A. DESTROY B. MAINTAIN C. PRODUCE D. CONTRIBUTE V. READING...

60.

A. destroy

B. maintain

C. produce

D. contribute

V. READING COMPREHENSION (10 PTS): Read the texts below and choose the best answer

to each question.

Passage A

It is well known that adequate sleep is important in the formation of memories. Two recent studies indicate

that performance of motor skills tasks was greatly enhanced if subjects were allowed to sleep immediately

following training. In one study students were taught a series of finger-tapping sequences and then tested

for their memory of the tasks. Performances were 34% faster for the first group of students, who slept for

eight hours immediately after learning the sequences, as compared to the second group, who were kept

awake during that time. Furthermore, error rates were 30% lower for the group that slept after learning.

Performance on the tasks was shown to be unaffected by sleep deprivation prior to the training. Differences

in performance persisted two days later, after the second group of students had also had a full night’s sleep.

This indicates that a window of opportunity exists for sleep to be effective in aiding the memory of motor

skills.

In the other study, a group of people who were taught keyboarding sequences in the morning, and then

tested 12 hours later without a period of sleep, improved their typing ability by 2%. Another group, who

were taught the sequences in the evening, and then tested 12 hours later after a night’s sleep, improved

their typing ability by 20%. This study found that performance improvement is linked to Stage 2 sleep, or

non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, typically experienced late at night or in the early morning hours.

According to this study, those who get up earlier than usual, thus interrupting their Stage 2 sleep, may have

difficulty remembering motor skills tasks they had learned the day before.