21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the pre-program and pre-program-verify operations during the pre-program phase comprise: programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a first pre-program level; verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a first pre-program-verify level (PV 1 A); programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a second pre-program level; verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a second pre-program-verify level (PV 2 A); programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a third pre-program level; and verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a third pre-program-verify level (PV 3 A).
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the pre-program and pre-program-verify operations during the pre-program phase comprise: programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a first pre-program level; verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a first pre-program-verify level (PV 1 A); programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a second pre-program level; verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a second pre-program-verify level (PV 2 A); programming one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a third pre-program level; and verifying one or more of the plurality the charge trapping memory cells in the first segment of the word line to a third pre-program-verify level (PV 3 A). 23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the first pre-program-verify level is less than the second pre-program-verify level, and the second pre-program-verify level is less than the third pre-program-verify level.