We made plans for a visit but _____ difficulties with the car prevented it.

Even facts “forgotten” by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by a good night’s sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words．Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could recall much more.

Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain could “rescue” lost memories during the night.

When the brain is first asked to remember something that memory is laid down in an “unstable” state, meaning that it is possible that it could be lost．At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into a “stable”, more permanent state．However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a “stable” memory to be made “unstable” again．This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in the face of new experiences.

The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to understand．Initially, the written version of the word  from the audio version only．Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off as the day ended.

However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night’s sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had “ forgotten” the previous evening.

Dr Daniel, one of the study authors, said: “Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interference or decay．Sleep also appears to “recover” or restore memories.” He said: “If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost.”

Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal, said: “Memory research is undergoing a transformation---no longer is memory thought to be a hard-writing of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and restorage.”

Sleep helps some memories “mature” and also prunes out unimportant memories.

1.What does the first paragraph implies?

2.The words the 12 volunteers played in the experiment were not ____

3.According to the passage, memory_____

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

It was March 11, 2011 ____ magnitude-9．0 earthquake struck Japan and subsequent tsunami triggered the large-scale crisis．

Whitney Houston, who died on February 11, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California, is being remembered across the globe as a trailblazer（开拓者）. Among all of Houston’s outstanding achievements, including a total of more than 400 career a wards , her most significant achievement was her record-setting string of seven Number One singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart . It broke the previous record of six set by The Bee Gees and The Beatles. The string began on October 26 , 1985 with her Grammy-winning hit “Saving All My Love For You,” and ended on April 23, 1988 with her R＆B ballad “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” It was the fourth single from her album“Whitney”to go to Number One, also a record for a female artist. She sold more than 170 million albums worldwide and co-produced and recorded songs for one of the best-selling soundtracks（声带）of all time, The Bodyguard.
Whitney Houston was born the daughter of famed gospel（福音）singer Cissy Houston in Newak , New Jersey. Dionne Warwick was her cousin and Aretha Franklin her godmother. She began as a gospel singer and pianist in her mother’s church and sometimes performed alongside her in nightclubs. At age 15 , Whitney sang backup on Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman,” a tune she later performed on The Bodyguard soundtrack.
Whitney signed with Arista in 1983 and released her self-titied debut album two years later. The New York Times called her first effort, “an impressive, musically conservative showcase（展示）for an exceptional vocal talent（声乐天才）.” She continued to achieve similar praise for subsequent albums, while her fast-growing fan base put her into the world-class entertainer. In 1998, she released her most musically-diverse album to date, “My Love Is Your Love.” The title track became her third best-selling single ever.
The past 10 years were filled with highs and lows. While Whitney’s contract at Arista Records was renewed for ＄100 million, album sales began to slide. Her 14-year marriage to singer Bobby Brown ended in 2007 , she canceled concerts and interviews , and accusation arose of drug abuse. Her final album “I Look To you,” sold more than two million copies and reached the Number One spot in 2009.
【小题1】What’s Whitney Houston’s most outstanding achievements?

Every decision is made within a decision environment, which is defined as the collection of information, alternatives, values. Many decision makers have a(n)  50 to seek more information than required to make a good decision. When too much information is sought and obtained, one or more of several   51 can arise.
﹡ A   52  in the decision occurs because of the time required to obtain and process the extra information.
﹡  53  overload will occur. In this state, so much information is available that decision-making ability actually   54  because the information in its entirety can no longer be managed or assessed  55 . A major problem caused by information overload is  56 . When too much information is taken into memory, especially in a short period of time, some of the information (often that received early on) will be pushed out.
﹡Selective use of the information will occur.  57   , the decision maker will choose from among all the information available only those facts which support a preconceived(预先构想的) solution or position.
﹡Mental fatigue occurs, which  58  slower work or poor quality work.
﹡  59   fatigue occurs, where the decision maker tires of making decisions. Often the result is fast, careless decisions or no decisions are made at all.
The quantity of information that can be processed by the human mind is limited. Unless information is  60 selected, processing will be biased toward the first part of the information received. After that, the mind tires and begins to  61 subsequent information or forget earlier information.
A common   62 about decision making is that decisions are made in isolation from each other: you gather information, explore alternatives, and  63 , without regard to anything that has gone before. The fact is, decisions are made in a context of other decisions.
We might say, then every decision  64  from previous decisions: enables many future decisions, and assists other future decisions.