The human brain is hardwired to map our surroundings. This trait is called spatial memory—our ability to remember certain locations and where objects are in relation to one another. New findings published today in Scientific Reports suggest that one major feature of our spatial recall is efficiently locating high-calorie, energy-rich food. The study’s authors believe human spatial memory ensured that our hunter-gatherer ancestors could prioritize the location of reliable nutrition, giving them an evolutionary leg up.
In the study, researchers at Wageningen University & Research observed 512 participants follow a fixed path through a room where either eight food samples or eight food-scented cotton pads were placed in different locations. When they arrived at a sample, the participants would taste the food or smell the cotton and rate how much they liked it. Four of the food samples were high-calorie, including brownies and potato chips, and the other four, including cherry tomatoes and apples, were low in calories—diet foods, you might call them.
After the taste test, the participants were asked to identify the location of each sample on a map of the room. They were nearly 30 percent more accurate at mapping the high-calorie samples versus the low-calorie ones, regardless of how much they liked those foods or odors. They were also 243 percent more accurate when presented with actual foods, as opposed to the food scents.
“Our main takeaway message is that human minds seem to be designed for efficiently locating high-calorie foods in our environment,” says Rachelle de Vries, at Wageningen University. She feels her team’s findings support the idea that locating valuable caloric resources was an important and regularly occurring problem for early humans weathering the climate shifts. “Those with a better memory for where and when high-calorie food resources would be availably were likely to have a survival—or fitness—advantage,” she explains.
1. What is spatial memory?
2. What did researchers do in the study?
3. Which of the following statement is the result of the study?
4. According Rachelle de Vries, what is the reason for the results?
问题1选项
A.The capability of memorizing the objects and their shapes.
B.The capacity of human brain to recall names of places.
C.The ability to remember places where people come from.
D.The brain power of retrieving the location of objects.
问题2选项
A.Participants were asked to eat different foods and tell the places of the foods on a map later.
B.Participants were asked to taste different foods, smell different scent, and tell which ones they like.
C.Participants were told to eat different foods and label the locations the foods where they were found.
D.Participants were asked to report their feeling when they were given different kinds of foods and scents.
问题3选项
A.Participants eating high-calorie foods were more energetic.
B.Participants eating diet foods were found with more acute memory.
C.Participants eating high-calorie foods remembered the location better.
D.Participants eating foods had better memory than those smelled the scents.
问题4选项
A.Human brains have evolved to react more actively to food than to scent.
B.Human minds have become better remembering reliable food for survival.
C.Human brains have been designed to high-calorie food.
D.Human minds would lower the desire for food when it is not fully available.
第1题:
【选项释义】
What is spatial memory? 什么是空间记忆？
A. The capability of memorizing the objects and their shapes. A. 记忆物体及其形状的能力。
B. The capacity of human brain to recall names of places. B. 人类大脑回忆地名的能力。
C. The ability to remember places where people come from. C. 记住人们来自哪里的能力。
D. The brain power of retrieving the location of objects. D. 大脑检索物体位置的能力。
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词spatial memory定位到原文第一段第二句，该句提到“这种特征被称为空间记忆——我们记住物体特定位置以及物体之间的位置关系的能力（our ability to remember certain locations and where objects are in relation to one another）。”由此可知，空间记忆指的是物体在空间中的位置，以及物体之间位置关系的能力，D选项“大脑检索物体位置的能力”最符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“记忆物体及其形状的能力”，原文主要指的是物体的位置，而不是物体及其形状，该选项属于无中生有；
B选项“人类大脑回忆地名的能力”，原文并没有提到地名，该选项属于无中生有；
C选项“记住人们来自哪里的能力”，原文并没有提到人来自哪里，该选项属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What did researchers do in the study? 研究人员在研究中做了什么？
A. Participants were asked to eat different foods and tell the places of the foods on a map later. A. 参与者被要求吃不同的食物，然后在地图上判断出这些食物的位置。
B. Participants were asked to taste different foods, smell different scent, and tell which ones they like. B. 参与者被要求品尝不同的食物，闻不同的气味，并说出他们喜欢的食物。
C. Participants were told to eat different foods and label the locations the foods where they were found. C. 参与者被要求吃不同的食物，并在找到食物的位置上贴标签。
D. Participants were asked to report their feeling when they were given different kinds of foods and scents. D. 参与者被要求汇报他们吃不同种类的食物、闻不同气味时的感觉。
【答案】A
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】本文的话题是“空间记忆”，与物体的位置有关，研究人员所做的实验也是有关这一点的。原文第二段第二句提到“当他们到达一个样品的位置时，参与者会品尝食物或者闻味道（taste the food or smell the cotton），并根据喜爱程度对它们进行打分（rate how much they liked it.）。”第三段第一句提到“在味觉测试之后，参与者被要求在房间的地图上辨认每个样品的位置（identify the location of each sample on a map of the room）。”由此可知，研究人员要求参与者先品尝食物或者闻味道，然后根据喜爱程度对它们进行打分，最后在一个地图上标出它们的位置。原文第三段第二句提到“不管他们有多喜欢这些食物或气味（regardless of how much they liked those foods or odors），他们在绘制高热量食物和低热量食物的图谱时，准确率都提高了近30%。”由此可知，研究人员让参与者进行打分，只是为了研究对食物的喜爱程度是否会影响人的空间记忆。综上所述，A选项“参与者被要求吃不同的食物，然后在地图上判断出这些食物的位置”，最符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“参与者被要求品尝不同的食物，闻不同的气味，并说出他们喜欢的食物”，原文只提到参与者被要求给不同的食物进行喜爱程度打分，并不需要说出或判断他们喜欢哪一个，研究人员这么做是想看对食物的喜爱程度是否会影响人的空间记忆，该选项漏掉了最重要的“要求他们在房间的地图上辨认每个样品的位置”，因此该选项属于曲解原文、以偏概全；
C选项“参与者被要求吃不同的食物，并在找到食物的位置上贴标签”，原文没有提到“在找到食物的位置上贴标签”，该选项属于无中生有；
D选项“参与者被要求汇报他们吃不同种类的食物、闻不同气味时的感觉”，原文并没有提到“参与者被要求汇报自己对事物的感觉”，只提到了“被要求根据喜爱程度对食物进行打分”，并且这并不是研究的重点，该选项属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following statement is the result of the study? 下面哪个陈述是这项研究的结果？
A. Participants eating high-calorie foods were more energetic. A. 吃高热量食物的参与者精力更充沛。
B. Participants eating diet foods were found with more acute memory. B. 吃减肥食品的参与者记忆力更敏锐。
C. Participants eating high-calorie foods remembered the location better. C. 吃高热量食物的参与者对位置的记忆更好。
D. Participants eating foods had better memory than those smelled the scents. D. 吃东西的参与者比闻味道的参与者记忆更好。
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词the result of the study定位到原文第三段。该段第二句提到“他们在地图上标高热量食物时，比标记低热量食物，准确率高了近30%（30 percent more accurate）。与闻食物气味相比，他们面对真实食物时的准确率要高出243%（243 percent more accurate）。”由此可知，参与者对高热量食物位置的记忆力更好，并且吃东西比闻味道更有助于记住食物的位置。因此，C选项“吃高热量食物的参与者对位置的记忆更好”符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“吃高热量食物的参与者精力更充沛”，原文没有对参与者的精力进行比较，该选项属于无中生有；
B选项“吃减肥食品的参与者记忆力更敏锐”，原文实验发现参与者对高热量食物的记忆更敏锐，而不是减肥食品，该选项属于反向干扰；
D选项“吃东西的参与者比闻味道的参与者记忆更好”，原文只提到吃东西的参与者比闻气味的参与者对食物的位置的记忆更好，而选项将其扩大到整个记忆都更好，该选项属于过度推理。
第4题:
【选项释义】
According Rachelle de Vries, what is the reason for the results? 蕾切尔•德•弗里斯认为，导致这些结果的原因是什么？
A. Human brains have evolved to react more actively to food than to scent. A. 人脑已经进化到对食物的反应比对气味的反应更积极。
B. Human minds have become better remembering reliable food for survival. B. 人脑已经变得能更好地记住生存所需的可靠的食物。
C. Human brains have been designed to high-calorie food. C. 人脑是为高热量的食物而设计的。
D. Human minds would lower the desire for food when it is not fully available. D. 当食物不足时，人脑会降低对食物的欲望。
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Rachelle de Vries定位到原文最后一段。本段第一句提到“人类的大脑似乎是为了有效地定位周围环境中的高热量食物而设计的（be designed for efficiently locating high-calorie foods in our environment）。”本段最后一句提到“那些对何时何地可获得高热量食物资源有更好记忆的人可能具有生存或健康优势。”由此可知，高热量的食物更有利于生存，在进化的过程中，人脑进化到能够更好地记住哪里、什么时候可以找到高热量食物。因此，B选项“人脑已经变得能更好地记住生存所需的可靠的食物”最符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“人脑已经进化到对食物的反应比对气味的反应更积极”，可定位到原文第三段最后一句，该句提到“与闻食物气味相比，他们面对真实食物时的准确率要高出243%”，但这是实验结果，而非蕾切尔•德•弗里斯（Rachelle de Vries）对结果的解释，该选项属于出处错位；
C选项“人脑是为高热量的食物而设计的”，原文提到“人脑是为寻找高热量的食物而设计的”，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项“当食物不足时，人脑会降低对食物的欲望”，原文并未提及，该选项属于无中生有。
【文章来源】《科学美国人》（Scientific American）2020
【参考译文】
人类的大脑天生就能描绘我们周围的环境。这种特征被称为空间记忆——我们记住特定位置以及物体之间相互关系的能力。今天发表在《科学报告》上的新发现表明，我们空间记忆的一个主要特征是能有效地定位高热量、高能量的食物。该研究的作者认为，人类的空间记忆确保了我们的狩猎—采集祖先能够优先考虑可靠营养的位置，使他们在进化中处于领先地位。
在这项研究中，瓦赫宁根大学的研究人员观察了512名参与者，他们沿着一条固定的路径穿过一个房间，在这个房间里，八个食物样本或八个有食物香味的棉垫被放置在不同的位置。当他们拿到样品时，参与者会品尝食物或闻棉花，并评价他们有多喜欢它。其中四种食物样本是高热量的，包括布朗尼和薯片，而其他四种，包括圣女果和苹果，你可以把它们称为低热量减肥食品。
在味道测试之后，参与者被要求在房间地图上识别每个样品的位置。不管他们有多喜欢这些食物或气味，他们在绘制高热量样本时比绘制低热量样本的准确率高出近30%。当他们看到真实的食物时，他们的准确率要比闻到食物气味时高出243%。
瓦赫宁根大学的蕾切尔•德•弗里斯说：“我们得到的主要信息是，人类的大脑似乎生来就能有效地在我们的环境中找到高热量食物。”她认为，她团队的发现支持了这样一种观点，即寻找有价值的热量资源是早期人类经受气候变化的一个重要且经常发生的问题。她解释说：“那些对高热量食物资源在何时何地可用的记忆力较好的人，可能会有生存优势，或健康优势。”
