, the HSAM subjects are doing it day in, day out, for the whole of their lives.
【K】 Not everyone with a tendency to fantasize will develop HSAM, though, so Patihis suggests that something must have caused them to think so much about their past. “Maybe some experience in their childhood meant that they became obsessed （着迷）with calendars and what happened to them,” says Patihis.
【L】 The people with HSAM I’ve interviewed would certainly agree that it can be a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it allows you to relive the most transformative and enriching experiences. Veiseh, for instance, travelled a lot in his youth. In his spare time, he visited the local art galleries, and the paintings are now lodged deep in his autobiographical memories.
【M】 “Imagine being able to remember every painting, on every wall, in every gallery space, between nearly 40 countries,” he says. “That’s a big education in art by itself.” With this comprehensive knowledge of the history of art, he has since become a professional painter.
【N】Donohue, now a history teacher, agrees that it helped during certain parts of her education: “I can definitely remember what I learned on certain days at school. I could imagine what the teacher was saying or what it looked like in the book.”
【O】 Not everyone with HSAM has experienced these benefits, however. Viewing the past in high definition can make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel the same emotions—it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds—they are just a part of you,” he says.
【P】 This means they often have to make a special effort to lay the past to rest. Bill, for instance, often gets painful “flashbacks” in which unwanted memories intrude into his consciousness, but overall he has chosen to see it as the best way of avoiding repeating the same mistakes. “Some people are absorbed in the past but not open to new memories, but that’s not the case for me. I look forward to the each day and experiencing something new.”
45、45. A recent study of people with HSAM reveals that they are liable to fantasy and full absorption in an activity.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
L、L
M、M
N、N
O、O
P、P
The phrase almost completes itself: midlife crisis. It’s the stage in the middle of the journey when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching.
There’s only one problem with the cliché (套话). It isn’t true.
“In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago,” Barbara Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift “can be exciting, rather than terrifying.”
Barbara Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because “autopilot is death.” They choose purpose over happiness—having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzenimer’s disease. They give priority to relationships, as careers often recede (逐渐淡化).
Life Reimagined paints a picture of middle age that is far from gloomy. Midlife seems like the second big phase of decision-making. Your identity has been formed, you’ve built up your resources; and now you have the chance to take the big risks precisely because your foundation is already secure.
Karl Barth described midlife precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote, “the sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself.”
The middle-aged person, Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a “measured haste” to get big new things done while there is still time.
What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. We have presidential candidates running for their first term in office at age 68, 69 and 74. A longer lifespan is changing the narrative structure of life itself. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point—the turning point you are most equipped to take full advantage of.
46、46. What does the author think of the phrase “midlife crisis”? .
A、It has led to a lot of debate.
B、It is widely acknowledged.
C、It is no longer fashionable.
D、It misrepresents real life.
The phrase almost completes itself: midlife crisis. It’s the stage in the middle of the journey when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching.
There’s only one problem with the cliché (套话). It isn’t true.
“In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago,” Barbara Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift “can be exciting, rather than terrifying.”
Barbara Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because “autopilot is death.” They choose purpose over happiness—having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzenimer’s disease. They give priority to relationships, as careers often recede (逐渐淡化).
Life Reimagined paints a picture of middle age that is far from gloomy. Midlife seems like the second big phase of decision-making. Your identity has been formed, you’ve built up your resources; and now you have the chance to take the big risks precisely because your foundation is already secure.
Karl Barth described midlife precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote, “the sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself.”
The middle-aged person, Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a “measured haste” to get big new things done while there is still time.
What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. We have presidential candidates running for their first term in office at age 68, 69 and 74. A longer lifespan is changing the narrative structure of life itself. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point—the turning point you are most equipped to take full advantage of.
47、47. How does Barbara Hagerty view midlife?
A、It may be the beginning of a crisis.
B、It can be a new phrase of one’s life.
C、It can terrifying for the unprepared.
D、It may see old-age diseases approaching.
The phrase almost completes itself: midlife crisis. It’s the stage in the middle of the journey when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching.
There’s only one problem with the cliché (套话). It isn’t true.
“In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago,” Barbara Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift “can be exciting, rather than terrifying.”
Barbara Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because “autopilot is death.” They choose purpose over happiness—having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzenimer’s disease. They give priority to relationships, as careers often recede (逐渐淡化).
Life Reimagined paints a picture of middle age that is far from gloomy. Midlife seems like the second big phase of decision-making. Your identity has been formed, you’ve built up your resources; and now you have the chance to take the big risks precisely because your foundation is already secure.
Karl Barth described midlife precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote, “the sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself.”
The middle-aged person, Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a “measured haste” to get big new things done while there is still time.
What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. We have presidential candidates running for their first term in office at age 68, 69 and 74. A longer lifespan is changing the narrative structure of life itself. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point—the turning point you are most equipped to take full advantage of.
48、48. How is midlife pictured in the book Life Reimagined?
A、It can be quite rosy.
B、It can be burdensome.
C、It undergoes radical transformation.
D、It makes for the best part of one’s life.
The phrase almost completes itself: midlife crisis. It’s the stage in the middle of the journey when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching.
There’s only one problem with the cliché (套话). It isn’t true.
“In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago,” Barbara Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift “can be exciting, rather than terrifying.”
Barbara Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because “autopilot is death.” They choose purpose over happiness—having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzenimer’s disease. They give priority to relationships, as careers often recede (逐渐淡化).
Life Reimagined paints a picture of middle age that is far from gloomy. Midlife seems like the second big phase of decision-making. Your identity has been formed, you’ve built up your resources; and now you have the chance to take the big risks precisely because your foundation is already secure.
Karl Barth described midlife precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote, “the sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself.”
The middle-aged person, Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a “measured haste” to get big new things done while there is still time.
What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. We have presidential candidates running for their first term in office at age 68, 69 and 74. A longer lifespan is changing the narrative structure of life itself. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point—the turning point you are most equipped to take full advantage of.
49、49. According to Karl Barth, midlife is the time .
A、to relax
B、to mature
C、to harvest
D、to reflect
The phrase almost completes itself: midlife crisis. It’s the stage in the middle of the journey when people feel youth vanishing, their prospects narrowing and death approaching.
There’s only one problem with the cliché (套话). It isn’t true.
“In fact, there is almost no hard evidence for midlife crisis other than a few small pilot studies conducted decades ago,” Barbara Hagerty writes in her new book, Life Reimagined. The bulk of the research shows that there may be a pause, or a shifting of gears in the 40s or 50s, but this shift “can be exciting, rather than terrifying.”
Barbara Hagerty looks at some of the features of people who turn midlife into a rebirth. They break routines, because “autopilot is death.” They choose purpose over happiness—having a clear sense of purpose even reduces the risk of Alzenimer’s disease. They give priority to relationships, as careers often recede (逐渐淡化).
Life Reimagined paints a picture of middle age that is far from gloomy. Midlife seems like the second big phase of decision-making. Your identity has been formed, you’ve built up your resources; and now you have the chance to take the big risks precisely because your foundation is already secure.
Karl Barth described midlife precisely this way. At middle age, he wrote, “the sowing is behind; now is the time to reap. The run has been taken; now is the time to leap. Preparation has been made; now is the time for the venture of the work itself.”
The middle-aged person, Barth continued, can see death in the distance, but moves with a “measured haste” to get big new things done while there is still time.
What Barth wrote decades ago is even truer today. People are healthy and energetic longer. We have presidential candidates running for their first term in office at age 68, 69 and 74. A longer lifespan is changing the narrative structure of life itself. What could have been considered the beginning of a descent is now a potential turning point—the turning point you are most equipped to take full advantage of.
50、50. What does the author say about midlife today?
A、It is more meaningful than other stages of life.
B、It is likely to change the narrative of one’s life.
C、It is more important to those with a longer lifespan.
D、It is likely to be a critical turning point in one’s life.
In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not prevail in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
The tradition, dating back to 300 B.C., was later incorporated into the Christian church. The old symbols, however, still endure. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.
51、51. Why do people in many cultures prize the egg?
A、It is a welcome sign of the coming of spring.
B、It is their major source of protein in winter.
C、It can easily be made into a work of art.
D、It can bring wealth and honor to them.
In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not prevail in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
The tradition, dating back to 300 B.C., was later incorporated into the Christian church. The old symbols, however, still endure. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.
52、52. What do we learn about the decorated “eggs” in Russia?
A、They are shaped like jewel cases.
B、They are cherished by the rich.
C、They are heavily painted in red.
D、They are favored as a form of art.
In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not prevail in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
The tradition, dating back to 300 B.C., was later incorporated into the Christian church. The old symbols, however, still endure. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.
53、53. Why have contemporary artists continued the egg art tradition?
A、Eggs serve as an enduring symbol of new life.It is idealized.
B、Eggs have an oval shape appealing to artists.
C、Eggs reflect the anxieties of people today.
D、Eggs provide a unique surface to paint on.
In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not prevail in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
The tradition, dating back to 300 B.C., was later incorporated into the Christian church. The old symbols, however, still endure. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.
54、54. Why does Chast enjoy the process of decorating eggs?
A、She never knows if the egg will break before the design is completed.
B、She can add multiple details to the design to communicate her idea.
C、She always derives great pleasure from designing something new.
D、She is never sure what the final design will look like until the end.
In spring, chickens start laying again, bringing a welcome source of protein at winter’s end. So it’s no surprise that cultures around the world celebrate spring by honoring the egg.
Some traditions are simple, like the red eggs that get baked into Greek Easter breads. Others elevate the egg into a fancy art, like the heavily jewel-covered “eggs” that were favored by the Russians starting in the 19th century.
One ancient form of egg art comes to us from Ukraine. For centuries, Ukrainians have been drawing complicated patterns on eggs. Contemporary artists have followed this tradition to create eggs that speak to the anxieties of our age: Life is precious, and delicate. Eggs are, too.
“There’s something about their delicate nature that appeals to me,” says New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. Several years ago, she became interested in eggs and learned the traditional Ukrainian technique to draw her very modern characters. “I’ve broken eggs at every stage of the process—from the very beginning to the very, very end.”
But there’s an appeal in that vulnerability. “There’s part of this sickening horror of knowing you’re walking on the edge with this, that I kind of like, knowing that it could all fall apart at any second.” Chast’s designs, such as a worried man alone in a tiny rowboat, reflect that delicateness.
Traditional Ukrainian decorated eggs also spoke to those fears. The elaborate patterns were believed to offer protection against evil.
“There’s an ancient legend that as long as these eggs are made, evil will not prevail in the world,” says Joan Brander, a Canadian egg-painter who has been painting eggs for over 60 years, having learned the art from her Ukrainian relatives.
The tradition, dating back to 300 B.C., was later incorporated into the Christian church. The old symbols, however, still endure. A decorated egg with a bird on it, given to a young married couple, is a wish for children. A decorated egg thrown into the field would be a wish for a good harvest.
55、55. What do we learn from the passage about egg-painting?
A、It originated in the eastern part of Europe.
B、It has a history of over two thousand years.
C、It is the most time-honored form of fancy art.
D、It is especially favored as a church decoration.
三、Part IV Translation
56、黄河是亚洲第三、世界第六长的河流。“黄”这个字描述的是其河水浑浊的颜色。黄河发源于青海，流经九个省份，最后注入渤海。黄河是中国赖以生存的几条河流之一。黄河流域（river basin）是中国古代文明的诞生地，也是中国早期历史上最繁荣的地区。然而，由于极具破坏力的洪水频发，黄河曾造成多次灾害。在过去几十年里，政府采取了各种措施防止灾害发生。
参考答案：
全文普通版：The Yellow River is the third longest river in Asia and the sixth longest in the world. The word “Yellow” describes the muddy color of the river. The Yellow River originates from Qinghai Province and flows through nine provinces and finally pours into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River is one of several rivers for the Chinese to live on. The Yellow River basin is the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization and the most prosperous place in early history of China. However, owing to its destructive flood frequently happening, the Yellow River once caused damage for many times. In the past several decades, the government has taken various measures to prevent disasters.
全文高配版：The Yellow River is the third longest river in Asia and the sixth longest in the world. The word “Yellow” describes the muddy water of the river. Originating from Qinghai Province, the Yellow River flows through nine provinces and finally pours into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River is one of the rivers which China relies on for existence. The Yellow River basin is the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization and the most prosperous place in early history of China. However, owing to its destructive flood frequently happening, the Yellow River once caused damage for many times. In the past several decades, the government has taken various measures to prevent disasters.
四、Part I Writing
57、Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an advertisement on your campus website to sell some of the course books you used at college. Your advertisement may include a brief description of their content, their condition and price, and your contact information. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
参考答案：
Used Books for Sale
June 17, 2017
As a senior student, I’m planning to graduate from our university in 20 days and I determine to sell some of my favorite English books through our campus website. Your visit is expected at any time.
This is a collection of New Concept English ranging from book 1 to book 4, a highly respected textbook in English learning field, and I bought them from the bookstore near our library. Due to being read and learned for many times, they are not brand new. The articles in the books, either interesting or thought-provoking, include new vocabulary, grammar and summary. The books apply to preparing for many English exams, like national post-graduate entrance examination, TOEFL, and IELTS. It is with these books that I successfully passed TOEFL and was admitted by a famous university. The price of the books is 40 RMB and the books are bound to bring you a fluent English and bright future.
If you are interested in it and want any further information, please feel free to contact me at 13680000000 or peter666@163.com.
【参考译文】
售卖二手书
2017年6月17日
作为一名大四学生，本人还有二十天即将毕业，现欲在校园网出售最喜爱的英语书，你可随时浏览商品信息。
这是一套《新概念英语》，包含第一册至第四册，是英语学习界饱受赞誉的教材，我是在学校图书馆附近的书店购买的。由于多次阅读、学习，这套书不算太新。书中的文章，要么生动有趣，要么发人省醒，包括生词、语法和总结。这套书可用作多种英语考试，包括研究生入学考试、托福、雅思，我也正是用了这套书通过了托福考试并被一所知名大学录取。此套书售价40元人民币，相信它们能带给你流利的英语和美好的未来。
如果你对此感兴趣并想要了解更多信息，欢迎致电13680000000或邮件联系peter666@163.com。
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