The ability to memorize things seems to be a vanishing （消失的） technique．So what can we do to bring out brain cells back into action? A newly published book on memory, Moomvalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by American journalist Joshua Foer, makes a telling point, one that is an analysis of the importance of memorising events and stories in human history; the decline of its role in modem life; and the techniques that we need to adopt to restore the art of remembering．

As For points out, we no longer need to remember telephone numbers．Our mobile phones do that for us．We don't recall addresses either．We send emails from computers that store electronic addresses．Nor do we bother to remember multiplication tables （乘法表） ．Pocket calculators do the job of multiplying quite nicely．Museums, photographs, the digital media and books also act as storehouses for memories that once we had to keep in mind．

As a result, we no longer remember long poems or folk stories by heart, feats （技艺） of memory that were once the cornerstones of most people's lives．Indeed, society has changed so much that we no longer know what techniques we should employ to remember such lengthy works．We are, quite simply, forgetting how to remember．

And let's face it, there is nothing sadder than someone who has lost their mobile phone and who finds they cannot even phone home or call their parents or partners because they cannot remember a single telephone number．That is a sad example of loss of personal independence．So, yes, there is a need for us to he able to remember certain things in life．

Therefore, Foer's book outlines the methods that need to be mastered in order to promote our memories and regain the ability to recall long strings of names, numbers or faces．In the process, he adds, we will become more aware of the world about us．

The trick, Foer says, is to adopt a process known as " elaborative encoding", which involves transforming information, such as a shopping list, into a series of "absorbing visual images"．If you want to remember a list of household objects—potatoes, cottage cheese, sugar and other items, then visualise them in an unforgettable manner, he says．Start by creating an image of a large jar of potatoes standing in the garden．Next to it, imagine a giant tub of cottage cheese—the size of an outdoor pool—and then picture Lady Gaga swimming in it．And so on．Each image should be as fantastic and memorable as possible．

Using methods like this, it becomes possible to achieve great feats of memory quite easily, Foer says．It certainly seems to have worked for him: he won the annual US Memory Championships after learning how to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes; the first and last names of 156 strangers in 15 minutes; and a deck of cards in under two minutes．"What I had really trained my brain to do, as much as to memorise, was to be more mindful and to pay attention to the world around," he says．

These techniques employed by Foer to master his memory were developed by Ed Cooke—a British writer and a world memory championship grandmaster．He acted as Foer's trainer during preparations for the book and helped him achieve his championship performances．" Memory techniques do just one thing: they make information more meaningful to the mind, making the things we try to learn unforgettably bright and amusing," said Cooke．

1.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

2.According to Joshua Foer, people no longer memorize information today because________．

3.One method of memorizing things mentioned in the passage is to ________．

4.The underlined word "visualise" in the last paragraph most probably means "_______"．

5.This passage can be sorted as ________．

The ability to memorize things seems to be a vanishing （消失的） technique．So what can we do to bring out brain cells back into action? A newly published book on memory, Moomvalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by American journalist Joshua Foer, makes a telling point, one that is an analysis of the importance of memorising events and stories in human history; the decline of its role in modem life; and the techniques that we need to adopt to restore the art of remembering．

As Foer points out, we no longer need to remember telephone numbers．Our mobile phones do that for us．We don't recall addresses either．We send emails from computers that store electronic addresses．Nor do we bother to remember multiplication tables （乘法表） ．Pocket calculators do the job of multiplying quite nicely．Museums, photographs, the digital media and books also act as storehouses for memories that once we had to keep in mind．

As a result, we no longer remember long poems or folk stories by heart, feats （技艺） of memory that were once the cornerstones of most people's lives．Indeed, society has changed so much that we no longer know what techniques we should employ to remember such lengthy works．We are, quite simply, forgetting how to remember．

And let's face it, there is nothing sadder than someone who has lost their mobile phone and who finds they cannot even phone home or call their parents or partners because they cannot remember a single telephone number．That is a sad example of loss of personal independence．So, yes, there is a need for us to he able to remember certain things in life．

Therefore, Foer's book outlines the methods that need to be mastered in order to promote our memories and regain the ability to recall long strings of names, numbers or faces．In the process, he adds, we will become more aware of the world about us．

The trick, Foer says, is to adopt a process known as " elaborative encoding", which involves transforming information, such as a shopping list, into a series of "absorbing visual images"．If you want to remember a list of household objects—potatoes, cottage cheese, sugar and other items, then visualise them in an unforgettable manner, he says．Start by creating an image of a large jar of potatoes standing in the garden．Next to it, imagine a giant tub of cottage cheese—the size of an outdoor pool—and then picture Lady Gaga swimming in it．And so on．Each image should be as fantastic and memorable as possible．

Using methods like this, it becomes possible to achieve great feats of memory quite easily, Foer says．It certainly seems to have worked for him: he won the annual US Memory Championships after learning how to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes; the first and last names of 156 strangers in 15 minutes; and a deck of cards in under two minutes．"What I had really trained my brain to do, as much as to memorise, was to be more mindful and to pay attention to the world around," he says．

These techniques employed by Foer to master his memory were developed by Ed Cooke—a British writer and a world memory championship grandmaster．He acted as Foer's trainer during preparations for the book and helped him achieve his championship performances．" Memory techniques do just one thing: they make information more meaningful to the mind, making the things we try to learn unforgettably bright and amusing," said Cooke．

51．Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

       A．People become more independent with modern equipment．

       B．The memory's role in life is declining in modem society．

       C．Memory techniques can make information less meaningful．

       D．Ed Cooke is the first one who benefited from Foer's techniques．

52．According to Joshua Foer, people no longer memorize information today because________．

       A．museums can do everything for them．

       B．they no longer have the ability to memorize things．

       C．they have things that can act as storehouses for memories．

       D．it is not necessary to memorize anything in modem life．

53．One method of memorizing things mentioned in the passage is to ________．

       A．link things to famous pop stars

       B．find the connection between different things

       C．form vivid, unforgettable images of certain things

       D．use advanced digital imaging technology to help

54．The underlined word "visualise" in the last paragraph most probably means "_______"．

       A．imagine           B．undertake            C.remark           D．indicate

55．This passage can be sorted as ________．

       A．a news report                               B．an advertisement         

       C．a scientific discovery                        D．a book review

In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue   1 . One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky what the sky looked like. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my horror , Perky flew off. The enormous, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue  2   and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all. 
I told Kathy about Perky's disappearance and I was anxious that she would blame me. But , unexpectedly, Kathy managed to   3  me. With fake optimism, she even tried to convince me that Perky would find a new    4   . But I was far too clever to   5   that such a thing was possible.
Decades later, I watched my own    6  growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the   7 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the best of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称） to  8  the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. Then Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and ___9___that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.
"The best thing about Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the  10   we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just  11   down and landed on my finger."
When I was finally able to  12 , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all  13 . It seems our two families had been  14  long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were  15 ! Perky lived!"

British potato farmers were taking to the streets to call for the expression "couch potato" to be taken away from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms the vegetable's image.
The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to replace the expression with the term "couch slouch", with protests planned outside parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press. Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some 4,000 growers and processors, said the group had complained in writing to the OED but had yet to receive a response.
"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad to you," she said Monday.
"The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the Oxford English Dictionary's fault but we want to use another term than couch potato because potatoes are naturally healthy."
The OED says "couch potato" originated as American slang, meaning "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes."
John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the dictionary first included the term “couch potato” in 1993 and said "dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses."
Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary, which includes some 650,000 words contained in 20 volumes. But little-used words can be removed from the smaller dictionaries to make way for newer ones.
“If society stops using words, then they are taken out of the smaller dictionaries”, he added. “The first known recorded use of the expression ‘couch potato’ was in a 1979 Log Angeles Times article,” Simpson said.
Nigel Evans, a member of parliament for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, has made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the British potato.
1．British potato farmers were taking to the streets _____.
A．to advertise their production
B．to call for a higher price for t heir potatoes
C．to remove the expression “couch potato” from the dictionary
D．to let people know how important the potato is in people’s lives
2．The farmers think that_________.
A．potatoes have had a bad imagine       
B．potatoes are good for people by nature
C．potatoes sometimes do harm to people
D．it's the dictionary's fault to use the expression "couch potato"
3．John Simpson thinks that _________.
A．the expression can be taken out of every kind of dictionary
B．dictionaries do not necessarily reflect the words the society uses
C．little used words can remain in the smaller dictionaries
D．it is impossible to take the word out of the dictionary
4．What is wrong with the expression "couch potato"?
A．It is connected with unfavorable meaning．
B．Potato should be used in the expression． 
C．It is borrowed from American English．
D．It refers to a kind of person．