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 you wardrobe (衣柜). "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 (药物) 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. (295 words)
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：本题属于细节题。第二段有三处相关的信息：第一句：“Encoding，Schacter explains，is a special way of pay attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later．”(Schacter解释说，编码是对一件事注意的特殊方式，编码对后来回忆起来有重大影响。)第二句：“Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations．”(不正确编码可产生令人烦恼的情况。)最后一句话：“Rather，you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed．”(实际上，是你没能给你的记忆系统它所需要的信息。)综上所述，正确的编码是给记忆系统所需要的信息，对记忆产生影响，故与选项B说法相符。
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：本题属于细节题。第三段第一句话说：“Lack of interest can also lead to absent—mindedness．”缺乏兴趣亦可导致心不在焉情况的发生。最后一句话说：“Women have slightly better memories than men，possibly because they pay more attention to their environment，and memory relies on just that．”(女士记忆力比男士稍好，可能是由于她们对事情的环境更注意，而记忆依赖环境。)综上所述可知，D的说法是对的。
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：本题属于推理判断题。第四段第一句话说：“Visual cues can help prevent absent—mindedness”(可视的提示物能阻止心不在焉的情况发生)，接着又说：“But be sure the cue is clear and available”(但要确保提示物必须清晰而且可以看到)。而“note”(便条)藏在口袋里而看不见，故难以提醒人们。因此，只有C是对的。
单选题
What do we learn from the last paragraph?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：本题属于主旨题。最后一段话只是一个简单现象的描述，但这句话至关重要：“The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room，and you’ll likely remember．”(最好是回到你进房间以前所在的地方，然后你很可能记起来。)这句话提醒我们：是以前的环境提醒了人们。而从第三段段尾，我们可知：记忆依赖事物发生的环境。因此，我们可以得知，四个备选答案中，只有B的说法是对的。