-
Unit 2 Remembering and Forgetting
Special Delivery
[1] Arriving at the airport, I
discovered that my brother's flight had been
delayed for
an
hour.
Usually
when
I
wait
around
the
airport
to
meet
a
flight,
I
pass
the
time
by
watching planes land and
take off, but that evening I had a bad headache. I
thought the
noise of jet engines might
make it worse, so I decided to walk around inside
the airport
for a while.
[2]
As I was walking by the shops, I happened to see a
display of flight bags, which
reminded
me of my briefcase. I realized that I was not
carrying it now. Quickly I tried to
remember where I might have left it.
Knowing that I had not stopped anywhere since I
left the airline ticket counter, I
concluded I must have put it down there. I hurried
back to
get it, but my briefcase was
nowhere in sight. At first I was sure that
somebody had just
walked
off
with
it,
but
then
I
realized
there
was
a
chance
that
whoever
found
it
might
have
turned
it in
at
the
counter,
I waited in
line
for
my
turn
at
the
counter
and
then
I
described the briefcase and asked if
by any chance it had been turned in. The agent
shook
his head. Then I glanced over his
shoulder at the conveyor belt that was moving
baggage
from the check-in counter down
to the loading area and I shouted,
as
the
agent
turned
to
look,
the
briefcase
reached
the
end
of
the
conveyor
belt
and
vanished from view .
[3]
[4]
back
now?
[5]
and I think we can catch it before it's
loaded on a flight.
[6]
I
don't
have
a
claim
check!
I
replied.
didn't
check
it!
I'm
not
going
anywhere.
I'm just
here
to
meet
a
flight.
myself
down
a
bit,
I
explained what
had
happened
and
suggested
that
the
bag
had
probably
been
turned
in
at
the
counter
where
one of the agents had checked it with other
baggage and placed it on the conveyor
belt.
[7] The
agent
told
me
that
the
only
way
he
could
find
it
would
be
to
have
a
claim
form with a
description of what the briefcase looked like. By
the time I filled out the form
and the
agent called down to the baggage area, the
briefcase had already been loaded on
one of the flights, but they didn't
know which one. The agent took my phone number and
promised they would call as soon as
they found the briefcase. Even though I lived in
Sioux
City,
which
was
an
hour-and-
a-half
drive
away,
they
would
deliver
it
to
my
address
as
soon as they got it back.
[8] My brother's flight
arrived and, after getting his suitcases, we
headed for my car
in the parking lot.
During the drive home I told him all about the
briefcase. When we got
home and were
unloading the car, I could hardly believe my eyes
when my brother took a
briefcase out of
the car. The briefcase I thought I had lost had
never been taken into the
airport! It
had been on the floor in the back seat. I realized
that at that moment the airline
people
were checking each piece of baggage on their
Denver, St. Louis and Chicago flights,
looking for my briefcase. The thought
of having to call and tell them I had found it in
my
car was painful.
[9] As we walked in the
house the telephone was ringing. Answering it, I
was shocked
when
an
airline
worker
said,
have
good
news
for
you!
We
found
your briefcase
in
Denver.
It
should
be
here
by
eleven
o'clock
and
will
be
delivered
to
you
shortly
after
midnight.
特种快递
1
到了机场才发现我兄弟达成的班机延误了一小时。
通常我在机场等候接人时，
会把时
间消磨在观看
飞机起降上。可那天晚上我头疼的厉害。我想喷气发动机所发出的噪音会使
头痛的更厉害
，于是决定在
机场内逛一会儿。
2
当我走过那些店铺时，碰巧看到
陈列在那儿的航空箱包，这是我想起了自己的公文
包。我这才意识
到没有提着它。我马上努力回忆：会把它遗忘在哪儿呢。自从离开航空公
司票务柜台后，我没有在其他
任何地方停留过，
所以我推想，我一定是把包放下后留在那
里了。我急忙回去取，可是公文包已无影无
踪。起先我确信一定有人顺手把它提走了，但
随后想，也有可能看到包的人已把它交给了柜台，便在票
务柜台排队等候。轮到我是，我
描述了包的特征，并询问会不会有人把它交到了柜台，那
位航空公司代
理摇了摇头。这是
我朝
他身后的行李输送带瞥了一眼，输送带正把行李从办理登记手续处往下面的装货
区传
送。我大声叫道：
“
我的包就在那儿！
”
然而，当代理回头看时，公文包已传送到输送带的
尽
头，突
然消失看不见了。
3 “
你看到自己的包了？
”
代理问我。
4 “
是的！
”
我大声地说。
“
它刚穿过那边那个口子。这下我怎么才能把它取回来呢？
”
5
“
这不难，
”
代理回答说：
“
把你的行李领取凭证给我，我想我们能够在装机前截住
它
。
”
6
“
可我没有行李凭证！
”
我答道。
“
我没办托运！我哪儿都不去，我是来接人的。
”
我平静了一下情绪，
解释了事情的经过，并指出很可能有人把包交到了柜台，而某位代理
把它和其
他行李一起办了托运并放
到了传送带上。
7
代理告诉我，
能找回包的唯一办法
是，
填写一张认领单，
在上面写清公文包的外观特
征。
等我填完
表格，
代理打电话到下面的行李区查询时，
（得
知）
包已被装上了一架班机，
但不知是哪一架。代理抄下
了我的电话号码，并保证他们一找到包就给我打电话。尽管我
住在苏城，离机场有一个半小时的车程，
他们还是会一找到包就把它送到我家来。
8
我兄弟的航班到了。我们领了他
的箱子后便走向停车场找我的车。回家的路上，我
把公文包的是告
诉了她。到了家，我们把行李从车上卸下来。当我兄弟从车里拿出一只公
文包时，我真不敢相信自己的
眼睛。原以为已丢
失的公文包其实根本就没有被带进机场！
它一直躺在后座的地上。我意识到，此时此
刻航空公司的人正在开往丹佛、圣路易斯和芝
加哥的航班上逐一检查行李，寻找我的公文包。我还得打
电话告诉他们，已经在自己的车
里找到了包，一想到要打这个电话，心里真叫痛苦。
9
我们走进
屋子时电话铃正响着。听电话时，我惊呆了，电话里一位航空公司的工作
人员说：
“
我们有
好消息告诉你！我们在丹佛找到了你的公文包，
11
点前应该能到这里。
午夜后不久便能送到你家。
”
Memory and the Human Brain
[1] Is it possible to know exactly how
memory works in humans and other intelligent
animals? Some people believe that it
never will be. But some scientists, who are
studying
the function of the brain and
its relationship to memory, do not share this
view.
[2]
It
is
now
well
known
that
memory,
like
other
brain
functions,
is
located
in
specific parts of the brain in humans.
These parts may be identified and their location
in
the
brain
may
be
established.
They
work
together
in
both
short-term
and
long-term
memory. Although
scientists have not yet fully studied the brain,
much progress has been
made. One day
the mind will be described fully both in
biological and mental terms.
[3] Some people claim that they can
recall things which happened many years ago.
Have you ever had the same experience?
The fact is, these long-term memories are very
accurate in detail and can be compared
to a movie in the brain. Once we start the movie
going, we experience the entire memory.
This movie in the mind (brain) is the reason why
we have a sense of self. We know who we
are and we know that we exist.
[4] Try to think of
something like a long poem, a joke, or a song you
learned in early
elementary school. If
you remember it, you can often repeat the entire
poem or song in
quite accurate detail.
You will often remember the reason why you were
asked to learn
this poem or song. It
may have been for a show to which families were
invited, or it may
have been a pleasant
holiday meeting where your parents asked you to
tell them what you
had learned.