Passage 5
That experiences influence subsequent behaviour is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering. Learning could not occur without the function popularly named memory.Constant practice has such as effect on memory as to lead to skillful performance on the piano, to recitation of a poem, and even to reading and understanding these words. So-called intelligent behaviour demands memory , remembering being a primary requirement for reasoning. The ability to solve any problem or even to recognize that a problem exists depends on memory. Typically, the decision to cross a street is based on remembering many earlier experiences .
Practice (or review) tends to build and maintain memory for a task or for any learned material. Over a period of no practice what has been learned tends to be forgotten; and the adaptive consquences may not seem obvious. Yet, dramatic instances of sudden forgetting can seem to be adaptive. In this sense, the ability to forget can be intffpreted to have survived through a process of natural selection in animals.Inded, when one's memory of an emotionally painful experience lead to serious anxiety, forgetting may produoe relief. Nevertheless, an evolutionary interpretation might make it difficult to understand how the commonly gradual process of forgetting survived natural selection.
In thinking about the evolution of memory together with all its possible aspects,it is helpful to consider what would happen if memories failed to fade. Forgetting clearly aids orientation in time, since old memories weaken and the new tend to stand out,providing clues for inferring duration. Without fotgetting, adaptive ability would suffer, for example ,learned behaviour that might have been correct a decade ago may no longer be. Cases are recorded of people who (by or-dinary standards) forgot so little that their everyday activities were full of confusion. This forgetting seems to serve that survival of the individual and the species.
Another line of thought assumes a memory storage system of limited capacity that provides adaptive flexibility specifically through forgetting. In this view, continual adjustments are made between learning or memory storage ( input) and forgetting (output) . Indeed, there is evidence that the rate at which individuals forget is directly related to how much they have learned. Such data offers gross support of contemporary models of memory that assume an input-output balance.
67. From the evolutionary point of view,__.
(A) forgetting for lack of practice tends to be obviously inadaptive .
(B) if a person gets very forgetful all of a sudden he must be very adaptive
(C) the gradual process of forgetting is an indication of an individual' s adaptability
(D) sudden forgetting may bring about adaptive consequences
68. According to the passage, if a person never forgot ,__.
(A) he would survive best (B) he would have a lot of trouble
(C) his ability to learn would be enhanced (D) the evolution of memory would stop
69. From the last paragraph we know that__.
(A) forgetfulness is a response to learning
(B) the memory storage system is an exactly balanced input-output systenl
(C) memory is a compensation for forgetting
(D) the capacity of a memory storage system is limited because forgetting occurs
70. In this article, the author tries to interpret the function of__.
(A) remembering (B) forgetting (C) adapting (D) experiencing
PartⅣ English-Chinese Translation
The standardized educational or psychological test that are widely used to aid in selecting,classifying, assigning, or promoting students, employees, and military personnel have been the target of recent attacks in books, magazines, the daily press, and even in congress. 71 )The target is wrong, for in attacking the tests, critics divert attention form the fault that lies with ill-informed or incompetent users. The tests themselves are merely tools , with characteristics that can be measured with reasonable precision under specified conditions. Whether the results will be valuable , meaningless, or even misleading depends partly upon the tool itself but largely upon the user .
All informed predictions of future performance are based upon some knowledge of relevant past performance: school grades, research productivity, sales records, or whatever is appropriate. 72 )How well the predictions will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount , reliability , and appropriateness of the information used and on the skill and wisdom with which it is interpreted. Anyone who keeps careful score knows that the information available is always incomplete and that the predictions are always subject to error. Standardized tests should be considered in this context. They provide a quick, objective method of getting some kinds of information about what a person learned , the sktlls he has developed, or the kind of person he is. The information so obtained has, qualitatively, the same advantages and shortcomings as other kinds of information. 73)Whether to use tests. other kinds of information, or both in a particular situation depends, therefore, upon the evidence from experience concerning comparative validity and upon such factors as cost and availability.
74)In general,the tests work most effectivelv when the qualities to be measured can be most precisely defined and least effectively when what is to be messured or predicted cannot be well defined. Properly used, they provide a rapid means of getting comparable information about many people Sometimes they identify students whose high potential has not been previously recognized, but there are many things they do not do. 75)For example, they do not compensate for gross social inequality, and thus do not tell how able an underprivileged youngster might have been had he grown up under more favorable circumstances.
PartⅤ Wrlting (15 points)
DIRECTIONS :
A. Title: THE "PROJECT HOPE"
B. Time limit : 40 minutes
C. Word limit : 120 - 150 words (not including the given opening sentence)
D. Your composition should be based on the OUTLINE below and should start with the given opening sentence : "Education plays a very important role in the modernization of our country " .
E. Your composition must be written neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.
OUTLEVE:
1. Present sluation
2. Necessity of the project
3. My suggestion
责任编辑:小草