College English Intensive Reading 1 (Unit 9)
                                            Text
                         Throughout the ages different ideas have been ex-
                             pressed about the workings of the human brain.  It is
                            only recently, however,that seience has begun to give
                            us some idea of how the brain really works.  
                                       
                               THE BRAIN       
            THE MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER IN THE UNIVERSE
                  
         Man still  has  a  lot  to learn about the most powerful and complex part of        
    his body -- the brain.
         In  ancient  times  men  did  not   think  that  the  brain  as   the   centre  of
    mental activity. Aristotle the philosopher of  ancient  Greece  thought  that the
5  mind  was based  in  the heart. It  was not until  the l8th  century that  man  re-
    alised that  the whole of  the brain  was  involved in the workings of  the mind.
        During  the  l9th  century  scientists  found  that  when  certain parts of  the  
    brain  were  damaged  men  lost the  ability to do certain things. And so,  peo-
    ple thought  that  each  part of  the  brain controlled  a  different  activity . But
10 modern  research  has found that this is not so. It  is not  easy  to say exactly  
    what each part of the brain does.  
        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  than they had thought  In
15 fact many  people  believe  that  we  are only now  really starting  to  learn  the
    truth  about  how the human b rain 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                   
20 the  brain  works  have  found  that even using the latest  electronic equipment  
    they  would  have  to  build  a  computer  which   weighde  over  10,000  kilos.  
    Some  recent research  also suggests that  we remember  everything  that  hap-
    pens to us. We  may not  be able  to recall this information, but  it is all stored
    in our brains.
25     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 .Some  children
    learn to speak and read and write  when they are  very young compared to av-
30 erage  children. But  scientists are  not  sure  why this  happens. They are try-
    ing 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
35 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.
         Other  people  now  believe  that  we  use only 1% of  our  brains'  full  po-
40 tential. 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  warks and  how to make the best use of it.  We are
45 told to  make  notes but we are  not taught how our brains accept information
    and which is the best way  to  organise  the information  we want our brains to
    accept.
        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
50 that other universe which is inside himself - the human brain.  
                    
                                              New Words 
                             
    computer / n.                        machine that stores information and works out
                                                      answers 计算机  
  universe / n.                          宇宙         
  complex / a.                         difficult to understand or explain 错综复杂的 
                                                 难懂的
  ancient / a.                            in or of times long ago古代的；古老的    
  philosopher / n.                     哲学家    
         philosophy n.                    哲学 
  involve vt.                            cause to become connected or concerned 使卷入
  working / n.                          (usu. pl. ) operation; action 运转，运行；活动
  ability / n.                              能力
  exactly / ad.                          with complete correctness 确切地；精确地    
         exact a.    
    amount / n.                           数量，数额       
  chemist / n.                           one who studies and understands chemistry 化学家
  biologist / n.                         one who studies the life of animals and plants 生
                                 物学家 
  biology n.                             生物学  
  complicated/ a.                     difficult to understand, complex  难懂的；复杂的  
  chemical / a.                         of chemistry  
    unable a.                               not able  
    reaction / n.                           反应     
  mathematician/ n.                  one who studies and understands mathematics
                                                数学家
  equipment / n.                      设备，装置 
  equip vt.
    kilo/ = kilogram                    公斤，千克
  recent / a.                             done or made not long ago 近来的
  recall/ vt.                              remember 记得；回忆起
  differ / vi.                             be different (from)
    mentally ad.                          智力上，脑力上
  physical / a.                          of the body; of matter; of the science of physics
                                                     身体的；物质的；物理的       
    potential/ n.                          潜力
  limit / n.                                局限，限度
                             
                            Phrases & Expressions
    put ... to (good)                     use(in a profitable way)(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　
                          Proper Names     
   Aristotle /                        亚里士多德
   Greece /                          希腊