Memory and Rainy Days: Reading Practice 6 (explanation)

By | May 16, 2015



The theory is that people tend to be less focused on their surroundings when they’re happy and carefree. A positive mood makes us over confident, says team leader Joseph Forgas. We think we understand what’s going on, but in reality we’re making snap judgements and forget important things. In a negative mood people think things through more thoroughly, he says.

For their study, researchers tested the memories of 73 randomly selected shoppers at a newspaper and stationery shop in Sydney, Australia.

Customers were tested on either rainy days or sunny ones. The customers spent, on average, about five minutes in the shop. After they left, they were approached by a research assistant who asked them to remember and list as many of the objects oon the counter as they could remember.

Shoppers on the cloudy, rainy days listed three times more items than customers tested on sunny days. The “negative mood” participants also recalled more items correctly than incorrectly, a pattern that was completely reversed for participants in a “positive mood state,” the researchers say.

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1. What is the topic?
A. Our brain
B. Our memory
C. Research
D. Mood
E. Customers

2. The text explains … .
A. How customers shop on rainy days
B. Why customers buy more items on rainy days
C. How scientists select participants for their study
D. How rainy days affect our ability to remember
E. Why researchers conduct the study

3. Who were the participants of the study?
A. shop assistants
B. randomly selected people
C. shop customers
D. research assistants
E. newspaper shop owners

4. The study proves that people in negative mood … .
A. are not well-behaved
B. buy more items when shopping
C. have a longer shopping list
D. are happy customers
E. recall more and remember better

5. According to the researcher, what is the result of over confidence?
A. We will think more carefully
B. We tend to forget important things
C. We will be more focused on surroundings
D. We understand what is going on well
E. We can make proper judgements

6. The study shows that on rainy days … .
A. fewer customers go shopping
B. people get lower score on memory tests
C. people tend to be in a good mood
D. our memory works better
E. customers spend more time in shops

7. We know that in conducting the study, researchers compare positive mood participants and negative mood ones in terms of … .
A. their ability to remember faces
B. the number of items they could remember
C. their shopping behaviors
D. the amount of money they spend
E. the amount of time they spend shopping

8. “Customers were tested on either rainy days or sunny ones. What does the underlined word refer to?
A. customers
B. researchers
C. memories
D. moods
E. days

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