单选题 It was the day I froze a household pet that I began to worry about my memory. Technically, it was not a real household pet I froze but a bag of tropical fish, which on the scale of beloved members of any home, rank somewhere below the family cat and above an attractive set of coaster. And technically, I didn't completely freeze my fish. Rather, I absent-mindedly tossed them into the refrigerator with a bag of other things I had bought and fortunately found them just before my highly sensitive tropical fish could turn into lightly breaded dinner fish.
Nonetheless, that near-death experience — for the fish, if not for me — woke me up to the fact that my memory might not be all it once was.
In the hope of improving my memory, I decided I would first try the memory books. However, much of what I read was, at first blush, utterly forgettable.
If I was truly going to juice up my recall, however, book reading wouldn't cut it. What I needed was some kind of memory pill. The big bat in the memory-pill lineup is ginkgo biloba, the dried leaf of the maidenhair tree, thought to improve circulation and in theory, memory. I decided to try it. The package warned that in addition to any other problems, ginkgo can cause "mild stomach discomfort." After just one pill, I discovered that the package was — how best to put this? — not kidding. It's hard to say if my memory improved in the little time I was on ginkgo, but I can say I had no trouble at all remembering to eat a tasteless diet for several days afterward.
For me, the answer to memory problems was not in the medicine chest, but that didn't mean I was hopeless case. My recall had improved after two weeks in the memory-improvement battle. I may not be able to read a magazine and instantly memorize it, but I now remember to buy it when I get to the store. I may not be able to memorize hundreds of names and faces, but at least I won't meet an Alex at a party and find myself calling him Man or Alvin or Evelyn.

单选题 The writer became aware of her memory problem when she realized that she had ______.
A. forgotten to feed her fish B. forgotten to freeze her fish
C. misplaced a bag of dinner fish D. misplaced a bag of tropical fish

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节题。本题提问作者在何时意识到自己的记忆问题。文章开始部分提到“It was the day I froze a household pet that I began to worry about my memory”，接着作者说明她所说的household pet是a bag of tropical fish，也就是说，作者是在发现自己将热带鱼放错地方时，意识到自己的记忆问题的，因此[D]选项正确。语言点：[D]选项中misplace表示“放错地方”。

单选题 According to the writer, the memory books she read ______.
A. didn't help at all B. caused new problems
C. wouldn't work at once D. made her problem worse

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理题。文章第三段提到，作者试着读提高记忆力方面的书，由第三段的最后一句“However, much of what I read was, at first blush, utterly forgettable.”可知提高记忆力方面的书的效果，乍一看还行，但读过的许多内容还是全都忘了，由此可推断，这些书不是立刻见效的，故应选择[C]。语言点：at first blush“一瞥，一看”。

单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that ginkgo ______.
A. can improve memory B. works after the first pill
C. can produce several side effects D. causes mild stomach discomfort

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理题。本题对治疗失记的药物ginkgo提问。文章第四段描述ginkgo药物时，提到包装上提出警告，除了其他反应外，ginkgo可以引起轻微的胃部不适(The package warned that in addition to any other problems, ginkgo can cause "mild stomach discomfort.")，也就是说，我们从包装上的警告可推理出，gingko这种药物可引起几种副作用。因此，[C]选项正确。[B]选项和[D]选项迷惑性都很强，作者在描述试服了一片gingko之后的疗效时说“It's hard to say if my memory improved in the little time I was on ginkgo(很难说在服用ginkgo的那小段时间里我的记忆力是否得到提高)”，故[B]选项应予以排除；作者在试服了一片gingko之后的几天一直吃清淡的食物，说明这种药物引起了较严重的胃部不适，[D]选项与文章内容相反，也可以排除。

单选题 The writer ate a tasteless diet for several days ______.
A. as a result of her failing taste B. as was advised by her doctor
C. as a result of taking the drug D. as was warned on the package

单选题 The writer's tone can best be described as one of ______.
A. relief B. humor
C. worry D. solemnity

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】推理题。本题提问作者的语气。由作者的用词可以看出作者的幽默手法，如第一段“Technically, it was not a real household pet I froze but a bag of tropical fish”. “...tropical fish could turn into lightly breaded dinner fish”，第四段描述ginkgo疗效时“I discovered that the package was—how best to put this? —not kidding.”，最后一段描述自己记忆力有所提高时 “I may not be able to memorize hundreds of names and faces, but at least I won't meet an Alex at a party and find myself calling him Alan or Alvin or Evelyn．”等这些句子更加体现了作者诙谐的写作风格。