What would you be without your memories? How important is your ability to remember the past? One would think that understanding how memory works would be a high priority for all people, considering memories form the foundation of our personalities and lives.

The truth, however, is that most people know little about memory. A study by research psychologists Daniel and Christopher asked people questions about memory and then compared their answers with those of experts. The results show how far removed from reality the public’s beliefs about memory are. For instance, to the question “Is there a video camera’ in your head?” 63 percent of people surveyed strongly agreed that human memory “works like a video camera, accurately recording the events.” None of the experts think so.

So how does memory work? I prefer to describe it as an old man siting somewhere deep in your brain. He wants to help, but he doesn’t show you your past. The best he can do is tell you stories. And like all good storytellers, he edits for impact, efficiency, and clarity. He tells you what he assumes you need to know.

Sometimes he may even add a bit of flavor or leave out some things in order to spare you pain or shame. He also makes honest mistakes. Sometimes he just gets confused and leaves out something important. Maybe that special memory of your first kiss in middle school has been infatuated(渗透)with a scene from a movie. It’s not like files on a computer arranged by subject or placed in time order. A memory will be connected to other memories in ways that are not necessarily practical or logical. The brain is a docudrama at best. When you remember, your memory tells your brain a story and much may be lost in transit(运送).

Your memory is not meant to provide recordings of what really happened. And while this can complicate our lives, it works just fine most of the time. We have survived and thrived in large part because our memory worked well enough. Even in our fast-changing world, it still does.

【小题1】. You don’t show your secret personality when you are awake because you can control your behavior, but when you are asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. 【小题2】. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.

If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to displease people. So you never express your real feelings. 【小题3】.

If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You always stick to your own opinions or judgment, but you aren’t very ambitious. 【小题4】. This means that you enjoy having a good time.

If you sleep curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often delusive (不真实的，虚假的). You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to on your own. You’re easily hurt.

If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. 【小题5】.You’re usually careful. You believe in yourself. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get sad. You always say what you think even if it makes people rather angry.

Is it possible that the sinking of the Titanic was caused by a ghost? A lot of the story below is true…but did it really happen quite like this?

Our story begins not in the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic, but rather thousands of miles away in Egypt. It is here, perhaps, that we can find the start of the mystery(谜) of the Titanic, in the year 1910, in the great city of Cairo.

One day, a famous professor of Egyptian history called Douglas Murray was staying in Cairo, when he was contacted by an American adventurer.

The American had something unusual to offer Murray, something that was certain to thrill him: a beautiful ancient Egyptian mummy case, containing the mummy of an Egyptian queen. It was over 3000 years old, but in beautiful condition —gold, with bright paintings on it. Murray was delighted with both the object and the asking-price. He gave the man a cheque immediately.

The cheque was never cashed. That evening the American adventurer died. For his part, Murray arranged to have the treasure sent back to Britain. However, it was not long before he learnt more about the beautiful mummy case: On the walls of the tomb in which it had been discovered, there were messages which warned of terrible consequences to anyone who broke into the tomb. Murray was disbelieving of these warnings until a few days later, when a gun he was holding exploded in his hand, shattering his arm. The arm had to be cut off.

After the accident, Murray decided to return to his homeland. On the return journey, two of his companions died mysteriously, and two servants who had handled the mummy also passed away. The now-terrified Murray decided he would get rid of the cursed case as soon as he arrived in London. A lady he knew named Janet Jones said she would like it, so he gave it to her. Shortly afterwards, Jones’ mother died, and she herself caught a strange disease. She tried returning the mummy, but naturally Murray refused it. In the end, it was presented to the British Museum.

Even in the museum, the mummy apparently continued to cause strange events. A museum photographer died shortly after taking pictures of the new exhibit, and a manager also died for no apparent reason. In the end, the British Museum decided to get rid of the mummy too. They sold it to a collector in New York.

At the start of April 1912, arrangements for the transfer were complete, and the mummy began the journey to its new home. But the New Yorker never received the mummy or its case. For when the Titanic sank, one of the objects in its strong-room was the mummy case. Or so they say.

A．used to work for the British Museum

B．was a British professor of Egyptian history

C．didn’t believe the mummy really brought bad fortune

D．was a famous American adventurer

A．uncommon	B．expensive
C．unlucky	D．forgotten

a. The case was given to the British Museum.

b. Janet Jones caught a mysterious illness.

c. Murray’s arm was cut off

d. The mummy case was sold to an American.

e. A man who took a picture of the case died.

f. Warnings were written on the tomb’s walls.