讲解人 · John
原文
You may walk into a room only to forget why you went in there — or perhaps someone says hi on the street and you can’t remember their name.
But why do we forget things?
Is it simply a sign of memory impairment?
Forgetting can serve functional purposes, however.
Our brains are bombarded with information constantly.
If we were to remember every detail, it would become increasingly difficult to retain the important information.
Recalling a memory can sometimes also lead to it changing for the purposes of coping with new information.
Suppose your daily commute involves driving the same route every day.
But one Monday, one of your usual roads is closed, and there’s a new route.
Your memory for the journey needs to be flexible enough to incorporate this new information.
From an evolutionary standpoint, forgetting old memories in response to new information is undoubtedly beneficial.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors might have repeatedly visited a safe water hole, only to one day discover a rival settlement, or a bear with newborn cubs there.
Their brains had to be able to update the memory to label this location as no longer safe.
Failure to do so would have been a threat to their survival.
In sum, we may forget information for a host of reasons.
All these forms of forgetting help our brain to function efficiently, and have supported our survival over many generations.
带着问题听讲解
如何理解 memory impairment 这个表达？
文章中提到记忆需要“灵活”的原因是什么？
根据文章，遗忘对人类的进化有什么好处？
讲解
重点词汇
evolutionary
/ˌiː.vəˈluː.ʃən.er.i/
adj. 进化的；演变的，逐渐发展的
- 发音拓展：/ˌev.əˈluː.ʃən.er.i/相关词汇：evolution（n. 进化）
- 搭配短语：the evolution of the human species
- 搭配短语：Darwin's theory of evolution
搭配短语：evolutionary theory相关词汇：revolutionary（adj. 革命性的；大变革的）- 例句：The change has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
only to
不料；竟然
- 例句：She dressed up for the occasion, only to find out it was a casual gathering.例句：I went to the bakery to buy the bread, only to find it closed.
impairment
/ɪmˈper.mənt/
n.（身体或智力方面的）缺陷，障碍，损伤
- 搭配短语：a hearing impairment搭配短语：a visual impairment相关词汇：impair（v. 损害；削弱）
- 近义词：damage
- 例句：Smoking can impair your health.
- 例句：Drinking impairs a person's ability to think clearly.
serve
/sɝːv/
v. 对……有用，能满足……的需要；提供（食物）
- 例句：Breakfast is served between 7 and 10 a.m.（提供（食物））搭配短语：serve sth./sb.（对……有用，能满足……的需要）例句：His English ability served him well in his job.例句：These experiments serve no useful purpose.
functional
/ˈfʌŋk.ʃən.əl/
adj. 有功能的
- 相关词汇：function（n. 功能）搭配短语：functional and decorative plates例句：Bathrooms don't have to be purely functional.
be bombarded with
被大量提问，批评或者信息攻击
- 相关词汇：bomb（n. 炸弹）相关词汇：bombard（v. 轰炸；轰击）
- 例句：The navy bombarded the shore.
- 搭配短语：bombard sb./sth. (with sth.)
例句：We are bombarded daily with information about what we should do.
retain
/rɪˈteɪn/
v. 保持；继续容纳
- 英文释义：to continue to hold or contain something例句：These plants will need a soil that retains moisture during the summer months例句：She has a good memory and finds it easy to retain facts.
recall
/ˈriː.kɑːl/
v. 记起；回忆起
- 词根词缀：re-（又，再）词根词缀：call（呼叫）英文释义：to remember something from the past例句：Someone says hi on the street and I can't recall their name.（注：their 为第三人称单数的性别中立代词，表示“某人的”）
cope with
处理，应付
- 英文释义：to deal successfully with something difficult例句：It must be difficult to cope with a young kid and a job.
commute
/kəˈmjuːt/
n. 通勤
- 词性拓展：commute（v. 通勤）
- 例句：I commute long distances to work every day.（v.）
例句：I have a long commute to work every day.（n.）
route
/ruːt/
n. 路线
- 发音拓展：/raʊt/搭配短语：an escape route in case of fire例句：We took the scenic route.
incorporate
/ɪnˈkɔːr.pɚ.eɪt/
v. 包含；吸收
- 搭配短语：a diet that incorporates many different fruits and vegetables例句：The new lesson will incorporate users' feedback.
standpoint
/ˈstænd.pɔɪnt/
n. 立场；观点
- 近义短语：point of view搭配短语：a political standpoint搭配短语：a theoretical standpoint搭配短语：from a … standpoint
- 例句：From an economic standpoint, the policy is sound.
相关词汇：from the standpoint of somebody- 搭配短语：a discussion of marriage from the standpoint of women
in response to
针对某事的反应；针对某事的答复
- 相关词汇：response（n. 反应，响应；回答；答复）例句：Our lesson was developed in response to users' demand.例句：I am writing in response to your email.
hunter-gatherer
n. 游猎采集者；采猎者
- 相关词汇：hunter（n. 狩猎者）
- 相关词汇：hunt（v. 打猎）
相关词汇：gatherer（n. 收集者）- 相关词汇：gather（v. 收集）
- 搭配短语：prehistoric hunters and gatherers
搭配短语：a tribe of hunter-gatherers
rival
/ˈraɪ.vəl/
n. 竞争对手；敌手
- 搭配短语：romantic rivals例句：The teams have been longtime rivals.搭配短语：a rival team/company
cub
/kʌb/
n. 幼兽，幼崽
- 搭配短语：a lioness guarding her cubs
label
/ˈleɪ.bəl/
v. 贴标签于；用标签标明
- 词性拓展：label（n. 标签）
- 例句：There's a label on the bottle with our order details.
例句：She likes to label each item with the contents and the date.
a host of
许多；大量
- 相关词汇：host（n. 主人；东道主）近义短语：a large number of搭配短语：a host of possibilities搭配短语：a whole host of
- 例句：There was a whole host of reasons why the business failed.
