There are many theories and ideas about improving memory, but there is one mnemonic method that has been around since ancient times.
提升記憶力的理論和方法多種多樣，但有一個(gè)記憶術(shù)從古代流傳至今。

Ancient accounts show that early Greek and Roman orators used the "loci" method of remembering long speeches and lists. You may be able to use this method to enhance your memory at test time.
歷史記載，古希臘和古羅馬演說(shuō)家會(huì)使用地點(diǎn)記憶法（the "loci" method）來(lái)幫助他們記憶篇幅較長(zhǎng)的講稿。你也可以使用這種方法來(lái)提升記憶力應(yīng)付考試。

The term loci refers to places or locations.To use the loci system, you will first need to thing of a place or route that you can picture in your head very clearly.It can be your house, your school bus route, or any place that contains clear landmarks or rooms.
“l(fā)oci”指的是“地點(diǎn)或位置”。要想使用地點(diǎn)記憶法，首先你要在頭腦中清晰地將事物繪制一張地圖。這地圖可以是你家、校車路線圖、或是其他任意的有清晰地標(biāo)或空間的地方。

For this example, we will use the thirteen original colonies as a list that we want to remember and your house as the method for remembering.
讓我們以舉個(gè)例子，比如你要記住13個(gè)原先的殖民地，我們用你的家來(lái)幫助你記憶。

The list of colonies includes：
殖民州包括：

North Carolina
北卡羅來(lái)納

South Carolina
南卡羅來(lái)納

Maryland
馬里蘭

Virginia
弗吉尼亞

Delaware
特拉華

New Hampshire
新罕布什爾

New Jersey
新澤西

Pennsylvania
賓夕法尼亞

Massachusetts
馬薩諸塞

Connecticut
康涅狄格

New York
紐約

Rhode Island
羅得島

Georgia
佐治亞

Now, picture yourself standing outside your house and begin to make connections with words on your memory list. In this case, you could make a mental note that the front of your house faces north and the back faces south. We have our beginning!
現(xiàn)在想象你身處自家房門外，開始把這些詞與你的記憶聯(lián)系起來(lái)吧。想象你的房子正面朝北，背面朝南。

North = North Carolina
南=南卡羅來(lái)納

South = South Carolina
北=北卡羅來(lái)納

Your tour continues.
繼續(xù)你的旅程

Imagine that you enter your house and see the coat closet. Open the closet door and note the smell. (It helps to invoke all the senses you can in this method). There you see the coat that Aunt Mary gave your mother (Maryland).The next room in this imaginary house tour is the kitchen. In this tour, you are suddenly hungry, so you go to the cupboard. All you can find is some virgin olive oil (Virginia). That won't do.
想象你走進(jìn)家看到了衣柜，打開柜門，記下這種氣味。（這種方法可以動(dòng)用你的全部感官）。你看到了馬里阿姨（Aunt Mary→Maryland）送給媽媽的外套。幻想中的住宅之旅的下一站是廚房。在行程中，你突然感到饑餓，所以你走向櫥柜。你只找到了一些初榨橄欖油（virgin olive oil →Virginia）。這可不管飽。

You turn to the refrigerator and look inside. You know your mom just bought some new ham(New Hampshire) from the deli—but where is it? (Delaware).You manage to locate the items and assemble a sandwich. You carry it to your bedroom, because you want to change into your new football jersey (New Jersey).
你打開冰箱。你記得媽媽剛從熟食店（deli→Delaware)里買了一些新火腿（new ham→New Hampshire），但是它們哪兒去了？你試著找了幾樣食物做了一個(gè)三明治。帶著三明治回到臥室，因?yàn)槟阆霌Q上新的足球衫。（new football jersey →New Jersey）。

You open the closet door and a pen falls on your head from the top shelf (Pennsylvania).
你打開衣柜，一支筆（pen箭頭Pennsylvania）從頂層的柜子中滾落到你頭上。

"What's that doing there?" you think. You turn to put the pen in your desk drawer. When you open the drawer, you see a giant mass of paper clips (Massachusetts).
“筆怎么會(huì)在這兒？”你心想。你把筆放入書桌抽屜。打開抽屜，你看到一大堆（a giant mass of→Massachusetts）回形針。

You grab a handful, sit down on your bed, and begin to connect them together to form a long chain (Connecticut).
你抓了一把，坐在床上，想把它們串（connect→Connecticut）成一長(zhǎng)條。

You realize you're still hungry. You decide you are ready for some dessert. You go back to the kitchen and look in the refrigerator again. You know you'll find some leftover New York cheescake from yesterday (New York).
你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己實(shí)在是餓極了。你決定吃些點(diǎn)心，返回廚房，再次打開了冰箱，你知道昨天還剩了點(diǎn)紐約芝士餅（New York cheescake→New York）

It's gone! Your little brother must have finished it off! (Note the shock and anger.)
但是它不見了！肯定是弟弟把它吃完了！（記住這種震驚與憤怒。）

You turn to the freezer.
你打開冷藏室。

There are two types of ice cream. Rocky Road (Rhode Island) or Georgia Peach (Georgia). You eat both.
里面有兩種冰激凌，石板街（Rocky Road →Rhode Island）和佐治亞蜜桃（Georgia Peach →Georgia）。你吃了兩種。

Now look over the list of states again, and think about the place association for each one. It won't be long before you can recite the list of states easily.
現(xiàn)在回頭看各殖民州，想象聯(lián)想的事物。這樣再記憶這些州名就不會(huì)花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了。

This method can be used for remembering a list of objects or a list of events. All you need is key words and associations for them.
這種方法可以用來(lái)記憶一連串的事物。你需要的只有關(guān)鍵詞和聯(lián)想。

It may help you to come up with funny things that occur along your path.
它可以幫你記住生活中有趣的事。

Emotion and sensory experiences will reinforce the information and enhance the exercise.
感官體驗(yàn)可以加強(qiáng)信息的記憶程度以及提升鍛煉效果。

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