Question

    It sounds almost too good to be true，but a new study on sleeping brains suggests that listening to languages while you sleep can actually help you to learn them．

For the study，researchers played recordings of foreign words and their translations to subjects enjoying slow-wave sleep，a stage when a person has 1ittle consciousness of their environment．To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives，researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words．

When the subjects woke up，they were presented with the made-up words again without their translations．The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger．This vague(模糊的)way of testing their understanding of the words is an approach that is supposed to tap into the unconscious memory．

Unbelievably，the subjects were able to correctly classify the words in this way at an accuracy rate that was 10 percent higher than random chance．That’s not a rate high enough to have them suddenly communicating in a foreign tongue，but it is enough to suggest that the brain is still absorbing information on some level，even during sleep．

Researchers have long known that sleep is important for memory，but previously its role in memory was thought to relate only to the preservation and organization of memories acquired during wakefulness．This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep．

In other words，our brains are listening to the world，and learning about it，even when our conscious selves are not present．

The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep．If so，it could forever change how we train our brains to learn new things．Sleep learning might become a widespread practice．

1.Why did researchers use some made-up words in the study?

A.To guarantee the accuracy of the test result．

B.To increase the difficulty of testing information．

C.To avoid the subjects cheating in the experiment．

D.To test if our brain are good at learning something new．

2.What were the subjects asked to do in the study?

A.Classify what they heard by size．

B.Make up a word to represent“large”or“small”．

C.Repeat the words they heard in the sleep．

D.Imagine the meanings of the made-up words．

3.What conclusion did researchers draw from this study?

A.Sleep is necessary for a good memory．

B.Memory formation goes on during sleep．

C.Listening during sleep is good for our brain．

D.Learning languages in sleep has better effects．

4.What will be the researchers’next plan?

A.To train people how to learn during sleep．

B.To prove the existence of unconscious memory．

C.To dig out the reason for unconscious learning．

D.To study the effect of sleep learning on conscious learning．

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了一项新的科学研究，研究发现在睡眠中人脑的记忆功能仍发挥着作用，他们会在潜意识中记住在睡眠中听到的语言。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段中的第二句To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives，researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words．可知，研究人员使用虚构的词为的是让受试者不被所接触过的外语词汇影响，也就是为了保证实验结果的准确性。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段第二句The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger．可知，这些受测试者在实验中被要求：去想象这些虚构的词汇所代表的物体是大还是小。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据倒数第三段最后一句This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep．可知，实验表明在睡眠期间记忆力仍然在形成。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据文章末段第一句The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep．可知，研究人员下一步要做的是测试潜意识中的学习是否能够提高清醒时的学习效率。故选D。