Reading Comprehension

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions below.

You are walking through a park you have never visited before when a dog runs past, barking at a cluster of birds. You turn to see its owner smile and wave. Suddenly, you are overcome by the feeling that you have been here before—in this same park, with the same dog and birds, while the same owner is waving his arm in exactly the same way. By the time he lowers his arm, you realize the situation no longer fits quite so well with your fading recollection. You are sure once again that you have never been to this park. The familiarity is gone.

Déjà vu, French for “already seen,” describes the peculiar feeling of having encountered an identical situation in the past, without knowing exactly when or where. The memory is most often attributed to a dream. The feeling lasts only a few seconds and is usually tied to an ordinary event. It may be a visual scene recalled in detail or an uncanny knowledge of a new place. What is distinctive about déjà vu is not the situation itself but the feeling that accompanies it.

More than 70 per cent of the population has experienced this phenomenon. Attempts to explain it range from past lives to repressed memories. Some people believe déjà vu is a form of precognition, the mysterious ability to know an event before it happens. Scientists have linked déjà vu to neural disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy, suggesting it could be a hiccup of the brain with no connection to the past.

Is déjà vu ordinary or extraordinary? The answer remains a mystery. But perhaps you’ve heard this all before.