A new brain training app developed to help improve the memory of people with schizophrenia(精神分裂症) could save taxpayers thousands of pounds, a study has claimed.

        The computer game has been designed by neuroscientists at Cambridge University to help patients recover their ability to carry out everyday tasks that rely on having a good memory. Its aim is to train the brain in episodic memory(情景记忆), which helps people remember events such as where they parked their car in a multi-storey car park or where they left a set of keys.  Researchers found that schizophrenia patients who played the game regularly for a month were four times better at remembering these kinds of things than non-players. The computer game is called Wizard and is aimed at people who suffer with poor episodic memory — one of the main side effects of schizophrenia drugs.

        Researchers assigned 22 participants, who had been given a diagnosis(诊断) of schizophrenia, to either the cognitive training group or a control group at random. Participants in the training group played the memory game for a total of eight hours over a four-week period. Those in the control group continued their treatment as usual. Scientists found that the patients who had played the memory game made significantly fewer errors in memory testing.

      Professor Barbara Sahakian of the Department of Psychiatry, said: “This study is important because it proves that the memory game can help where drugs have so far failed. The game is interesting, so even those patients with a general lack of motivation are encouraged to continue the training.”

         Professor Peter Jones added: “These are promising results and suggest that there may be the potential to use game apps to not only improve a patient’s episodic memory, but also their functioning in activities of daily living. We will need to carry out further studies to confirm the current findings, but we hope that, used with medication and current psychological therapies, this could help people with schizophrenia reduce the impact of their illness on everyday life.”

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1.What harm do schizophrenia drugs do to patients?

A They hurt patients’ memory.

B They weak patients’ motivation.

C They make patients stronger.

D They train patients’ brains.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章第二段 The computer game... is aimed at people who suffer with poor episodic memory — one of the main side effects of schizophrenia drugs 可知，这款电脑游戏能够帮助人们改善情景记忆，而糟糕的情景记忆正是治疗精神分裂症的药物带来的副作用，即精神分裂症患者服用药物的结果常常是记忆力受损，故选 A。

2.How long did the participants play the game per week?

A Eight hours.

B Four hours.

C Thirty-three hours.

D Two hours.

解析：选D。D 数字计算题。根据第三段 participants in the training group played the memory game for a total of eight hours over a four-week period.可知四周时间里参与者玩了 8 个小时游戏，即每周玩 8÷4=2个小时游戏，故选 D。

3.What is implied in the explanation given by Professor Peter Jones?

A The patients are expected to live a better life with the help of the memory game.

B Medication and psychological therapies together can cure the disease.

C Schizophrenia has brought patients little impact on their daily life.

D The memory effect of the game has not been confirmed yet.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据文章最后一段...there may be the potential to use game apps to not only improve a patient’s episodic memory, but also their functioning in activities of daily living 可知，这款游戏不仅有可能改善患者的情景记忆，还可能能 改善其日常活动功能，由此判断，这款游戏有望使患者的生活过得更好。故选 A。

4.What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A Good memory is important for functioning in activities of daily living.

B People with poor episodic memory often forget where they have left their keys.

C People with schizophrenia could save thousands of pounds with memory improved.

D A computer game has been developed to improve memory of schizophrenia patients.

解析：选D。D 主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文主要介绍了对一款电脑游戏的研究结果，这款游戏有助于改 善精神分裂症患者的情景记忆能力。故选 D。