Question 13(Multiple Choice Worth 5 points)
(MC)

Memories of a Memory

Have you ever witnessed something amazing, shocking or surprising and found when describing the event that your story seems to change the more you tell it? Have you ever experienced a time when you couldn't really describe something you saw in a way that others could understand? If so, you may understand why some experts think eyewitness testimony is unreliable as evidence in scientific inquiries and trials. New insights into human memory suggest human memories are really a mixture of many non-factual things.

First, memory is vague. Imagine your room at home or a classroom you see every day. Most likely, you could describe the room very generally. You could name the color of the walls, the floors, the decorations. But the image you describe will never be as specific or detailed as if you were looking at the actual room. Memory tends to save a blurry image of what we have seen rather than specific details. So when a witness tries to identify someone, her brain may recall that the person was tall, but not be able to say how tall when faced with several tall people. There are lots of different kinds of "tall."

Second, memory uses general knowledge to fill in gaps. Our brains reconstruct events and scenes when we remember something. To do this, our brains use other memories and other stories when there are gaps. For example, one day at a library you go to quite frequently, you witness an argument between a library patron and one of the librarians. Later, when telling a friend about the event, your brain may remember a familiar librarian behind the desk rather than the actual participant simply because it is recreating a familiar scene. In effect, your brain is combining memories to help you tell the story.

Third, your memory changes over time. It also changes the more you retell the story. Documented cases have shown eyewitnesses adding detail to testimony that could not have been known at the time of the event. Research has also shown that the more a witness's account is told, the less accurate it is. You may have noticed this yourself. The next time you are retelling a story, notice what you add, or what your brain wants to add, to the account. You may also notice that you drop certain details from previous tellings of the story.

With individual memories all jumbled up with each other, it is hard to believe we ever know anything to be true. Did you really break your mother's favorite vase when you were three? Was that really your father throwing rocks into the river with you when you were seven? The human brain may be quite remarkable indeed. When it comes to memory, however, we may want to start carrying video cameras if we want to record the true picture.

Which line from the text most clearly explains the main idea of the final paragraph?

A. With individual memories all jumbled up
B. It is hard to believe we ever know anything
C. The human brain may be quite remarkable indeed
D. We may want to start carrying video cameras

Fifteen-year-old kwan sat on a large boulder on the rocky shore and watched her seven-year-old brother, min, race along the beach close to the water’s edge. the handmade kite, streaming high in the air behind him, created a striking image against the vivid blue sky. occasionally, min called out, “kwan, look at me! i’m flying! i’m flying! ” she beamed and waved at him, urging him on in his glee. she recalled the day her parents first brought home the little bundle from the hospital, the first boy in the family, making her the happiest big sister ever. the family had had a new baby to care for and cherish, and she had a precious little brother to shower with love and attention. min brought joy and delight to the whole household, and his presence completed the family.kwan smiled again as she watched him run along, and she felt great contentment at the pleasure he took in flying the kite they had made together. ever since father had taken min to the korean kite festival, he had begged for a kite of his own. the multicolored dragons, birds, and box kites with their colorful tails and plumes appeared to enchant min as he watched them soar and race in the clear blue sky. he stood mesmerized by the panoply of colors. “someday, i will race a kite in the festival! ” min stated with determination. when min made up his mind that a kite would be the perfect summer project for him and kwan, she was surprised. “i don’t want a kite-making kit,” he informed their father. “i want to build it myself—with kwan’s .” kwan initially wondered why min included her in his quest for a kite, but she quickly realized that her clever brother had correctly surmised that their father would more likely approve the request if min’s big sister were there to him. how could kwan refuse? kwan gazed out at her brother and heard his shrieks of delight as he tried to direct their marvelous flying creation. she watched it wheel, spin, and dive—a wild, colorful bird putting on an aerial display. its gold and red crepe-paper wings fluttered in the air, mimicking the flight of a predatory bird surveying the landscape for prey. it swooped and dived, perhaps discovering a possible meal, and then went airborne again to avoid the rocky terrain below. min was the falconer, guiding his bird on its path through the sky, not yet ready to call it back to the ground. but kwan grew concerned when she looked out at the dark, threatening clouds beginning to roll in off the water. when she saw the streaks of lightning within the cloud formation, she pointed to the distant storm and called out to her little brother to bring in the kite. min nodded and rolled in the kite string, bringing his bird home. “let’s go,” kwan told her brother and put her arm around him to fold him safely under her wing as they both held onto the kite. “it’s time to go home.”how does the author best develop the theme that with determination, one can achieve a goal? a-the author uses an extended metaphor to show how min successfully builds a kite that flies like a colorful bird. b-the author uses a metaphor to compare kwan to a mother bird, protecting her young one from the thunderstorm.c-the author uses imagery to show how the kite mimics a predatory bird under min's careful direction. d-the author uses personification to show how min's kite swoops and dives in the air to avoid the rocks below it.