TPO6 托福阅读 Passage3 Infantile Amnesia文本+题目文本+答案解析

Infantile Amnesia

What do you remember about your life before you were three?  [■]Few people can remember anything that happened to them in their early years.  [■]Adults' memories of the next few years also tend to be scanty.  [■]Most people remember only a few events—usually ones that were meaningful and distinctive, such as being hospitalized or a sibling’s birth. [■]

How might this inability to recall early experiences be explained? The sheer passage of time does not account for it; adults have excellent recognition of pictures of people who attended high school with them 35 years earlier. Another seemingly plausible explanation—that infants do not form enduring memories at this point in development—also is incorrect. Children two and a half to three years old remember experiences that occurred in their first year, and eleven month olds remember some events a year later. Nor does the hypothesis that infantile amnesia reflects repression—or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain the phenomenon. While such repression may occur, people cannot remember ordinary events from the infant and toddler periods either.

Three other explanations seem more promising. One involves physiological changes relevant to memory. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain continues throughout early childhood, and this part of the brain may be critical for remembering particular episodes in ways that can be retrieved later. Demonstrations of infants’ and toddlers' long-term memory have involved their repeating motor activities that they had seen or done earlier, such as reaching in the dark for objects, putting a bottle in a doll’s mouth, or pulling apart two pieces of a toy. The brain’s level of physiological maturation may support these types of memories, but not ones requiring explicit verbal descriptions.

A second explanation involves the influence of the social world on children’s language use. Hearing and telling stories about events may help children store information in ways that will endure into later childhood and adulthood. Through hearing stories with a clear beginning, middle, and ending children may learn to extract the gist of events in ways that they will be able to describe many years later. Consistent with this view, parents and children increasingly engage in discussions of past events when children are about three years old. However, hearing such stories is not sufficient for younger children to form enduring memories. Telling such stories to two year olds does not seem to produce long-lasting verbalizable memories.

A third likely explanation for infantile amnesia involves incompatibilities between the ways in which infants encode information and the ways in which older children and adults retrieve it. Whether people can remember an event depends critically on the fit between the way in which they earlier encoded the information and the way in which they later attempt to retrieve it. The better able the person is to reconstruct the perspective from which the material was encoded, the more likely that recall will be successful.

This view is supported by a variety of factors that can create mismatches between very young children's encoding and older children's and adults' retrieval efforts. The world looks very different to a person whose head is only two or three feet above the ground than to one whose head is five or six feet above it. Older children and adults often try to retrieve the names of things they saw, but infants would not have encoded the information verbally. General knowledge of categories of events such as a birthday party or a visit to the doctor's office helps older individuals encode their experiences, but again, infants and toddlers are unlikely to encode many experiences within such knowledge structures.

These three explanations of infantile amnesia are not mutually exclusive; indeed, they support each other. Physiological immaturity may be part of why infants and toddlers do not form extremely enduring memories, even when they hear stories that promote such remembering in preschoolers. Hearing the stories may lead preschoolers to encode aspects of events that allow them to form memories they can access as adults. Conversely, improved encoding of what they hear may help them better understand and remember stories and thus make the stories more useful for remembering future events. Thus, all three explanations—physiological maturation, hearing and producing stories about past events, and improved encoding of key aspects of events—seem likely to be involved in overcoming infantile amnesia.

TPO6 托福阅读 Passage3 Infantile Amnesia题目

Question 1 of 14：What purpose does paragraph 2 serve in the larger discussion of children’s inability to recall early experiences?

A. To argue that theories that are not substantiated by evidence should generally be considered unreliable

B. To argue that the hypotheses mentioned in paragraph 2 have been more thoroughly researched than have the theories mentioned later in the passage

C. To explain why some theories about infantile amnesia are wrong before presenting ones more likely to be true

D. To explain why infantile amnesia is of great interest to researchers

Question 2 of 14：The word “plausible ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. flexible

B. believable

C. debatable

D. predictable

Question 3 of 14：The word “phenomenon ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. exception

B. repetition

C. occurrence

D. idea

Question 4 of 14：All of the following theories about the inability to recall early experiences are rejected in paragraph 2 EXCEPT:

A. The ability to recall an event decreases as the time after the event increases.

B. Young children are not capable of forming memories that last for more than a short time.

C. People may hold back sexually meaningful memories.

D. Most events in childhood are too ordinary to be worth remembering.

Question 5 of 14：What does paragraph 3 suggest about long-term memory in children?

A. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain is important for the long-term memory of motor activities but not verbal descriptions.

B. Young children may form long-term memories of actions they see earlier than of things they hear or are told.

C. Young children have better long-term recall of short verbal exchanges than of long ones.

D. Children’s long-term recall of motor activities increases when such activities are accompanied by explicit verbal descriptions.

Question 6 of 14：According to paragraph 4, what role may storytelling play in forming childhood memories?

A. It may encourage the physiological maturing of the brain.

B. It may help preschool children tell the difference between ordinary and unusual memories.

C. It may help preschool children retrieve memories quickly.

D. It may provide an ordered structure that facilitates memory retrieval.

Question 7 of 14：The word “critically ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. fundamentally

B. partially

C. consistently

D. subsequently

Question 8 of 14：The word “perspective ” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. system

B. theory

C. source

D. viewpoint

Question 9 of 14：The phrase “This view ” in the passage refers to the belief that

A. the ability to retrieve a memory partly depends on the similarity between the encoding and retrieving process

B. the process of encoding information is less complex for adults than it is for young adults and infants

C. infants and older children are equally dependent on discussion of past events for the retrieval of information

D. infants encode information in the same way older children and adults do

Question 10 of 14：According to paragraphs 5 and 6, one disadvantage very young children face in processing information is that they cannot

A. process a lot of information at one time

B. organize experiences according to type

C. block out interruptions

D. interpret the tone of adult language

Question 11 of 14：Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Incomplete physiological development may partly explain why hearing stories does not improve long-term memory in infants and toddlers.

B. One reason why preschoolers fail to comprehend the stories they hear is that they are physiologically immature.

C. Given the chance to hear stories, infants and toddlers may form enduring memories despite physiological immaturity.

D. Physiologically mature children seem to have no difficulty remembering stories they heard as preschoolers.

Question 12 of 14：How does paragraph 7 relate to the earlier discussion of infantile amnesia?

A. It introduces a new theory about the causes of infantile amnesia.

B. It argues that particular theories discussed earlier in the passage require further research.

C. It explains how particular theories discussed earlier in the passage may work in combination.

D. It evaluates which of the theories discussed earlier is most likely to be true.

Question 13 of 14：Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?

Other important occasions are school graduations and weddings.

A. Few people can remember anything that happened to them in their early years.  

B. Adults' memories of the next few years also tend to be scanty.  

C. Most people remember only a few events—usually ones that were meaningful and distinctive, such as being hospitalized or a sibling’s birth.

D. /

Question 14 of 14：Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. 

There are several possible explanations why people cannot easily remember their early childhoods.

A.Preschoolers typically do not recall events from their first year.

B.Frontal lobe function of the brain may need to develop before memory retrieval can occur.

C.Children recall physical activities more easily if they are verbalized.

D.The opportunity to hear chronologically narrated stories may help three-year-old children produce long-lasting memories.

E.The content of a memory determines the way in which it is encoded.

F. The contrasting ways in which young children and adults process information may determine their relative success in remembering.

TPO6 托福阅读 Passage3 Infantile Amnesia答案解析

Question 1 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：以inability to recall early experience做关键词定位至第一句，但这句话是个问题，我们应该关注的是答案，也就是第二句，第二句说时间不是遗忘的原因，接着又说另一个可能的解释，也就是先给一个不对的，再说一个可能的，所以C是答案。

Question 2 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：plausible: 貌似可信的。所以B的believable可信的是正确答案。A是弹性的;C是可争辩的;D是可预测的。对应原文：Another seemingly plausible explanation—that infants do not form enduring memories at this point in development—also is incorrect.把原文的插入语去掉之后，变成看起来怎么样的解释也不对，明显应该是看起来合理的或者说看起来对的，所以应该是个正面词汇，A可变的D可预测的都是中性，排除;C的debatable甚至稍有贬义，更不靠谱。

Question 3 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：phenomenon: 现象，事情。A是例外;B是重复;C是出现，时间;D是主意。所以C的occurrence正确。对应原文：Nor does the hypothesis that infantile amnesia reflects repression—or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain the phenomenon.原句说这个假说也没法解释什么，因为nor表示也，所以往前看，说两三岁的孩子记得他们一岁时候的事情，十一个月大的孩子在一年之后还记得他们经历的一些事情，所以phenomenon应该在说前面的这些事情，所以选C，A例外B重复D主意都不对。

Question 4 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：EXCEPT题，排除法。A中的time定位至第二句的前半句，这个原因被排除了，所以A对，不选;B中的memories定位至第三句，插入语的内容正是这个选项，原文也认为不合理，所以B对，不选;C中 的sexually meaningful memories定位至倒数第二句，也被排除了，所以C对，不选，错的是D，选。

Question 5 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：B以long-term memory定位至倒数第二句，说婴儿会重复他们看到的动作，接着就说大脑成熟导致他们能形成关于这些的记忆，但那些需要清楚解释的不行，也就是这个阶段还不能记住听到的东西，所以B说看到的比听到的早，正确。A错，没说对verbal description不重要;C/D都没说。

Question 6 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：以storytelling做关键词定位至第二，三两句：Hearing and telling stories about events may help children store information in ways that will endure into later childhood and adulthood. Through hearing stories with a clear beginning, middle, and ending children may learn to extract the gist of events in ways that they will be able to describe many years later.第二句输了可以帮助孩子们用特定方式存储信息，使得记忆持久;第三句说了这样，很多年后他们还可以描述这些时间。所以D的ordered structure和in ways是对应的，facilitate memory retrieval也符合这两句话的大意。是正确的。A/B/C都没说。

Question 7 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析：critically: 关键的，重要的。A是基础地，根本的;B是部分地;C是一贯地，一致地;D是随后。所以A的fundamentally基本的重要的正确。对应原文：Whether people can remember an event depends critically on the fit between the way in which they earlier encoded the information and the way in which they later attempt to retrieve it.原文第一句就说婴儿遗忘的原因可能是成人和婴儿回忆信息的方式不同，接着就说是否记得住怎么样依靠信息获取的匹配。既然第一句就在说这个，说明整段都是说这个，也就是在很大程度上依靠，B部分程度不够，C总是程度过深，D接下来完全不靠谱。

Question 8 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：

perspective: 观点，视角，前景。所以D的viewpoint正确。A是系统;B是理论;C是来源。

Question 9 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析：A 一开始就是一个this view，说明一定和上段有关，而this view所代表的正是上一段的观点，上段说婴儿会遗忘是因为成人和婴儿解码与获取信息的方式不同，所以答案很显然是A;B和C都没提到，D说反了，应该是不同。

Question 10 of 14

正确答案：B

题目解析：第五段和第六段都在说成人和大孩子与婴儿解析信息的方式不同，第六段给出了具体例子，最后一句中出答案：General knowledge of categories of events such as a birthday party or a visit to the doctor's office helps older individuals encode their experiences, but again, infants and toddlers are unlikely to encode many experiences within such knowledge structures.说成人和大孩子关于类别的常识可以帮他们解析信息，但小孩子不能，也就是小孩子不会分类，所以B 是答案，其他都没说。

Question 11 of 14

正确答案：A

题目解析： 这个句子比较简单，主要逻辑是让步状语从句。说immaturity是do not form enduring memories的原因，即使听了stories，A正确。B错在改变了原文结构，原文的结果是do not form enduring memories，B改成了comprehend stories;C与原文even之后的部分相反;D没说，注意不能推断。

Question 12 of 14

正确答案：C

题目解析：问到整个段，看开头，说之前的三个理论不是互相排斥的，而是相互支持的，很显然C的work in combination正确，而且本段最后又说all three explanations seem likely to be involved in overcoming，进一步证明C正确。

Question 13 of 14

正确答案：D

题目解析：只有一个过渡点，但已经够了，other important occasions说明之前一定要有一些important occasion，D之前的破折号对events进行了解释，meaningful and distinctive，而且给了一些例子，就是important的同义替换，所以之前有一些重要的了，other很自然应该放在其后。

Question 14 of 14

正确答案：BDF

题目解析： preschoolers选项原文没说，不选。frontal lobe选项对应原文第三段第二句，正确。children选项原文没说，不选。the opportunity选项对应原文第四段第二句和倒数第二句，正确。the content选项原文没说，不选。the contrasting ways选项对应原文第五段第一句，正确。

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