Title VSTEP-Reading test 5.docx ✅

Code 5 - Page 2 of 15 For Anna, in contrast, the past is always there. ‘My memory flows like a movie’, she says. She remembers who called her on the phone at 12.34 on Sunday August 3, 1986. She remembers that on March 28 1992, she had lunch with her father at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She remembers what they ate, every word of the conversation. She remembers great world events and shopping trips. She remembers the weather. Every day is there, every detail. Anna believes it is something that happens to her naturally, but it is not an ability she welcomes. ‘I remember the good things, which is nice. But I also remember the bad things, every bad choice. Ten years later, I still get angry with myself for making the wrong decisions. I don’t forgive myself for a lot of things. I would love for just five minutes to be a simple person and not have all this stuff in my head. Most people call it a gift. But I call it a burden.’ Scientists are unsure why Anna’s memory is so extraordinary, but both of these cases demonstrate the importance of memory. Eddy's case shows us how essential memory is for us to function; but Anna's shows that if our memories are to function properly, we also need to be able to forget. 1. The best title for this article would be … A. Memory Loss. B. Memory Wonders. C. Unexplained Memory Mysteries. D. The importance of memory 2. The aim of the text is to … A. arouse sympathy. B. describe an experiment C. interest and inform. D. describe some scientific progress. 3. Anna and Eddy are similar in that they … A. both work in the same area. B. are both extreme examples. C. come from the same state.
Code 5 - Page 3 of 15 D. all have a cheeful life. 4. Eddy appears to be … A. cheerful B. anxious C. shy D. strained 5. Eddy’s condition was caused by … A. a childhood illness. B. an accident when he was in the Navy. C. an unhappy childhood D. an infection in later life. 6. In the mornings, Eddy is often unable to remember … A. whether he has eaten. B. how to use the radio. C. how to make breakfast. D. Both A and C 7. Carol says that her father … A. does not have a real problem. B. is worried about the future. C. seems to be quite content. D. is unhappy when he knows his problems. 8. For Anna, August 3 rd 1986 and March 28 th 1992 … A. were special anniversaries. B. marked the start of two important periods. C. were ordinary days. D. were the days she went shopping with her friends. 9. According to the text, Anna’s memory … A.is only visual. B. is the result of years of training. C. is a gift for her.
Code 5 - Page 4 of 15 D. is unusually accurate. 10. Anna says that her memory is … A. difficult to live with. B. an extraordinary gift. C. simple to understand. D. helpful for her PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20 The Earth is known as the Blue Planet because of its color when viewed from space by our astronauts. We enjoy sunny days when the sky is blue but it seems to be a “mystery” why the sky and atmosphere appear blue. But it’s really a matter of how the human eye works and how light interacts with air molecules in the atmosphere. Remember that humans can see visible light, those wavelengths between 400 nanometers and 700 nanometers. Visible light is divided into colors also by wavelength and this is called the color spectrum. The blue range that includes violet has the shortest wavelengths of any visible light. When light interacts with any kind of molecules, its energy can be absorbed, reflected or scattered. Light is scattered when it hits gases in the atmosphere. The amount of light that is scattered is related to the size of the particle compared to the wavelength of the light falling on the particle. Since blue and violet have the shortest wavelength they are scattered the most by molecules of gases in the atmosphere. Because of this scattering there is more of the blue wavelength in the atmosphere than any other. The human eye has cones dedicated to receiving blue wavelength, so we see the sky as blue without noticing the traces of purple. Another “mystery” of nature is how rainbows are formed. Rainbows are seen only after it rains and the atmosphere contains water droplets. Sunlight enters the water droplets, is bent by the droplet and is reflected out of the droplet. The different colors are bent by an amount related to their wavelength so the result is a spectrum like that produced by a prism.