NOT all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences.
Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they
relive these experiences in nightmares.
Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might
reduce, or possibly erase(抹去), the effect of painful memories.
In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body
releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.
The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it.
Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories after war. They
say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.
"Some memories can ruin people's lives. They come back to you when you don't want to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor
of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve a lot of that suffering."
But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because
memories give us our identity(特質(zhì)).They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.
"All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are, I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out," said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.
1. The passage is mainly about _____________.
A. a new medical invention
B. a new research on the pill
C. a way of erasing painful memories
D. an argument about the research on the pill
2. The drug tested on people can ______________.
A. cause the brain to fix memories
B. stop people remembering bad experiences
C. prevent body producing certain chemicals
D. erase the emotional effects of memories
3. We can infer from the passage that ____________.
A. people doubt the effects of the pills
B. the pill will stop people's bad experiences
C. taking the pill will do harm to people's health
D. the pill has probably been produced in America
4. Which of the following does Rebecca Dresser agree with?
A. Some memories can ruin people's lives
B. People want to get rid of bad memories
C. Experiencing bad events makes us different from others
D. The pill will reduce people's sufferings from bad memories
