Part A: Reading Comprehension
Text 3
The Internet may be changing merely what we remember, not our capacity to do so, suggests Columbia University psychology professor Betsy Sparrow. In 2011, Sparrow led a study in which participants were asked to record 40 factoids in a computer ("an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain," for example). Half of the participants were told the information would be erased, while the other half were told it would be saved. Guess what? The latter group made no effort to recall the information when quizzed on it later, because they knew they could find it on their computers. In the same study, a group was asked to remember both the information and the folders it was stored in. They didn't remember the information, but they remembered how to find the folders. In other words, human memory is not deteriorating but "adapting to new communications technology," Sparrow says.
In a very practical way, the Internet is becoming an external hard drive for our memories, a process known as "cognitive offloading." Traditionally, this role was fulfilled by data banks, libraries, and other humans. Your father may never remember birthdays because your mother does, for instance. Some worry that this is having a destructive effect on society, but Sparrow sees an upside. Perhaps, she suggests, the trend will change our approach to learning from a focus on individual facts and memorization to an emphasis on more conceptual thinking—something that is not available on the Internet. "I personally have never seen all that much intellectual value in memorizing things," Sparrow says, adding that we haven't lost our ability to do it.
Still other experts say it's too soon to understand how the Internet affects our brains. There is no experimental evidence showing that it interferes with our ability to focus, for instance, wrote psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel J. Simons. And surfing the web exercised the brain more than reading did among computer-savvy older adults in a 2008 study involving 24 participants at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"There may be costs associated with our increased reliance on the Internet, but I'd have to imagine that overall the benefits are going to outweigh those costs," observes psychology professor Benjamin Storm. "It seems pretty clear that memory is changing, but is it changing for the better? At this point, we don't know."
31. Sparrow's study shows that with the Internet, the human brain will ______.
32. The process of "cognitive offloading" ______.
33. Which of the following would Sparrow support about the Internet?
34. It is indicated in Paragraph 3 that how the Internet affects our brains ______.
35. Neither Sparrow nor Storm would agree that ______.
答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)
31. [C] switch its focus of memory.
解析：细节题。第一段最后一句明确指出 Sparrow 的研究结论："human memory is not deteriorating but 'adapting to new communications technology'"——人类记忆并没有退化，而是"适应新的通信技术"。适应新技术意味着大脑转换了记忆的焦点/方式，不再死记硬背信息本身，而是记住如何找到信息。对应 [C] 选项"转换记忆焦点"。
32. [D] lessens our memory burdens.
解析：细节题。第二段将互联网比作记忆的"外部硬盘"（external hard drive），传统上这个角色由数据库、图书馆和其他人来完成。例如父亲不记生日因为母亲记得。这说明认知卸载的核心功能是减轻记忆负担，把信息存储外包给外部系统，对应 [D] 选项。
33. [A] It may reform our learning approach.
解析：细节题。第二段中 Sparrow 明确表示："the trend will change our approach to learning from a focus on individual facts and memorization to an emphasis on more conceptual thinking"——这一趋势将改变我们的学习方式，从关注个别事实和记忆转向更强调概念性思维。即互联网可能改革学习方法，对应 [A] 选项。
34. [A] requires further academic research.
解析：推断题。第三段首句直接点明："it's too soon to understand how the Internet affects our brains"——现在了解互联网如何影响大脑还为时过早。后面引用 Chabris 和 Simons 的话说没有实验证据表明互联网干扰注意力，并以 2008 年仅有 24 名参与者的小型研究为例。这些都暗示该领域需要进一步的学术研究，对应 [A] 选项。
35. [B] the Internet is weakening our memory.
解析：观点对比题。Sparrow 在第一段说人类记忆并没有退化（not deteriorating），只是在适应新技术；Storm 在第四段说"benefits are going to outweigh those costs"（收益将超过代价）。两人都没有认为互联网在削弱记忆，因此都不会同意"互联网正在削弱我们的记忆"这一说法，对应 [B] 选项。
全文翻译
哥伦比亚大学心理学教授贝齐·斯帕罗认为，互联网可能只是改变了我们记忆的内容，而非我们记忆的能力。2011年，斯帕罗领导了一项研究，参与者被要求在计算机中记录40条小知识（例如"鸵鸟的眼睛比它的大脑大"）。一半的参与者被告知这些信息将被删除，而另一半被告知将被保存。你猜怎么着？后一组人在随后被测试时没有努力回忆这些信息，因为他们知道可以在电脑上找到。在同一项研究中，一组人被要求同时记住信息和存储这些信息的文件夹。他们没有记住信息，但记住了如何找到文件夹。换句话说，斯帕罗说，人类记忆并非在退化，而是在"适应新的通信技术"。
以一种非常实际的方式，互联网正成为我们记忆的外部硬盘，这一过程被称为"认知卸载"。传统上，这一角色由数据库、图书馆和其他人来承担。例如，你的父亲可能永远记不住生日，因为你的母亲会记住。有人担心这对社会有破坏性影响，但斯帕罗看到了积极的一面。她提出，也许这一趋势将改变我们的学习方法，从关注个别事实和记忆，转向强调更具概念性的思考——这是互联网上无法获得的东西。"我个人从未觉得记忆事物有太多智力价值，"斯帕罗说，并补充说我们并没有丧失这样做的能力。
然而，其他专家表示，现在理解互联网如何影响我们的大脑还为时过早。例如，心理学家克里斯托弗·查布里斯和丹尼尔·J·西蒙斯写道，没有实验证据表明它干扰了我们的专注能力。而在2008年加州大学洛杉矶分校塞梅尔神经科学和人类行为研究所一项涉及24名参与者的研究中，对于精通计算机的老年人来说，上网比阅读更能锻炼大脑。
"我们对互联网日益增加的依赖可能带来代价，但我不得不设想总体而言好处将超过这些代价，"心理学教授本杰明·斯托姆评论道。"似乎很清楚的是记忆正在变化，但它在变得更好吗？在这一点上，我们还不知道。"
核心长难句精解 (High-Light)
1. 宾语从句 + 比较结构：
"The Internet may be changing merely what we remember, not our capacity to do so, suggests Columbia University psychology professor Betsy Sparrow."
【解析】句子主干为倒装结构 "..., suggests ... professor Betsy Sparrow"。`what we remember` 是 change 的宾语从句，`not our capacity to do so` 与前面的 what 从句形成对比——"改变的是我们记住的内容，而不是记忆的能力"。`merely` 表示"仅仅"，强调改变的有限性。
"The Internet may be changing merely what we remember, not our capacity to do so, suggests Columbia University psychology professor Betsy Sparrow."
【解析】句子主干为倒装结构 "..., suggests ... professor Betsy Sparrow"。`what we remember` 是 change 的宾语从句，`not our capacity to do so` 与前面的 what 从句形成对比——"改变的是我们记住的内容，而不是记忆的能力"。`merely` 表示"仅仅"，强调改变的有限性。
2. 破折号引出同位语 + that 宾语从句：
"Perhaps, she suggests, the trend will change our approach to learning from a focus on individual facts and memorization to an emphasis on more conceptual thinking—something that is not available on the Internet."
【解析】破折号后 `something that...` 是 `conceptual thinking` 的同位语，解释说明"概念性思维"是互联网上无法获得的东西。`from...to...` 结构清晰展示了转变方向：从个别事实记忆 → 概念思维。`she suggests` 是插入语。
"Perhaps, she suggests, the trend will change our approach to learning from a focus on individual facts and memorization to an emphasis on more conceptual thinking—something that is not available on the Internet."
【解析】破折号后 `something that...` 是 `conceptual thinking` 的同位语，解释说明"概念性思维"是互联网上无法获得的东西。`from...to...` 结构清晰展示了转变方向：从个别事实记忆 → 概念思维。`she suggests` 是插入语。
3. 并列句 + 让步转折 + 否定倒装：
"There may be costs associated with our increased reliance on the Internet, but I'd have to imagine that overall the benefits are going to outweigh those costs," observes psychology professor Benjamin Storm. "It seems pretty clear that memory is changing, but is it changing for the better? At this point, we don't know."
【解析】第一句用 `but` 连接让步关系："有代价，但收益大于代价"。`It seems clear that...` 是形式主语句型，真正的意思是"记忆在变化是清楚的"。最后两句是典型学术表达：先肯定现象存在，再质疑方向好坏，最后坦承未知，体现了科学谨慎态度。
"There may be costs associated with our increased reliance on the Internet, but I'd have to imagine that overall the benefits are going to outweigh those costs," observes psychology professor Benjamin Storm. "It seems pretty clear that memory is changing, but is it changing for the better? At this point, we don't know."
【解析】第一句用 `but` 连接让步关系："有代价，但收益大于代价"。`It seems clear that...` 是形式主语句型，真正的意思是"记忆在变化是清楚的"。最后两句是典型学术表达：先肯定现象存在，再质疑方向好坏，最后坦承未知，体现了科学谨慎态度。