I .Read the text about memories and do the tasks if the statements 1–7 are true (T) or false (F) and multiply choice
OLD MEMORIES
What is memory? It is the ability to remember past thoughts and feelings. If we didn’t remember anything, we wouldn’t learn anything. All our experiences would be lost when they ended.
So why do we forget some things? In general, it is time which has an effect on our memory. It passes, we learn something new, and that replaces what we learned before. An example of this is when we get a new telephone number. It takes some time to learn because we can’t stop thinking of the number we had before.
You can also forget something because you want to forget it, perhaps because it is a bad memory. Sometimes a smell, a sound, a taste or a word makes you suddenly think of it again. This has happened to me.
The other day I was out shopping with my wife and children. We were in the supermarket when I heard my name. I turned round and looked into the face of a man. He seemed familiar, although older and greyer than I expected. Maybe it was someone I hadn’t seen for a long time. From work? An old friend? A neighbour? I was annoyed with myself. Who was it? I had completely forgotten. The man smiled. ‘You don’t remember me, do you, Shorty?’ That’s when I remembered.
‘Shorty’ was what everybody called me at school. I was the short boy who nobody ever wanted on their basketball team. At the time, it seemed like the most important thing in the world. I used to spend hours of my spare time trying hard to get balls in baskets. Finally, I gave up and took up tennis.
I hadn’t thought about those days for years. I hadn’t wanted to remember them. It had not been a pleasant feeling to know I wasn’t as good as everybody else. I said hello to this person from my past, and walked away as soon as I could. The curious thing was I was taller than him now.
1 To be able to learn new things we must remember some of the old ones. _
True
False