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Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on
Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
Most people can remember a phone number for up to thirty seconds. When this short amount of time elapses, however, the numbers are erased 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 stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as the working memory.
There is much debate about the capacity and 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 name 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, we are 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, you might attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before you get the opportunity to make your phone call, you will 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 recognition or recall. Humans can 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 choice tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of memorization.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2 上作答。
57. According to the passage, how do memories get transferred to the STM?
A) They revert from the long term memory.
B) They are filtered from the sensory storage area.
C) They get chunked when they enter the brain.
D) They enter via the nervous system.
58. How do theorists believe a person can remember more information in a short time?
A) By organizing it.
B) By repeating it.
C) By giving it a name.
D) By writing it down on paper.
59. Why does the author mention a dog’s bark?
A) To exemplify poor memory.
B) To analyze a type of interruption.
C) To compare human memory with dogs’ memory.
D) To illustrate the lack of efficiency of rote rehearsal.
60. Which of the following is true about retrieving information?
A) Elaborate rehearsal contributes to information retrieval.
B) The most efficient way of retrieving information is to assign semantic meaning to the information.
C) It’s impossible to retrieve forgotten information without picture prompts.
D) Encoding information is more efficient than chunking it.
61. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A) One’s memory capacity can be enhanced by rote rehearsal.
B) Putting information to writing is suggested to improve memory.
C) Providing sufficient prompts helps information retrieval.
D) Multiple choice exams are the most difficult.
Passage Two
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
Before, whenever we had wealth, we started discussing poverty. Why not now? Why is the current politics of wealth and poverty seemingly about wealth alone? Eight years ago, when Bill Clinton first ran for president, the Dow Jones average was under 3,500, yearly federal budget deficits were projected at hundreds of billions of dollars forever and beyond, and no one talked about the “permanent boom” or the “new economy.” Yet in that more straitened time, Clinton made much of the importance of “not leaving a single person behind.” It is possible that similar “compassionate” rhetoric might yet play a role in the general election.
But it is striking how much less talk there is about the poor than there was eight years ago, when the country was economically uncertain, or in previous eras, when the country felt flush. Even last summer, when Clinton spent several days on a remarkable tour through impoverished areas from Indian reservations in South Dakota to ghetto neighborhoods in East St. Louis, the administration decided to refer to the effort not as a poverty tour but as a “new markets initiative.”
What is happening is partly a logical, policy-driven reaction. Poverty really is lower than it has been in decades, especially for minority groups. The most attractive solution to it—a growing economy—is being applied. The people who have been totally left out of this boom often have medical, mental or other problems for which no one has an immediate solution. “The economy has sucked in anyone who has any preparation, any ability to cope with modern life,” says Franklin D. Raines, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget who is now head of Fannie Mae. When he and other people who specialize in the issue talk about solutions, they talk analytically and longterm: education, development of work skills, shifts in the labor market, adjustments in welfare reform.
But I think there is another force that has made this a rich era with barely visible poor people. It is the unusual social and imaginative separation between prosperous America and those still left out. It’s simple invisibility, because of increasing geographic, occupational, and social barriers that block one group from the other’s view.
注意：此部分試題請在答題卡2 上作答。
62. In the 1st paragraph, the word “straitened” means _____________.
A) difficult
B) wealthy
C) distant
D) straightforward
63. The author states that one important reason that we do not talk much about poverty is that
______________.
A) no one knows what to do about it
B) poverty really is lower than in the past
C) no one has been left out of the current boom
D) the president is not concerned about the poor
64. After reading this passage, we can conclude that ____________.
A) the relationship between the rich and the poor has changed
B) the good economy will soon end
C) poverty will be obliterated as a result of increased wealth
D) all people benefit from good economic conditions
65. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A) To entertain.
B) To tell a story.
C) To describe.
D) To persuade.
66. The main idea of the passage is that ______________.
A) The country is enjoying economic growth
B) The poor are benefiting from today’s good economy
C) In the past we were more aware of the poor than we are today
D) In the past there were many more poor people than there are today
