Itisdifficulttoimaginewhatlifewouldbelikewithoutmemory.Themeaningsofthousandsofeverydayperceptions(感知物)thebasesforthedecisionswemakeandtherootsofourhabitsandskillsaretobefoundinourpastexperienceswhicharebroughtintothepresentbymemory.

Memorycanbedefinedasthecapacitytokeepinformationavailable(有效的)forlateruse.Itincludesnotonly“remembering”thingslikearithmeticorhistoricalfactsbutalsoinvolvesanychangeinthewayananimaltypicallybehaves.Memoryisinvolvedwhenaratgivesupeatinggrainbecausehehassensedsomethingsuspiciousinthegrainpile.Memoryisalsoinvolvedwhenasix-year-oldchildlearnstoswingabaseballbat.

Memoryexistsnotonlyinhumansandanimalsbutalsoinsomephysicalobjectsandmachines.Computersforexamplecontaindevicesforstoringdata(数据)forlateruse.Itisinterestingtocomparethememory-storagecapacityofacomputerwiththatofahumanbeing.Theinstantaccessmemoryofalargecomputermayholdupto100000“words”readyforinstantuse.AnaverageU.S.teenagerprobablyrecognizesthemeaningofabout100000wordsofEnglish.Howeverthisisbutafraction(片段)ofthetotalamountofinformationwhichtheteenagerhasstored.Considerforexamplethenumberoffacesandplacesthattheteenagercanrecognizeonsight.

Theuseofwordsisthebasisoftheadvancedproblem-solvingintelligenceofhumanbeings.Alargepartofaperson’smemoryisintermsofwordsandcombinationsofwords.

1.Accordingtothepassagememoryisconsideredtobe________.

A.thebasisfordecisionmakingandproblemsolving

B.anabilitytostoreexperiencesforfutureuse

C.anintelligence(智慧)typicallypossessedbyhumanbeings

D.thedatamainlyconsistingofwordsandcombinationsofwords

2.Thecomparisonmadebetweenthememorycapacityofalargecomputerandthatofahumanbeing

showsthat________.

A.thecomputer’smemoryhasalittlebiggercapacitythanateenager’s

B.thecomputer’smemorycapacityismuchbetterthananadulthumanbeing’s

C.thecomputer’smemorycapacityismuchsmallereventhanateenager’s

D.thememorycapacityofateenager’sshouldbefullmadeuse