The Brainthe most powerful computer in

the universe

1997 年国际象棋大师卡斯帕罗夫和电脑“深蓝”间“人机大战”

深蓝

Learning Target1.Key Words and Expressions

Words: universe, complex, involve, exact, amount, complicated, react, reaction, recent, recall, differ, physical, potential, limit,

Expressions:put...to (good) use   （好好）利用 differ from               be dissimilar to  与 ... 不同 compared to / with       in comparison with  与 ... 相比 make notes              take notes  记笔记 look into                examine  调查，观察

Grammar:

It is/was thought/believed that…Not…untilThe more…the more…

Text organization Section One (par 1) there are still a lot to be

learned about human brain

Section Two (par2 and 3) there are some

out-of-date ideas about the relationships between the brain and man’s mental and physical activities.

Section Three (par 4) researches have been done to disclose the working of the brain

Section Four (par 5 and 7) some researches designed to help people get the best out of the brain

Section Five (par 8) man just started to probe the mystery inside our brain

Background Information

Aristotle (383—322 B.C ),a pupil of Plato, and tutor to Alexander the great, the ancient Greek philosopher,educator and scientist

Memory

The brain’s main function

Research on the brain

The brain the most powerful computer in the

universe

1. Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex part of his body -- the brain.

2 . In ancient times men did not think that the brain was the centre of mental activity. Aristotle the philosopher of ancient Greece

1. Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex part of his body -- the brain.

2 . In ancient times men did not think that the brain was the centre of mental activity. Aristotle the philosopher of ancient Greece

thought that the mind was based in the heart. It was not until the 18th century that man realized that the whole of the brain was involved in the workings of the mind.

Sentence pattern

Translation

3. During the 19th century scientists found that when certain parts of the brain were damaged men lost the ability to do certain things.

And so, people thought that each part of the brain controlled a different activity. But modern research has found that this is not so.

4. In the past 50 years there has been a great increase in the amount of research being done on the brain. Chemists and biologists have found that the way the brain works is far more complicated that they had thought. In fact many people believe that we are only now really starting to learn the truth about how the human brain works.

The more scientists find out, the more questions they are unable to answer. For instance, chemists have found that over 100,000 chemical reactions take place in the brain every second.

Mathematicians who have tried to use computers to copy the way the brain works have found that even using the latest electronic equipment they would have to build a computer which weighed over 10,000 kilos. Some recent research also suggests that we remember everything that happens to us. We may not be able to recall this information, but it is all stored in our brains.

5.

Scientists hope that if we can discover how the brain works, the better use we will be able to put it to. For example, how do we learn language? Man differs most from all the other animals in his ability to learn and use language but we still do not know exactly how this is done.

Translation

Some children learn to speak and read and write when they are very young compared to average children. But scientists are not sure why this happens. They are trying to find out whether there is something about the way we teach language to children which in fact prevents children from learning sooner.

Earlier scientists thought that during a man's lifetime the power of his brain decreased. But it is now thought that this is not so. As long as the brain is given plenty of exercise it keeps its power. It has been found that an old person who has always been mentally active has a quicker mind than a young person who has done only physical work. It is now thought that the more work we give our brains, the more work they are able to do.

increase &decrease

7. Other people now believe that we use only 1%of our brains' full potential.

They say that the only limit on the power of the brain is the limit of what we think is possible. This is probably because of the way we are taught as children.

When we first start learning to use our minds we are told

what to do, for example, to remember certain facts, but we are not taught how our memory works and how to make that best use of it.

translation

We are told to make noted but we are not taught how our brains accept information and which is the best way to organize the information we want our brains to accept.

translation

8. This century man has made many discoveries about the universe -- the world outside himself.

But he has also started to look into the workings of that other universe which is inside himself -- the

human brain.

Key Words and Expressions

1. complex               difficult to understand or explain 错综复杂的，难懂的

Eg. A beginner should avoid complex sentences in writing.[ 派生词 ] complexion,complexity[ 同义词 ] complicated

2. involve          vt. cause to become connected or concerned 使卷入

Involve sb/sth in (doing) sthEg. Don’t involve me in solvingYour problems.Be/become/get involved in…

3. amount 　 n.  数量，数额 a large amount of

Eg. There are a great amount of misunderstanding.

Vt. (~to sth) add up toEg. Our information doesn’t amount to much.

4.  recall  vt. take back 召回Eg. In times of emergency,

soldiers must be recalled to duty. ⑵remember, 回忆起，记得I can recall my schooldays.

5.potential  n.  潜力 Eg. She has artistic potential.Adj. possible 可能的Eg. The book is a potential best seller.

Expressions

1.take place (often used as an intransitive verb and in active form) occur; be carried out

Eg. When does the ceremony take place. Great changes have taken place in his home

town.

2.Put …to use (put sth to good/better use) derive profit from sth

Eg. I think you could have put your money to better use.

(2)He will be able to put his experience to good use in his new job.

3.differ from: be different from Eg. She differs from her sister in the color of he

r eyes.I think the desk differs from the one I have at ho

me.

4.compare…to: be regarded as being like or equal to sb/sth

Eg. The writer was compared to shakespeare. compare…with: to examine together with Eg. It is unfair of a man to compare his wife wit

h his mother.

5.look into:1) to direct one’s eyes into; try to see in sthEg. I looked into the room but no one was in.2) to try to find information in sthEg. I looked into the newspaper to find somethi

ng.3) to examine sth quickly The police are looking into the disappearance o

f jewellery.

6.(be) involved in: to cause sb/sth to be part of; included in; mixed with;

Eg. Try to involve your classmates in the activities, it will be good .

A city bus and a truck were involved in a serious crash in the crossing.

Paraphrases & difficult sentences

1.In ancient times men did not think that the brain

was the centre of mental activity. (L3-4):In ancient times it was people’s idea that the br

ain was not the centre of mental activityEg. I don’t think you are right= I think you are n

ot right

2. Aristotle ， the philosopher of ancient Greece thought that the mind was based in the heart.

（ L 4-5 ） The ancient philosopher, Aristotle took it for gra

nted that all the intelligent activities of human beings originated from their hearts.

Eg. I base my hope on the good news we had yesterday.

4.It was not until the 18th century that man realized that the whole of the brain was involved in the workings of the mind. （ L5-6 ）

In the 18th century, man came to realize that brain was related to the working of the mind.

1)The structure “it is (was).. that (who)..” is use to emphasize any part of sentences

2)”not.. until..” Eg. they didn’t find her until the next day.

5. But modern research has found that this is not so. (L 9-10)

But modern research has found that people’s belief that each part of the brain controlled a different activity is not correct.

1)“so” is used to substitute for a word, phrase or situation. Here it substitutes the word “true”

6. there has been a great increase in the amount of research being done on the brain. (L12)

the amount of research on the brain has greatly increased.

The passive progressive form” being ＋ v-ed” is used after a noun to be a modifier, which expresses the action is in progress.

7. The more scientists find out, the more questions they are unable to answer. (L16-17):

As scientists make more findings, the questions that they are not capable of answering are also increasing.

“the more.. the more” is used to form the comparative of adjs. and advs.

Eg. The more we serve people, the happier we feel

8. Scientists hope that if we can discover how the brain works, the better use we will be able to put it to. (L25-26):

Scientists hope that the more we discover how the brain works, the better use we will be able to put it to.

“the better use ” is put before “we” to make emphatic meaning; “the” in “the better use” is not an article but an adverb;

Eg. Put sth to effective/good use: to use sth well

9.They are trying to find out whether there is something about the way we teach language to children which in fact prevents children from learning sooner. (L30-32):

They are making efforts to seek sth which they suppose in fact keeps children from learning languages sooner, and the things is believed to be the involved in our way of teaching.

“prevent…from”: to keep… from doing sth; stop..from doing

10.It has been found that an old person who has always been mentally active has a quicker mind than a young person who has done only physical work. (L35-36):

People have found that an old man who has always been mentally active has a quicker mind than a young person who has done only physical work.

Eg. It is said that there is no air in the moon.My grandma has a quicker ear for languages.

11. They say that the only limit on the power of the brain is the limit of what we think is possible.(L40-41)

They say that the power of the brain is limitless and what we think sth is feasible or not we are actually setting a limit to its power.

直到 18 世纪人类才认识到，整个脑子都卷入了思想活动。 科学家们希望，如果我们能够发现脑子是怎样活动的，我们将能够更好的运用它。

当我们最初开始学着运用我们的头脑时，我们便被告知该做什么，例如，该记住某些事实；但是却没有告诉我们我们的记忆怎样运作以及怎样才能更好的运用它。

别人叫我们做比较，但却不告诉我们我们的脑子是怎样接收信息的，什么是对我们希望自己的脑子接收的信息加以条理化的最好的方法。

Summary of the Text

The lesson is a popular scientific essay. As the title shows, the text deals with the most important ,and the most sophisticated part of our body--brain. How on earth does this computer inside the human body function?

The End

王栋