RESEARCH INTO MEMORY
People with greater working-memory capacity may be able to suppress unwanted memories, according to Chris Brewin of University College London. He says that the process of inhibiting memories, or forgetting, uses up mental resources `-` that forgetting is an active rather than a passive process `-` and that it is surprisingly important for useful brain function. Many of our everyday memories aren't lost or thrown away, they are just merged. As time passes, the details drop away and only the broad outlines remain. You don't remember every breakfast you ate as a child, but you will remember those foods you habitually ate or never liked. In other words, you remember the gist of breakfast past.
Barry Gordon of Johns Hopkins University likens human memory to the lossy system used in MP3 music files. Information that's not essential is deleted and what's left is compressed. Gordon believes that this process of forgetting is crucial if the brain is to generate new ideas `-` that remembering too much detail prevents you from seeing the pattern. He has noticed that some people with fantastic memories for detail lament the fact that they never have original thoughts. It could just be that they can't see the wood for the trees.
`1,` The example of breakfast illustrates the fact that ______________
A. we can access distant memories.
B. the brain chooses to recall certain details.
C. the brain compensates for lost information.
D. we can remember the main ideas but not the details.
`2,` Barry Gordon's work suggests that forgetting _______________
A. is an aid to creativity.
B. is a conscious process.
C. has no predetermined pattern.
D. can inhibit certain thought processes.