Mental Athletics|脑力大竞赛

by Marcus Maurice

Could you memorize a deck of cards in order in less than 30 seconds?

Before books were invented, memory was a big part of education and taught along with math and grammar. Now, modern technology has made remembering things _(1)_. We don't have to recall telephone numbers because they are _(2)_ in our phone. We don't need to _(3)_ important dates in history because we can just google the information anytime we need it. Some people, though, are bringing the art of remembering back when they _(4)_ in the World Memory Championships. This year, mental athletes will be testing the _(5)_ of brain power in London from December 14 to 16.

At the World Memory Championships, there are 10 different events ranging from remembering binary digits for 30 minutes and then reciting them _(6)_ trying to recollect the most random names and faces in 15 minutes. The essence de la essence of the World Memory Championships, though, is speed cards. This is where mental athletes race against the clock to memorize the order of 52 playing cards. The world record for this event is just under 22 seconds.

The World Memory Championships are open to anyone regardless of their age, sex, or _(7)_. Contestants claim there is no such thing as photographic memory. Instead, they are _(8)_ people that have learned how to use certain learning tricks to help them remember things. Tony Buzan, one of the _(9)_ of the World Memory Championships and author of more than 100 books about the mind, thinks that memory is a lost art. Buzan said that people should stop relying _(10)_ new technology like cell phones and laptops. Instead, they should be exercising the most important muscle they have in their bodieshe brain.

(A) stored  (B) nationality (C) limits  (D) outdated    (E) memorize

(F) founders    (G) on  (H) ordinary    (I) to  (J) participate

脑力大竞赛

你可以在 30秒内记住一副扑克牌的顺序吗？

在书籍发明以前，记忆力是教育中很重要的一环，它和数学及文法一起被教导。时至今日，现代科技已经使得记东西变得过时。我们无需回想电话号码，因为这些号码就储存在我们的电话中。我们不必记住历史上的重要日期，因为我们有需要时随时都可以去上网搜寻相关信息。然而，有些人却藉由参加世界记忆锦标赛而将这项技艺重新发扬光大。今年，12月 14 到 16 日在伦敦举行的脑力竞赛将会考验人们的脑力极限。

世界记忆锦标赛共有 10 种不同的比赛项目，范围从在 30分钟内记住二进制的数字然后背出来，到在 15分钟内记住最多随机的名字和脸孔都有。然而，世界记忆锦标赛中的精华就是快速扑克牌。这是一种分秒必争，要记住 52 张扑克牌顺序的脑力竞赛。这项比赛的世界纪录不到 22 秒。

世界记忆锦标赛开放给任何人参加，不论年龄、性别及国籍。参赛者宣称根本没有过目不忘的记忆力这回事。相反地，他们都是普通人，只是学会了如何利用一些学习技巧来记东西。世界记忆锦标赛的创始人之一汤尼．布赞，同时也是 100 多本和智力有关书籍的作者，他认为记忆力是一种消失的艺术。布赞说人们应该停止依赖诸如手机和笔记本电脑等新科技。反之，他们应该要去活动身上最重要的肌肉，那就是大脑。

答案：  1.  D   2.  A   3.  E   4.  J   5.  C

   6.  I   7.  B   8.  H   9.  F   10. G