单选题
Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. "You"re supposed to remember something, but you haven"t encoded it deeply."
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don"t pay attention to what you did because you"re involved in a conversation, you"ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe. "Your memory itself isn"t failing you," says Schacter. "Rather, you didn"t give your memory system the information it needed."
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. "A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago," says Zelinski, "may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox." Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that.
Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. "But be sure the cue is clear and available," he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don"t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you"re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. "Everyone does this from time to time," says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you"ll likely remember.
单选题
Why does the author think that encoding properly is very important?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 作者第一次提到encode是在第一段末尾，然后在第二段开头对encode做了详细说明。全句是：Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later.意思是“编码是一种对事件加以关注的特殊方式”。has a major impact on recalling it later，意为对以后想起这一事件来有很大影响。换句话说，Encoding可以使我们回忆起发生过的事件，其原理是对发生事件加以特殊关注。四个答案中B的说法与此一致，故选B项正确。
单选题
One possible reason why women have better memories than men is that ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 定位到第三段：Women have slightly better memories than men，也解释了原因possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that——可能是因为她们对周围环境更加注意，而记忆恰恰有赖于此。原因的解释虽然清晰，但看看四个选项，选出正确答案却并不容易。需要查看上下文，段首的一句是Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness(缺少兴趣也能导致心不在焉)。这样的话，女性与男性对比的例子应该也是服务于这句话，也就是强调兴趣。本题可以选D。
单选题
A note in the pocket can hardly serve as a reminder because ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 定位到文章第四段：don"t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket，意思是不要把药瓶留在药柜内，而自己写一张纸条揣进口袋。这句话是在否定“写纸条放进口袋”这种提醒方式，与题目所说一致。这一段中可供分析的地方一共两处，一是句首Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness，这是本段的总起句，是对段落核心意思的概括。需要注意的是它提到了“视觉提示物”，也就是“看得见”的提示物。另一处是But be sure the cue is clear and available，提示物要清楚、易得。这两处所强调的共同点是提示物必须是举目所及、位于视线范围之内的。四个答案中与此最为接近的是C。