童年早期記憶的真實性

你最珍視的一段童年記憶是什么？一些研究的結果可能會讓你感到驚訝：人們早期的記憶不一定準確。這究竟是為什么？

詞匯: memories 記憶

• What’s the first thing you remember doing? It could be playing with your friends at school, or going to a birthday party and eating amazing cake. Most of us have a?treasured?early memory of our childhood, but can we really believe those?vivid?memories? Did those special moments really happen – or did we make them up?

  你記得你做的第一件事是什么？它可以是和你的朋友在學校玩，或者參加一個生日聚會，吃美味的蛋糕。我們大多數(shù)人都有寶貴的童年早期記憶，但我們真的能相信這些生動的記憶嗎？那些特別的時刻是真的發(fā)生了，還是我們編造的?

  ??treasured [?tre??(r)d] 珍視的，珍重的; vivid [?v?v?d] 鮮明的，生動的

• It’s a strange?concept?to?grasp, but according to research, about four out of 10 of us invent our first childhood memory. Rather than having experienced something, we could have?fabricated?a fake memory from videos or photos we’ve seen. We could have been influenced by a story?recounted?to us that?spurs?our minds?on?to?adopt?someone else’s memory as our own. What it means is that memories of our younger years, especially before the age of two, may be?inaccurate, or entirely false.

  這是一個難以理解的概念，但根據(jù)研究，大約有四成的人發(fā)明了我們的第一個童年記憶。我們本可以用看到的視頻或照片來偽造記憶，而不是親身經歷。我們可能會受到講述給我們的故事的影響，促使我們把別人的記憶當作自己的記憶。這意味著我們年輕時的記憶，尤其是兩歲之前的記憶，可能是不準確的，或者是完全錯誤的。

  ??concept 概念; grasp 理解，領會; fabricate [?f?br?ke?t] 編造; recount 敘述; spur on 促使，激勵; adopt 采納，采用; inaccurate [?n??kj?r?t] 不準確的;

• But why don’t we have?clear?memories from that age? Well, our ability to?retain?memories from before the age of two isn’t great. While at that age we do have?short-term memories, according to Catherine Loveday, an expert in?autobiographical?memory at the University of Westminster, the memories that infants make are not?long-lasting. This is possibly due to the rapid creation of?brain cells?in our early years. Some scientists also believe that as we get older, our childhood memories?fade?and after the age of seven, we get some kind of ‘childhood?amnesia’.

  但為什么我們沒有那個年代的清晰記憶呢？我們保留兩歲之前的記憶的能力不是很好。威斯敏斯特大學(University of Westminster)的自傳式記憶專家凱瑟琳·洛夫迪(Catherine Loveday)表示，雖然在那個年齡，我們確實有短期記憶，但嬰兒產生的記憶不是持久的。這可能是由于我們早期大腦細胞的快速生成。一些科學家還認為，隨著我們年齡的增長，我們的童年記憶會消失，7歲以后，我們會患上某種“童年健忘癥”。

  ??clear 清晰的; retain 記住; short-term memory 短期記憶; autobiographical 自傳體的，與個人生活事件緊密相關的; infant [??nf?nt] 嬰兒; long-lasting 持久的; brain cell 腦細胞; fade 逐漸被遺忘; amnesia 失憶 [?m?ni?zi?]

• So why do we create fake memories? Some experts believe that there is a clear desire for a sense of self and having a?cohesive?story of our existence. Creating memories can fill in the gaps – giving us a more complete structure for our early lives. As we get older, we want to have a complete picture of our entire lives.

  那么，我們?yōu)槭裁匆圃焯摷儆洃浤?？一些專家認為，人們對自我意識的渴望是明確的，對我們的存在有一個連貫的故事。創(chuàng)造記憶可以填補空白——為我們早期的生活提供一個更完整的結構。隨著年齡的增長，我們希望對自己的整個人生有一個完整的認識。

  ??cohesive [k???hi?s?v] 完整連貫的;

• So, the next time someone says they have a clear memory from when they were one – or even before - just remember that while it could be true, there’s a chance they just invented it at some point in their lives.

  所以，下次有人說他們對自己一歲時的事情有清晰的記憶，甚至更早的時候，只要記住，雖然這可能是真的，但有可能是他們在生命中的某個時刻發(fā)明的。

  ?

詞匯表

treasured 珍視的，珍重的

vivid 鮮明的，生動的

concept 概念

grasp 理解，領會

fabricate 編造

recount 敘述

spur on 促使，激勵

adopt 采納，采用

inaccurate 不準確的

clear 清晰的

retain 記住

short-term memory 短期記憶

autobiographical 自傳體的，與個人生活事件緊密相關的

long-lasting 持久的

brain cell 腦細胞

fade 逐漸被遺忘

amnesia 失憶

cohesive 完整連貫的

測驗與練習

1.??閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What’s the proportion of people who may have invented their first memory?

2. Why might we not be able to create long-lasting memories as a child?

3. By what age do some experts think we get ‘childhood amnesia’?

4. Why might someone want to create childhood memories?

5. What does the article suggest we should do when someone says they have a clear memory from when they were one?

2.??選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I love this toy. It was one of my most _______ possessions when I was a kid.

treasure? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?treasured? ? ? ? ? ? ? treasures? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?treasuring

1. I think that we need to _______ new strategies for dealing with the problem.

recount? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? fade? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?adopt? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?concept

1. Don’t make _______ stories! Tell the truth.

up? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? out? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? down? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? in

1. All of my memories seem to have _______ over time.

faded? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?grasped? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?treasured? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? adopted

1. Why don’t you _______ that story about your first bike to us?

recount? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? clear? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? amnesia? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?retain

答案

1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. What’s the proportion of people who may have invented their first memory?Around four in 10 of us may have faked our first memory.

2. Why might we not be able to create long-lasting memories as a child?The rapid creation of brain cells being created in our early years could impact on our ability to create long-term memories.

3. By what age do some experts think we get ‘childhood amnesia’?‘ Childhood amnesia’ occurs by the age of seven.

4. Why might someone want to create childhood memories?To give their life story a greater sense of cohesion.

5. What does the article suggest we should do when someone says they have a clear memory from when they were one?Remember that while it could be true, there’s a chance they just invented it.

2.??選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. I love this toy. It was one of my most?treasured?possessions when I was a kid.

2. I think that we need to?adopt?new strategies for dealing with the problem.

3. Don’t make?up?stories! Tell the truth.

4. All of my memories seem to have?faded?over time.

5. Why don’t you?recount?that story about your first bike to us?