Reading Comprehension

Recent advances in non-invasive human neuroimaging have provided researchers in the emerging field of social brain science with insights into the working of consciousness and social cognition. Of special interest is the medial prefrontal cortex(MPFC), a region of the brain associated with memory, fear, and, perhaps, prejudice.
Fears create memories, and those memories appear to be stored in the amygdala. This same region also seems to create memories that counter those fears, though these memories are then stored in the MPFC. Neuroimages show that nerves from the MPFC project into the amygdala, providing the mechanism for suppressing the fear response. As one might expect, rodents with MPFC damage have a decreased ability to deal with certain fears.
MPFC activity also seems to correlate with self-referential judgments and memory. The dorsal MPPFC in particular shows heightened activity during introspective mental activity. Interestingly, there is a reduction in ventral MPFC activity when individuals are involved in tasks that demand attention. This indicates that cognitive activity can decrease certain emotional processing. Otherdifferences between these two areas of the MPFC have been noted. The ventral region becomes more engaged when an individual is shown photographs of strangers whose political beliefs - so the viewer is told - are similar to those of the person viewing the photograph, but the dorsal region becomes more active when the photographs are of individuals with whom the viewer does not share the same political perspective.
As long ago as the 19th century, scientists knew that damage to the MPFC interfered with social skills while leaving other mental skills untouched. With out newfound ability to actually observe mental activity in both healthy and impaired individuals without recourse to surgery, we have entered into an area that is sure to provide us with information about ourselves that will prove to be of enormous interest and great usefulness.



1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. highlight some of the work being done in a new field.
B. discuss technological breakthroughs.
C. illustrate the advantages of non-invasive brain research
D. show similarities between apparently differing research methods.
E. demonstrate the extent to which our knowledge of the brain has increased in recent years.

2. According to the passage, it is likely that the memories that allay fears are
A. formed in the dorsal and ventral MPFC
B. related to memories that form prejudices
C. created and stored in different parts of the brain
D. able to be manipulated in rats through neuroimaging procedures
E. affected by tasks that demand attention






















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[spoiler]o.a:1.A 2.C[/spoiler]
Question 1 is the best example of my weakness, I was somewhere between choice A and C, and I chose C eventually since choice A sounded too broad for me compare to choice C.
Also, for question 2, I had no clue where to find information that relates to the term"alay fears" from the second paragraph. As I discusses with you earlier, I had trouble to find correct infomation if the terms or content of the question is bit ambiguous.

Is it possible to find the rule or strategy to attack such pitfalls?




Thanks,
Yvonne