It is difficult to imagine what life will be like without memory．The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions(感觉、知觉), the bases for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory．

Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use．It includes not only “remembering” things like arithmetic or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves．Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed something suspicious in the grain pile．Memory is also involved when a six-year-old child learns to swing a baseball bat．

Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines．Computers, for example, contain devices from storing data for later use．It is interesting to compare the memory-storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being．The instant-access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 “words”—ready for instant use．An average U．S．teenager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English．However, this is but a fraction(部分、片断) of the total amount of information which the teenager has stored．Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the teenager can recognize on sight．

The use of words is the advanced problem-solving intelligence of human beings．A large part of a person’s memory is in terms of words and combinations of words．

1．According to the passage, memory is considered to be ________．

A．the basis for decision making and problem solving

B．an ability to store experiences of future use

C．an intelligence typically possessed by human beings

D．the data mainly consisting of words and combinations of words

2．The comparison made between the memory capacity of a large computer and that of a human being shows that ________．

A．the computer’s memory has a little bigger capacity than a teenager’s

B．the computer’s memory capacity is much smaller than an adult human being’s

C．the computer’s memory’s capacity is much smaller even than a teenager’s

D．both A and B

3．The whole passage implies that _______．

A．only human beings have problem-solving intelligence

B．a person’s memory is different from a computer’s in every aspect

C．animals are able to solve only very simple problems

D．animals solve problems by instincts rather than intelligence

4．The phrase “in terms of” in the last sentence can best be replaced by ________

　 A．in connection with　　　　　　 　　 B．expressed by

C．consisting　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 D．by means of

5．The topic of the passage is __________．

A．What would life be like without memory?

B．Memory is of vital importance to life．

C．How is a person’s memory different from an animal’s or a computer’s?

D．What is contained in memory?

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those of the first kind are born idlers (游手好闲者), taking interest in nothing. It seems what they live for is to pass time idly. They simply don’t know why they have to do so, nor will they bother to ask. The other kind are those who take things seriously and never wish to idle away their life. But only a part of the second group are eager enough to make success. All the others fail to make enough effort to make their dreams come true. 
Why do things so happen to them? What are the reasons?
I later find out that some people are determined. They are “igniters” that catch fire of their own, giving light and heat. But that’s not the case with others. They may be fuels but not igniters. As pieces of wood or coal, they need a match or a lighter to make them burn so that their energy can be released to give off light and heat.
The majority of people need some igniter to light them. Thus igniter becomes a must for those people to succeed. Unless a suitable igniter comes their way, they will always remain idle like cold unused firewood or coal.
Fortunately, such an igniter is not difficult to meet. One may find it in an instructive book, a film story, a few words of a close friend, some advice of a good teacher, a pleasant journey, or an unexpected love.
Any of these, coming at the right time, can serve as an igniter to start one’s enthusiasm for learning or for a better career, to turn him from a passive state of waiting to an active state of pursuing, to lend him strength to go ahead bravely. In that case, what he has prepared for years will be quickly turned into fruitful reality.
Such an igniter may turn up of itself, but most likely we have to find it ourselves. Never let a chance slide away, for it is the key to your success.
【小题1】 According to the text, “________” are the persons that can light many people so that their energy can be released to give off light and heat.

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those of the first kind are born idlers (游手好闲者), taking interest in nothing. It seems what they live for is to pass time idly. They simply don’t know why they have to do so, nor will they bother to ask. The other kind are those who take things seriously and never wish to idle away their life. But only a part of the second group are eager enough to make success. All the others fail to make enough effort to make their dreams come true. 

Why do things so happen to them? What are the reasons?

I later find out that some people are determined. They are “igniters” that catch fire of their own, giving light and heat. But that’s not the case with others. They may be fuels but not igniters. As pieces of wood or coal, they need a match or a lighter to make them burn so that their energy can be released to give off light and heat.

The majority of people need some igniter to light them. Thus igniter becomes a must for those people to succeed. Unless a suitable igniter comes their way, they will always remain idle like cold unused firewood or coal.

Fortunately, such an igniter is not difficult to meet. One may find it in an instructive book, a film story, a few words of a close friend, some advice of a good teacher, a pleasant journey, or an unexpected love.

Any of these, coming at the right time, can serve as an igniter to start one’s enthusiasm for learning or for a better career, to turn him from a passive state of waiting to an active state of pursuing, to lend him strength to go ahead bravely. In that case, what he has prepared for years will be quickly turned into fruitful reality.

Such an igniter may turn up of itself, but most likely we have to find it ourselves. Never let a chance slide away, for it is the key to your success.

1. According to the text, “________” are the persons that can light many people so that their energy can be released to give off light and heat.

2. According to the writer, what do most people definitely need to succeed? 

3. The writer writes the article to _________.