阅读理解 Memory Class Stan Field knows what age can do to a person''s memory, and he''s not taking any chances with his. He chooses his food carefully and gets plenty of exercise. He also avoids stress, coca cola and cigarette smoke. What''s more, at breakfast each morning, the 69-year-old chemical engineer swallows a plateful of pills in the hope of boosting his brain power. Michelle Amove is less than half Field''s age, but no less concerned about her memory. While working round the clock to finish a degree in film studies, the 33-year-old New Yorker had the alarming sensation that she had stopped retaining anything. "I couldn''t even remember names," she says. "I thought, Oh, no, I''m over 30. It''s all downhill from here. " Besides loading up on supplements, Amove signed up for a memory enhancing course at New York''s Mount Siani Medical Center. And when she got there, she found herself surrounded by people who were just as worried as she was. For millions of Americans, and especially for baby boomers (生育高峰出生的人) , the demands of the Information Age conflict with a sense of declining physical power. "When boomers were in their 30s and 40s, they launched the fitness boom," says Cynthia Green, the psychologist who teaches Mount Sinai''s memory class. "Now we have the mental-fitness boom Memory is the boomers'' new life-crisis issue." And of course a major marketing opportunity. The demand for books and seminars has never been greater, says Jack Lannom, a longtime memory trainer whose weekly TV show, " Mind Unlimited," goes out to 33 million homes on the Christian Network. Anxious consumers are rushing to buy do-it-yourself programs and supplement makers are trying to sell everything but sawdust (木屑) as a brain booster. But before you get out your checkbook, a few questions are in order. Does everyday forgetfulness signal declining brain function? Is "megamemory" (超级记忆) a realistic goal for normal people? And if you could have a perfect memory, would you really want it? Until recently, no one could address those issues with much authority, but our knowledge of memory is exploding. New techniques are revealing how different parts of the brain interact to preserve meaningful experiences. Biologists are trying to understand the underlying (潜在的) chemical processes and neuroscientists (神经系统科学家) are discovering how age, stress and other factors can disrupt them. No one is close to finding the secret to perfect recall, but as you''ll see, that may be just as well.
单选题 What does Stan Field take at breakfast?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第一段最后一句说,他每天早晨早餐时要吞下一碟子药片,可见他既吃食物也吃药。
单选题 What is the meaning of "working round the clock" ?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题主要考对“round the clock”这一词组的理解。round/around the clock= 1.for the entire 24-hour day without pause;2.without stopping for rest。此处显然是后一个意思,也就是day and night(夜以继日地)的意思。
单选题 Many baby-boomers living in the Information Age feel that______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】第三段第一句说到,“对千百万美国人尤其是生育高峰期出生的人来说,信息时代的要求与感觉自己体力下降有矛盾”,故应选D)项。
单选题 Which of the following does NOT indicate peoples enhanced awareness of the importance of memory?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】在四个选项中,第三段第六句提到了B)选项(the demand for seminars)和D)选项(the demand for books),而第三段最后一句也间接提到了C)选项(“补品制造商竭力把除木屑以外的一切东西都当成补脑品来卖”),只有选项A)短文中没有提到。
单选题 According to the writer, the secret to perfect memory______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】短文最后一句说到“No one is close to finding the secret to perfect recall”(还没有人接近于找到…),close to就是“接近”,实际的意思也就是“is not in sight yet”(还看不到…),故A)。