Module 4 School life
Unit 7 Memory
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Reading
Henry, Paula and Millie write for the school newspaper. They have written the short articles below to help students improve their memory.
Rosie Bridge School
27 March
Memory Corner
Henry
A great way to help you remember something is to imagine a picture of it in your mind. If you make the picture big, strange or silly, you will remember it better. For example, to remember the word "smiles", we can imagine there is a "mile" between the first letter and the last letter. This makes it the longest word in the world. Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words.
Paula
A good method for remembering the spelling of a word is to make a short sentence with each letter of the word. For example, if you want to remember how to spell the word "because", you can use the sentence "Big elephants can always understand small elephants".
Millie
You will forget something very quickly unless you understand it well. For example, you may have trouble remembering the list of steps in the water cycle. However, it is easier to remember these steps if you understand how the water cycle works.
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Listening
Testing your memory
Top tip
You can use different methods to help you remember information. For example, you can put the number 2465716848 into groups like this: 246-571-6848.
A You are going to take two memory tests. Listen to the first test and follow the instructions.
Tapescript
John: Hello everybody! Here are two memory tests. For the first test, Wendy will say two numbers. When she finishes, repeat the numbers after her. Here's the first number.
Wendy:9-7-5-4-7.（pause）
John: Write the number down now.（pause）
Next, the second number.
Wendy:4-3-1-8-6-2-6-2.（pause）
John: Now write it down.（pause）
Wendy will read the numbers again. Listen and check your answers.
Wendy:9-7-5-4-7. 4-3-1-8-6-2-6-2.
John: How many numbers did you get right? Most people can remember about six or seven numbers for a short time.
B Listen to the second test and follow the instructions.
Tapescript
John: Here's the second test. Wendy will read out two lists of words. When she finishes, repeat the words after her. Here's list A.
Wendy: Sit, day, pen, cow, sit.（pause）
John: Now write the words down.（pause）
Here's list B.
Wendy: Man, cat, fat, hat, man.（pause）
John: Now write those words down.（pause）Which list was easier to remember? Yes, list A is easier. Scientists think that list B is harder because the words in list B sound similar.
1 List A: ___________
2 List B: ___________
C Listen to the recording again and circle the correct answers.
Tapescript A
John: Hello everybody! Here are two memory tests. For the first test, Wendy will say two numbers. When she finishes, repeat the numbers after her. Here's the first number.
Wendy:9-7-5-4-7.（pause）
John: Write the number down now.（pause）
Next, the second number.
Wendy:4-3-1-8-6-2-6-2.（pause）
John: Now write it down.（pause）
Wendy will read the numbers again. Listen and check your answers.
Wendy:9-7-5-4-7. 4-3-1-8-6-2-6-2.
John: How many numbers did you get right? Most people can remember about six or seven numbers for a short time.
Tapescript B
John: Here's the second test. Wendy will read out two lists of words. When she finishes, repeat the words after her. Here's list A.
Wendy: Sit, day, pen, cow, sit.（pause）
John: Now write the words down.（pause）
Here's list B.
Wendy: Man, cat, fat, hat, man.（pause）
John: Now write those words down.（pause）Which list was easier to remember? Yes, list A is easier. Scientists think that list B is harder because the words in list B sound similar.
1 In the first test, how many numbers can most people remember for a short time?
a Six or seven numbers.
b Eight or nine numbers.
2 In the second test, which list was easier to remember?
a List A.
b List B.
3 What do scientists think about words that sound similar?
a They are easier to remember.
b They are harder to remember.
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Speaking
A Talk time
Loss of plosion
When two plosive consonants (e.g. /t/, /d/, /p/, /b/, /k/ or /ɡ/) are next to each other, we do not pronounce the first one, and there is usually a short pause between them. We call this the loss of plosion. The following are some examples:
football /ˈfʊtbɔːl/
used to /ˈju:st tu/
sit down /ˈsɪt daʊn/
-----------------------------------
A1 Practise saying these words.
bi(g) car≈≈Bo(b) Brown≈≈ge(t) back
re(d) pen≈≈stam(p) book≈≈goo(d)bye
be(d)time≈≈ba(d) day≈≈pos(t)card
bla(ck)board≈≈cu(t) down≈≈shor(t)-term
-----------------------------------
A2 Read these sentences.
1 Gla(d) to meet you.
2 This is a goo(d) boy.
3 That was the bes(t) day of my life!
4 I fel(t) bad about what happened.
5 Mos(t) people like flowers.
-----------------------------------
B Speak up
Do you have any special methods for remembering English words? Do they work? In pairs, talk about your experience. Follow the example.
S1: Do you have any special methods for remembering English words?
S2: Yes. You can make a short sentence with each letter of the word.
S1: Can you give me an example?
S2: If you want to remember the word "family", you can make the sentence "Father and mother, I love you".
S1: That's a good idea.
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
的图标>>英汉双语释义
