Evenfacts"forgotten"bypeopleduringabusydaymayberetrieve...

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问题详情：

Even facts "forgotten" by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by a good night's sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words. Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could recall much more. Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain could "rescue" lost memories during the night.

When the brain is first asked to remember something, that memory is laid down in an "unstable" state, meaning that it is possible that it could be lost. At some point, the brain consolidates important things into a "stable", more permanent state. However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a "stable" memory to be made "unstable" again. This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in the face of new experiences.

The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speech synthesizer（合成器）which were purposely difficult to understand. Initially, the written version of the word was available, but afterwards the volunteers were asked to identify the word from the audio version only. Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off as the day ended. However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night's sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had "forgotten" the previous evening.

Dr Daniel, one of the study authors, said: "Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interference or decay.”

He added: "Sleep also appears to 'recover' or restore memories. If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost."

Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal, said: "Memory research is undergoing a transformation - no longer is memory thought to be a hard-wiring of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and re-storage. Sleep helps some memories 'mature' and also prunes out unimportant memories."

72. The underlined words “prunes out” in the last paragraph means _____.

A. records B. deletes C. rescues D. keeps

73. What can be inferred from the passage?

A. The audio version seems to be more helpful than the written version.

B. Interference and decay may affect one’s memory.

C. The ability to recall the right word was greatly improved as the day ended.

D. The volunteers who had a good night’s sleep were able to recall some “forgotten” words.

74. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A. Words consolidated into a stable state will never be forgotten.

B. Memory is an active process rather than an unchanged state.

C. Memory used to be considered as a hard-wiring of the brain.

D. A good sleep helps the brain to rescue the lost memory.