Question

    There are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term. Information in long-term memory can be remembered at a later time when it is needed. The information may be kept for days or weeks. However, information in short-term memory is kept for only a few seconds, usually by repeating the information over and over. The following experiment shows how short-term memory has been studied.

Henning studied how students who are learning English as a second language remember vocabulary. The subjects in his experiment were 75 college students. They represented all levels of ability in English: beginning, intermediate (中等), and native speaking students.

To begin, the subjects listened to a recording of a native speaker reading a paragraph in English. Following the recording, the subjects took a 15-question test to see which words they remembered. Each question had four choices. The subjects had to circle the word they had heard in the recording, some of the questions had four choices that sound alike. For example, weather, whether, wither, and wetter are four words that sound alike. Some of the questions had four choices that have the same meaning. Method, way, manner, and system would be four words with the same meaning. Finally the subjects took a language proficiency test.

Henning found that students with a lower proficiency in English made more of their mistakes on words that sound alike; students with a higher proficiency made more of their mistakes on words that have the same meaning. Henning's results suggest that beginning students hold the sound of words in their short-term memory, and advanced students hold the meaning of words in their short-term memory.

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Henning gave a separate test on vocabulary to his students.

B.Long-term memory can be achieved only by training.

C.It is easier to test short-term memory than long-term memory.

D.Information in short-term memory is different from that in long-term memory.

2.The word "subject" in the passage means _________.

A.the theme of listening material B.the student experimented on

C.a branch of knowledge studied D.a native speaker

3.From Henning's result we can see that ________.

A.advanced students always remember words by their meaning

B.beginners have difficulty distinguishing the pronunciation of words

C.it is difficult to remember words that sound alike

D.it is difficult to remember words that have the same meaning

4.The passage centers on ________.

A.an experiment on students B.two kinds of memory

C.short-term memory D.memory

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.C

【解析】

本文属于说明文阅读。作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了人类的短时间记忆以及Henning的不同程度英语学习者的记忆实验，结果发现，英语初学者会短期记忆单词的发音，而程度高的学生则是把单词的意义短期记忆。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中However, information in short-term memory is kept for only a few seconds, usually by repeating the information over and over.可知然而，短期记忆中的信息只保留几秒钟，通常是通过一遍又一遍地重复这些信息。由此可知，D选项“短期记忆中的信息与长期记忆中的信息不同”正确。故选D。

2.词义猜测题。根据第二段中The subjects in his experiment were 75 college students.可知他实验的对象为75名大学生，可推测出subject是指参与实验的学生，故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段中Henning found that students with a lower proficiency in English made more of their mistakes on words that sound alike; students with a higher proficiency made more of their mistakes on words that have the same meaning.可知Henning发现，英语熟练程度较低的学生在发音相似的单词上犯的错误更多;熟练程度高的学生在相同意思的单词上犯的错误更多。由此可知，从Henning的研究结果我们可以看出，初学者在区分单词的发音方面有困难。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通读全文，可知文章主要描述了一个记忆测试的实验，根据最终的结论初学者单词的声音保持短期记忆，而程度高的学生能把单词的意义短时记忆。可知文章的中心是短期记忆。故选C。