FROM THE BUREAU OF LOST FACTS AND MISPLACED EXAM ANSWERS

Try these memory methods, and you'll never forget a faćt again! a

- Nick D'Alto

IMAGINE YOU'RE IN SCHOOL AND YOU'RE TAKING AN EXAM. You studied, but you're still not sure about all the material being covered...

• Who is the author of The Secret Garden? Maybe P.L. Travers? (Try again.)*

• The third layer of Earth's atmosphere is the sphere. Darn, I knew that yesterday!**

Often, a quiz or test at school requires you to remember all kinds of facts and figures. So, how can you avoid forgetting a fact when you need one? Or retrieving a fact if one gets away from you—preferably before the test is over?!

Well, here's one answer you'll hopefully never forget: Recall methods can help you remember better. Here are three such techniques. So, stop scratching your head and give 'em a try.

Method #1: Enter the Mansion of Memories

The ancient Greeks and ancient Aboriginal people in Austrlalia (and probably other groups as well) independently discovered this method. Here's how it works. While studying, you simply walk through rooms you know well. As you move, you connect each fact you need to remember with something you see in those rooms. Say you're studying U.S. Presidents. As you walk, you imagine seeing Lincoln at your kitchen table, writing his Gettysburg Address. Then you see Franklin Roosevelt in your living room, giving one of his famous “Fireside Chats." And President John F. Kennedy stands at the front door, starting the Peace Corps. To remember all this later, you simply "walk" through the same rooms, in your mind's eye. And the facts will all return to you, as if you're a history magnet!

Method #2: Rhyme Is the Reason, or Stand for Something