Question

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

          Most people can remember a phone number for up to trirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses, however, the numbers are eerased from the memory. How did the information get there in the first place? Information that makes its way to the short term memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The brain has a filter which only allows atimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as the working memory.

          There is much debate about the capacity an duration of the short term memory. The most accepted theory comes from George A.Miller, a cognitive psychologist who suggested that humans can remember approximately seven chunks of information. A chunk is defined as a meaningful unit of information, such as a word or nam rather than just a letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity of the short term memory by chunking or classifying similar information together. By organizing information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the chances of a memory being passed on to long term storage.

          When making a conscious effort to memorize something, such as information for an exam, many people engage in “rote rehearsal”. By repeating something over and over again, one is able to keep a memory alive. Unfortunately, this type of memory maintenance only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a person stops rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and paper are not handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the number instantly. Therefore, rote rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass information from the short term to long term memory. A better way is to practice “elaborate rehearsal”. This involves assigning semantic meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other pre-existing long term memories.

          Encoding information semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving information can be done by rocognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories that are stored in the long term memory and used often; however, if a memory seems to be forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting. The more cues a person is given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved. This is why multiple choise tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of memorization.

Why does the author mentions a dog’s bark?

A. To give an example of a type of memory

B. To provide a type of interruption

C. To prove that dogs have better memories than humans

D. To comare another sound that is loud like a doorbell

Answer 1

Đáp án B.

Keywords: mention a dog’s bark.

Clue: “If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to make a phone call, he will likely forget the number instantly.”: Nêu cái chuông cửa hay tiếng chó sủa xuất hiện trước khi một người sắp đi gọi điện thoại thì anh ta sẽ gần như quên số điện thoại ngay lập tức.

Qua dẫn chứng trên ta thấy rằng tác giả đề cập đến tiếng chó sủa chính là cung cấp một loại cản trở, gây ngắt quãng cho trí nhớ. → Đáp án đúng là B. To provide a type of interruption.

Các đáp án còn lại là sai:

          A. To give an example of a type of memory: Để đưa ra một ví dụ về một loại bộ nhớ.

          C. To prove that dogs have better memories than humans: Để chứng minh rằng con chó có trí nhớ tốt hơn con người.

          D. To compare another sound that is loud like a doorbell: Để so sánh một âm thanh khác to như tiếng chuông cửa.