雅思阅读 102: Why Your Brain Turns Life into Stories

Adapted from 'Why your brain turns life into stories', Scientific American, August 2026.

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Reading Passage

When you watch a movie, your brain follows the story seamlessly, tracking characters from one scene to the next and tracing the threads of the plot. It is a talent so ingrained that screenwriters can count on it. Stories are this fundamental way in which people see and respond to the world, says Ben Rogers of Boston College.

No story is a true replica of events. A film is a deliberately streamlined version of reality in which cause and effect are evident. Peoples real experiences are similarly edited by the brain into narratives so we can make sense of them. When we say narrative, all we really mean is simplification, says Pixar screenwriter Jesse Andrews. It is simplification in the name of understanding.

The workings of the brains narrative wiring were mysterious until about a decade ago, when scientists began using mathematical tools to decode brain responses to movies shown inside scanners. They found brain regions dedicated to identifying story scenes, tracking characters and extracting meaning.

In 2004, Uri Hasson and colleagues placed five people in brain scanners to watch half an hour of the western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The brains of all five viewers responded synchronously to shifts in scenery, dialogue and plot, as if operated by the same neural story-watching program.

In later years, Hasson and others identified a set of interconnected cortical areas called the default mode network as the main switchboard for narrative. Also known as the daydreaming network, it is active when the mind wanders, contemplates the future or the past. Activity in this network has been linked to rumination, the sense of self and autobiographical memory.

In a later study, researchers scanned people as they watched and then recalled an episode of Sherlock. The brain showed synchrony during viewing and recall. But the pattern during recall reflected systematic edits as the brain stored the story. Such editing helps us make sense of daily life, boiling confusing information down to this leads to this and it means this.

The primary glue for what remains is cause and effect. When you create narrative, you sweep almost everything off the table and focus on a few things. You say this caused this, but that other thing happened, Andrews says.

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. According to Andrews, narrative is essentially A. a detailed record B. simplification C. fiction D. memory loss
2. What did the 2004 movie experiment find? A. Each viewer had unique brain activity B. All five viewers brains responded synchronously C. Movies could not be studied D. Only sensory regions were active
3. The default mode network is also known as A. the night network B. the daydreaming network C. the visual cortex D. the motor network
4. When people recalled Sherlock, the brain pattern was A. identical to viewing B. different, reflecting systematic edits C. completely random D. weaker but identical
5. The primary glue of narrative is A. emotion B. cause and effect C. visual imagery D. sound

Questions 6-10

Do the following statements agree with the information? Write TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN.

6. The brain edits experience into stories to make sense of it.
7. The default mode network is only active during sleep.
8. All five viewers in the 2004 study watched the same movie.
9. The recall brain pattern was identical to the viewing pattern.
10. Narrative helps reduce confusing information.

Questions 11-13

Complete the summary. Choose ONE WORD ONLY.

The default mode network is active when the mind 11. During recall, the brain makes systematic 12 to the story. Cause and effect acts as the 13 that holds a narrative together.

Answers

1. B 2. B 3. B 4. B 5. B
2. TRUE 7. FALSE 8. TRUE 9. FALSE 10. TRUE
3. wanders 12. edits 13. glue

Key Vocabulary

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