环球英语 — 234：The Mysteries of Memory

Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for Spotlight¹. I’m Joshua Leo.

Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1
People call one man “the human camera.” He sees a picture or thing once. Later, he draws it from memory. Almost every detail of his created picture is perfect.

Voice 2
Another man can remember every word in an English dictionary. He can define² every word in this huge word book.

Voice 1
A woman can remember every detail of every day of her life. She has had this ability since she was eleven [11] years old.

Voice 2
How can these people remember all this information? These abilities are amazing. But what makes these people’s memories so different? Would you want a memory like this? Today’s Spotlight is on the mysteries of memory.

Voice 1
Where do you live? Could you draw a picture of the place? Would you remember how many windows it had? Would you remember to draw the chair in the corner? Could you remember the small scratches³ or other damage on the chair? Well, one man could.

Voice 2
Steven Wiltshire is from the United⁴ Kingdom. People call him “the human camera.” Steven is an amazing artist. He does not use a camera to take a picture. Instead, he uses his memory.

Voice 1
Steven is especially skilled⁵ at drawing buildings. He can draw an exact copy of any building, no matter how complex⁶ it is. And he only needs to see it once.

Voice 2
A group of experts tested Steven’s skills. They took Steven on a short helicopter⁷ ride over the city of London. After the ride the experts asked Steven to draw London. And he did! In three [3] hours, Steven drew over ten [10] square kilometres of the city of London. This included over two hundred [200] different buildings.

Voice 1
Kim Peek⁸ has similarly⁹ amazing abilities. He lives in the United States. Kim does not use his memory to draw. He uses it to store millions of facts. He has memorized over seven thousand [7,000] books. He can remember what happened in each one.

Voice 2
Any person can memorize a small amount of information. They learn it, and then they can remember it at any time. You have memorized where your house is. You have memorized the names of your parents, friends, and children. But it is almost impossible for a normal person to memorize a whole book.

Voice 1
Kim has also memorized different facts about sports, music, history, literature, dates, numbers, maps, and more! Even as a very young child, Kim showed these abilities.

Voice 2
Steven and Kim both have savant syndrome¹⁰ – they are savants. You may have heard a Spotlight program about savants before. Many of them have special skills. Savants can remember huge amounts of information about particular subjects. At the same time, they lack knowledge about other subjects. Many savants have some kind of damage to the left side of their brain. Some savants suffer developmental disabilities. And they usually do not have an easy time communicating with other people.

Voice 1
Recently, memory experts have been interested in another person’s amazing memory. AJ is only average at memorizing facts and lists. Instead, she remembers the details of everything she experiences. In fact, she can remember almost every detail of her life since she was eleven [11] years old.

Voice 2
Memory experts have studied AJ since the year 2000. They have tested her memory in many different ways. Some people claim to have abilities similar to AJ’s. But, when they are tested, doctors find that these claims are false. Other people can have amazing memories. But they use special mind tricks. Or, they are savants, like Steven and Kim. But memory experts say that AJ is not a savant. And she does not use any special method to memorize her past.

Voice 1
Doctors asked AJ questions about her past. They could say a date. For example, they could ask AJ what happened on April 13, 1987. AJ could remember what day of the week that was. She could remember details about the weather that day. She could remember making bread with her mother. But she could also remember important world events that may have happened on that day.

Voice 2
Doctors also tested AJ’s ability to memorize lists of objects, facts, or words. But AJ did not show the same ability to memorize these things. Her amazing memory only works¹¹ for what she has experienced¹².

Voice 1
AJ describes her memory like a film that is always playing. She says that her mind records her life like a film camera records a film. She says she stores the ‘film’ of her life like a book in a library. When she wants, she can find that day again in her mind. She can watch the film in her memory.

Voice 2
For AJ, her memory is both a blessing¹³ and a problem. She tells about remembering the good times. She says these good memories help her. But she also remembers all the bad things she has experienced. She experiences the pain of every bad memory she has had again and again.

Voice 1
What about you? Do you think a memory like AJ’s would be a gift? Or do you think it would be a problem? You would remember all the good things. But you would also remember all the pain and sadness in your life. Would you want to know someone with a memory like this? They would remember all the bad things you may have done to them.

Voice 2
Well, Christians¹⁴ believe that God does have a memory like this. God remembers everything we do – good or bad. Christians believe that the bad things we do, sins¹⁵, hurt God. But they also believe that it is impossible to stop sinning¹⁶. This can sound like really bad news! Every person, no matter who they are, has done terrible things.

Voice 1
But there IS good news. God has also made a promise to people. He says that if they believe in him, and ask for forgiveness, he will forget all of their sins! He promises to forgive us. The Bible¹⁷ says:

Voice 3
“...You have loaded me down with your sins.
You have made me tired with the wrong things you have done.
I am the one who wipes out your sins.
I do it because of who I am.
I will not remember your sins anymore.”
[Isaiah 43:24b–25]

 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

3 scratches   

n.搔痒( scratch的名词复数 )；抓痕；刮擦声

参考例句：

• Aside from a few scratches, I'm OK. 除了几处擦伤外，我安然无恙。
• I heard the scratches on the old records. 我听到旧唱片的沙沙声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

5 skilled   

adj.(in)熟练的，有技能的；需要技能的

参考例句：

• Unskilled workers usually earn less money than skilled workers.无技能的工人通常比有技能的工人挣钱少。
• She was skilled enough in French to translate a novel.她法语娴熟，足以翻译小说。

6 complex   

adj.复杂的，合成的，综合的；n.联合体

参考例句：

• What he said was too complex for me to understand.他说的太复杂了，我无法了解。
• Justice is part of the complex machinery of the law.正义是复杂的法律机器的一部分。

7 helicopter   

n.直升飞机；vt.用直升飞机载送；vi.乘直升飞机

参考例句：

• The helicopter flying at a height of 5,000 meters.这架直升机正在五千米的高空飞行。
• The pilot landed the helicopter in a rice field.飞行员将直升飞机降落在一片稻田里。

8 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

9 similarly   

adv.类似地，相似地

参考例句：

• He was late and I similarly was delayed.他迟到了，我也晚了。
• These two pages are similarly glued together.这两页好像粘在一起了。

10 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

11 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

12 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

15 sins   

n.违背宗教[道德原则]的恶行( sin的名词复数 )；罪恶，罪孽；过错，罪过；愚蠢的事，可耻的事v.犯罪，犯过错( sin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Greed is one of the seven deadly sins . 贪婪是七罪宗之一。
• They had confessed their sins and done their penance. 他们已经告罪并做了补赎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 sinning   

v.犯罪，犯过错( sin的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They are sinning against the most sacred possession of the German people. 他们正在亵渎德国人民最神圣的东西。 来自辞典例句
• You were more sinned against than sinning, that I admit. 我倒承认，与其说是你把别人害了，不如说是别人把你害了。 来自辞典例句

17 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。