Many of us learn how to ride a bicycle at a young age. As we grow older, we may stop riding—most of us go to school by bus or by subway. But whenever we get on a bicycle，it's like we've never stopped biking.

　　This is strange. In many other cases, our memories let us down. We often find it hard to remember the name of a person or a place,don't we? So why can we still ride a bicycle after we stopped riding a long time ago?

　　It turns out that there are many types of memories. They are stored in different regions of our brains. Memories of experiences(e.g. our first day at school) and of factual knowledge (e.g. the capital of France) are called declarative(陳述的)memories.These memories can be communicated to others. Memories for skills such as playing an instrument or riding a bicycle are called procedural(程序的）memories. These memories are responsible for our performance.

　　Scientists have done many experiments on different memory types. Perhaps the most famous of them was carried out on Henry Gustav Molaison,anepileptic(癲癇患者).In an operation in the 1950s，part of his brain was taken away. After that,the man suffered less from epilepsy. But there was a new problem—he couldn't remember things!

　　What went wrong with Molaison's memory system?Through various tests, scientists found he could learn new skills(slowly,though).However, he could never remember having been trained to learn a new skill. In other words,Molaison could develop new procedural,but not declarative memories.

　　Scientists have concluded that even with serious brain injuries,procedural memories last much longer. However, they haven't yet found out why. Some say procedural memories are more lasting because they are stored in the brain's center.

　　Now, "just like riding a bicycle"has been used as an idiom(習語). Can you guess its meaning? Yes, people use it to describe a skill that,once learned,is never forgotten.

　　1.The writer mentions that we never forget how to ride a bicycle but may forget a person's name to show that_____.

　　A.our memories often fail us

　　B. there are many types of memories

　　C.it's hard to forget how to ride a bicycle

　　D.people become more forgetful as they age

　　2.Which of the following is an example of procedural memories?

　　A. Memory for playing the violin.

　　B. Memory for the location of Italy.

　　C. Memory for the first day at school.

　　D. Memory for the first time to ride a bicycle.

　　3.What was Henry Gustay Molaison's new problem after his operation?

　　A. He couldn't learn new skills.

　　B. He couldn't remember anything.

　　C. He suffered more often from epilepsy.

　　D. He couldn't develop new declarative memories.

　　4.According to the passage,scientists don't yet know for sure____.

　　A.if there are many different types of memories

　　B. if procedural memories last longer than declarative memories

　　C.why procedural memories often last longer than declarative memories

　　D. whether different types of memories are stored in different regions of our brains

　　5.We can learn from the passage that declarative memories____.

　　A. are responsible for our speech

　　B. are stored on the brain's surface

　　C.can be passed on to other people

　　D. aren't easily affected by brain injuries

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