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It's Like Déjà vu
You are walking through a
park you have never visited before when a dog runs past, barking at a cluster of
birds. You turn to see its owner smile and wave. Suddenly, you
are overcome by the
feeling that you have been here before—in this same park, with the same dog and
birds, while the same owner is waving his arm in exactly the same way. By the
time he lowers his arm, you realize the situation no longer fits quite so well
with your fading recollection. You are sure once again that you have never been
to this park. The familiarity is gone.
Déjà vu, French for "already seen," describes the peculiar
feeling of having encountered an
identical situation in the past, without knowing exactly when or
where. The memory is
most often attributed to
a dream. The feeling lasts only a few seconds and
is usually
tied to an ordinary event. It may be a visual scene recalled
in detail, or an
uncanny knowledge of a new place. What is distinctive about déjà vu is not the situation itself
but the feeling that accompanies
it.
More than 70 percent of the population has experienced this
phenomenon. Attempts to explain it
range from past lives
to repressed memories. Some people believe déjà vu is a form of
precognition, the mysterious ability to know of an event before it happens. Scientists have
linked déjà vu
to neural disorders
like schizophrenia and epilepsy, suggesting it could be a hiccup of the brain
with no connection to the past.
Is déjà vu ordinary or extraordinary? The answer remains a mystery. But
perhaps you've heard this all before... |
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1. |
Which of the following wouldn't be considered déjà vu? |
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(A) |
An overwhelming
urge to do the same thing over and over again.
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(B) |
The feeling that you've been somewhere before. |
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(C) |
An impression that you've already met someone at one time or another. |
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(D) |
A sensation that you've had the same experience in the past.
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2. |
How do scientists attempt to explain déjà vu? |
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(A) |
It's a sign of potential cancer. |
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(B) |
It can indicate a harmless problem in the brain.
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(C) |
It means that a person has gone totally crazy. |
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(D) |
It results from brain damage or other injuries. |
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3. |
The last line of the article is trying to suggest _____. |
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(A) |
this article was never published before |
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(B) |
you'll never fully understand déjà vu |
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(C) |
you've read this article at a time in the past
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(D) |
you can never make up for
your
past mistakes |
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deja vu |
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The illusion of having already experienced something
actually being experienced for the first time. |
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uncanny |
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strange or mysterious;
difficult or impossible to explain |
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precognition |
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knowledge of a future
event, especially when it is obtained by a direct message to the mind,
such as in a dream, rather than by reason |
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Answers : 1) A 2) B
3) C |
