Question

    You can relax if remembering everything isn't your strong suit. Recent research makes the case that being forgetful can be a strength—in fact, selective memory can even be a sign of stronger intelligence.

Traditional research on memory has focused on the advantages of remembering everything. But looking through years of recent memory data, researchers found that the neurobiology of forgetting can be just as important to our decision-making as what our minds choose to remember.

Making intelligent decisions doesn't mean you need to have all the information at hand.    It just means  you need to hold onto the most valuable information. And that means clearing up space in your    memory palace for the most up-to-date information on clients and situations. Our brains do this by    creating new neurons(神经元）in our  hippocampus, which have the power to overwrite(重写)existing memories that are influencing our decision-making.

If you want to increase the number of new neurons in our brain ’ s learning region，try exercising. Some aerobic exercise like jogging, power walking and swimming has been found to increase the number of neurons making important connections in our brains.

When we forget the names of certain clients or details about old jobs，the brain is making a choice that these details don't matter. Although too much forgetfulness can be a cause for concern，the occasional lost detail can be a sign of a perfectly healthy memory system. The researchers found that our brains facilitate decision-making by stopping us from focusing too much on unimportant past details. Instead，the brain helps us remember the most important part of a conversation.

We can get blamed for being absent-minded when we forget past events in perfect detail. These findings show us that total recall(记忆）can be overvalued. Our brains are working smarter when they aim to remember the right stories, not every story.

1.How can we help our brains produce more neurons?    '

A. By having deep sleep frequently.

B. By practicing swimming regularly.

C. By doing mental labor repeatedly.

D. By learning new skills constantly.

2.Which of the following can best replace “facilitate” underlined in paragraph 5?

A. postpone B. repeat

C. promote D. abuse

3.What conclusion can be drawn from the text?

A. Memory loss is well worth noticing.

B. Decisions can’t be made without memories.

C. We shouldn't stress total recall too much.

D. Forgetting is even more important than remembering.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A. Caution：do remember to forget

B. Why and how people choose to forget

C. Want to become smarter? Learn to forget

D. Being forgetful might mean you are    smarter

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲了大脑通过权衡比较后，有选择的遗忘一些旧的或无关紧要的信息，选择性遗忘会使我们的大脑更聪明。

1.细节理解题。答案定位在第四段Some aerobic exercise like jogging, power walking and swimming has been found to increase the number of neurons making important connections in our brains.（一些有氧运动，如慢跑、高强度步行和游泳，已经被发现可以增加大脑中重要连接神经元的数量。）故选B。

2.词义猜测题。下文Instead，the brain helps us remember the most important part of a conversation.意思是相反,大脑帮助我们记住最重要的部分对话。由此可知，上文The researchers found that our brains facilitate decision-making by stopping us from focusing too much on unimportant past details.意思是研究人员发现，我们的大脑阻止我们过多地关注过去不重要的细节，从而促进我们做出决策。“facilitate”意思是促进，A. postpone延迟；B. repeat重复；C. promote促进；D. abuse滥用，故选C。

3.推理判断题。答案定位在最后一段These findings show us that total recall(记忆）can be overvalued. Our brains are working smarter when they aim to remember the right stories, not every story.（这些发现告诉我们，完全回忆可能被高估了。当我们的大脑想要记住正确的事情，而不是每一件事情时，它们就会更聪明地工作。）由此推断出我们不应该过分强调完全回忆，故选C。

4.主旨大意题。最后一段Our brains are working smarter when they aim to remember the right stories, not every story.（当我们的大脑想要记住正确的事情，而不是每一件事情时，它们就会更聪明地工作。）是全文的主题句，结合全文内容，可知这篇文章主要讲了健忘可能意味着你更聪明，故选D。