Question

【题目】

Some people claim they “never forget a face”. But what does that saying mean? Is there really no limit to the number of faces a person can remember? A new study at the University of York in England has found that, on average, people can remember as many as 5,000 faces.

The study is the first time that scientists have been able to put a number to the abilities of humans to recognize faces. The research team tested people on how many faces they could remember from their personal lives and in the media. They also tested them to see how many famous faces they recognized. Rob Jenkins works in the psychology department at the University of York. He said the researchers’ study centered on the number of faces people actually know. He said the researchers were not able to discover whether there is a limit on how many faces the brain can handle.

In the study, people spent one hour writing down as many faces from their personal lives as possible. At first, they found it easy to come up with many faces. But by the end of the hour, they found it harder to think of new ones. Their change in speed let the researchers estimate when they would have run out of faces completely.

The results showed that these people knew between 1,000 and 10,000 faces. Jenkins explained that some people may have a natural ability for remembering faces. “There are differences in how much attention people pay to faces and how well they process the information,” he said. Jenkins also said it could be because of different social environments. Some people may have grown up in more populated places. Therefore, they may have had more social contact throughout their lives.

The people in the study included 25 men and women between 18 and 61 years old. Researchers think age may be an interesting area for further research. “It would be interesting to see whether there is a peak age for the number of faces we know”, Jenkins said. He said it is possible that we gather more faces throughout our lifetime. But, he added, there also may he an age at which we start to find it harder to remember all of those faces.

The study suggests our facial recognition abilities enable us to deal with the many different faces we see on the screens, as well as those we know, like family and friends. Today, facial recognition technology is used in many ways, including by law enforcement agencies to prevent crime and violence. Governments use it to keep secret areas secure and, in extreme cases, control populations. Even Facebook uses facial recognition. For example, when you “tag” or name a friend, Facebook technology may recognize the person’s face from a different picture you had shared before.

【1】The study at the University of York centers on ________.

A.how different people’s faces are

B.how important knowing faces is

C.how many faces people actually know

D.how much attention people pay to faces

【2】What can you learn from the passage?

A.It’s possible for anyone to remember 5000 faces.

B.The number of faces that people can remember is unlimited.

C.There is a change in the speed of people’s coming up with faces.

D.Facial recognition technology can improve social contact greatly.

【3】What does Rob Jenkins probably agree?

A.Remembering faces is not a natural ability for people.

B.People should gather more faces throughout their lifetime.

C.There is an age at which people can no longer know more faces.

D.People from a place with a large population may know more faces.

【4】What does the writer want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A.To present people’s abilities to recognize faces.

B.To tell us how facial recognition helps humans.

C.To explain the meaning of facial recognition technology.

D.To introduce the development of facial recognition technology.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】C

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

文章大意：文章主要讲了人可以记住多少张脸以及未来面部识别可以怎样帮助人们。

【1】细节理解题，根据文章第二段第五行. He said the researchers’ study centered on the number of faces people actually know可知，是关于人们认识多少张脸的，故答案选C。

【2】细节理解题，根据文章第三段第二三句话At first, they found it easy to come up with many faces. But by the end of the hour, they found it harder to think of new ones. “刚开始的时候，他们发现很容易想起很多面孔，但是到一个小时快结束的时候，他们发现很难想起新的面孔”，说明人们在想面孔的时候速度是不一样的。故答案选C。

【3】作者态度题，根据文章第四段最后一句话Some people may have grown up in more populated places. Therefore, they may have had more social contact throughout their lives. “有的人可能在一个人口众多的地方长大，因此，他们在一生中有更多的社会接触”，所以，有更多社会接触的人能记得更多的面孔。故答案选D。

【4】主旨大意题，根据最后一段第二句话Today, facial recognition technology is used in many ways,。本段主要讲解的是面部识别技术的发展，包括政府用来维持安全和Face book公司在网站上的使用。故答案选D。