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 alsotendto bescanty. Most people remember only a few events—usually ones that weremeaningfulanddistinctive, such as being hospitalized or a sibling’s birth.

How might this inability torecallearly experiences be explained? Thesheerpassageof time does notaccountfor it; adults have excellentrecognitionof pictures of people who attended high school with them 35 years earlier. Another seeminglyplausibleexplanation—that infants do not formenduringmemories at this point indevelopment—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 thehypothesisthat infantileamnesiareflects repression—or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain thephenomenon. While such repression mayoccur, people cannot remember ordinary events from theinfantand toddler periods either.

Three other explanationsseemmorepromising. One involvesphysiologicalchangesrelevantto memory. Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain continuesthroughoutearly childhood, and this part of the brain may becriticalfor rememberingparticularepisodes in ways that can be retrieved later. Demonstrations of infants’ and toddlers' long-term memory have involved their repeatingmotoractivities 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’slevelofphysiologicalmaturation may support these types of memories, but not ones requiringexplicitverbaldescriptions.

Asecondexplanation 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 willendureinto later childhood and adulthood. Throughhearing stories with aclearbeginning, middle, and ending children may learn toextractthe gist of events in ways that they will be able todescribemany years later. Consistent with this view, parents and children increasinglyengagein discussions of past events when children are about three years old. However, hearing such stories is notsufficientfor younger children to formenduringmemories. Telling such stories to two year olds does notseemto produce long-lasting verbalizable memories.

A third likely explanation for infantileamnesiainvolves incompatibilities between the ways in which infants encode information and the ways in which older children and adultsretrieveit. 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 laterattempttoretrieveit. The better able the person is to reconstruct theperspectivefrom which thematerialwas encoded, the more likely thatrecallwill be successful.

This view is supported by avarietyof 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 toretrievethe 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 areunlikelyto encode many experienceswithinsuch knowledge structures.

These three explanations of infantileamnesiaare notmutuallyexclusive; indeed, they support each other. Physiologicalimmaturity may be part of why infants and toddlers do not form extremelyenduringmemories,evenwhen they hear stories thatpromotesuch remembering in preschoolers. Hearing the stories mayleadpreschoolers to encode aspects of events that allow them to form memories they canaccessas 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—physiologicalmaturation, hearing and producing stories about past events, and improved encoding of key aspects of events—seemlikely to be involved in overcoming infantileamnesia.

Questions:
question_stem: What purpose does paragraph 2 serve in the larger discussion of children’s inability to recall early experiences?
choices: tag: A
text: To argue that theories that are not substantiated by evidence should generally be considered unreliable

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

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

tag: D
text: To explain why infantile amnesia is of great interest to researchers
answer_key: C
explanation: C 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_stem: The word “plausible” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: flexible

tag: B
text: believable

tag: C
text: debatable

tag: D
text: predictable
answer_key: B
explanation: 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_stem: The word “phenomenon” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: exception

tag: B
text: repetition

tag: C
text: occurrence

tag: D
text: idea
answer_key: C
explanation: phenomenon: 现象，事情。A 是例外；B 是重复；C 是出现，事件；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_stem: All of the following theories about the inability to recall early experiences are rejected in paragraph 2 EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: The ability to recall an event decreases as the time after the event increases.

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

tag: C
text: People may hold back sexually meaningful memories.

tag: D
text: Most events in childhood are too ordinary to be worth remembering.
answer_key: D
explanation: D  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_stem: What does paragraph 3 suggest about long-term memory in children?
choices: tag: A
text: Maturation of the frontal lobes of the brain is important for the long-term memory of motor activities but not verbal descriptions.

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

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

tag: D
text: Children’s long-term recall of motor activities increases when such activities are accompanied by explicit verbal descriptions.
answer_key: B
explanation: 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_stem: According to paragraph 4, what role may storytelling play in forming childhood memories?
choices: tag: A
text: It may encourage the physiological maturing of the brain.

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

tag: C
text: It may help preschool children retrieve memories quickly.

tag: D
text: It may provide an ordered structure that facilitates memory retrieval.
answer_key: D
explanation: 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_stem: The word “critically” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: fundamentally

tag: B
text: partially

tag: C
text: consistently

tag: D
text: subsequently
answer_key: A
explanation: 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_stem: The word “perspective” in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: system

tag: B
text: theory

tag: C
text: source

tag: D
text: viewpoint
answer_key: D
explanation: D 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_stem: The phrase “This view” in the passage refers to the belief that
choices: tag: A
text: the ability to retrieve a memory partly depends on the similarity between the encoding and retrieving process

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

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

tag: D
text: infants encode information in the same way older children and adults do
answer_key: A
explanation: 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_stem: According to paragraphs 5 and 6, one disadvantage very young children face in processing information is that they cannot
choices: tag: A
text: process a lot of information at one time

tag: B
text: organize experiences according to type

tag: C
text: block out interruptions

tag: D
text: interpret the tone of adult language
answer_key: B
explanation: 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_stem: 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.
choices: tag: A
text: Incomplete physiological development may partly explain why hearing stories does not improve long-term memory in infants and toddlers.

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

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

tag: D
text: Physiologically mature children seem to have no difficulty remembering stories they heard as preschoolers.
answer_key: A
explanation: A : 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_stem: How does paragraph 7 relate to the earlier discussion of infantile amnesia?
choices: tag: A
text: It introduces a new theory about the causes of infantile amnesia.

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

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

tag: D
text: It evaluates which of the theories discussed earlier is most likely to be true.
answer_key: C
explanation: C，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。