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Throughouttheagesdifferentideashavebeenexpressedabouttheworkingofthehumanbrain.Itisonlyrecently,however,thatsciencehasbeguntogiveussomeideaofhowthebrainreallyworks.

TheBrain

TheMostPowerfulComputerintheUniverse

Manstillhasalottolearnaboutthemostpowerfulandcomplexpartofhisbody——thebrain.

Inancienttimesmendidnotthinkthatthebrainwasthecentreofmentalactivity.AristotlethephilosopherofancientGreecethoughtthatthemindwasbasedintheheart.Itwasnotuntilthe18thcenturythatmanrealisedthatthewholeofthebrainwasinvolvedintheworkingsofthemind.

Duringthe19thcenturyscientistsfoundthatwhencertainpartsofthebrainweredamagedmenlosttheabilitytodocertainthings.Andso,peoplethoughtthateachpartofthebraincontrolledadifferentactivity.Butmodernresearchhasfoundthatthisisnotso.Itisnoteasytosayexactlywhateachpartofthebraindoes.

Inthepast50yearstherehasbeenagreatincreaseintheamountofresearchbeingdoneonthebrain.Chemistsandbiologistshavefoundthatthewaythebrainworksisfarmorecomplicatedthattheyhadthought.Infactmanypeoplebelievethatweareonlynowreallystartingtolearnthetruthabouthowthehumanbrainworks.Themorescientistsfindout,themorequestionstheyareunabletoanswer.Forinstance,chemistshavefoundthatover100,000chemicalreactionstakeplaceinthebraineverysecond.Mathematicianswhohavetriedtousecomputerstocopythewaythebrainworkshavefoundthatevenusingthelatestelectronicequipmenttheywouldhavetobuildacomputerwhichweighedover10,000kilos.Somerecentresearchalsosuggeststhatweremembereverythingthathappenstous.Wemaynotbeabletorecallthisinformation,butitisallstoredinourbrains.

Scientistshopethatifwecandiscoverhowthebrainworks,thebetterusewewillbeabletoputitto.Forexample,howdowelearnlanguage?Mandiffersmostfromalltheotheranimalsinhisabilitytolearnanduselanguagebutwestilldonotknowexactlyhowthisisdine.Somechildrenlearntospeakandreadandwritewhentheyareveryyoungcomparedtoaveragechildren.Butscientistsarenotsurewhythishappens.Theyaretryingtofindoutwhetherthereissomethingaboutthewayweteachlanguagetochildrenwhichinfactpreventschildrenfromlearningsooner.

Earlierscientiststhoughtthatduringaman'slifetimethepowerofhisbraindecreased.Butitisnowthoughtthatthisisnotso.Aslongasthebrainisgivenplentyofexerciseitkeepsitspower.Ithasbeenfoundthatanoldpersonwhohasalwaysbeenmentallyactivehasaquickermindthanayoungpersonwhohasdoneonlyphysicalwork.Itisnowthoughtthatthemoreworkwegiveourbrains,themoreworktheyareabletodo.

Otherpeoplenowbelievethatweuseonly1%ofourbrains'fullpotential.Theysaythattheonlylimitonthepowerofthebrainisthelimitofwhatwethinkispossible.Thisisprobablybecauseofthewaywearetaughtaschildren.Whenwefirststartlearningtouseourmindswearetoldwhattodo,forexample,toremembercertainfacts,butwearenottaughthowourmemoryworksandhowtomakethatbestuseofit.Wearetoldtomakenotedhutwearenottaughthowourbrainsacceptinformationandwhichisthebestwaytoorganisetheinformationwewantourbrainstoaccept.

Thiscenturymanhasmademanydiscoveriesabouttheuniverse——theworldoutsidehimself.Buthehasalsostartedtolookintotheworkingsofthatotheruniversewhichisinsidehimself——thehumanbrain.

NEWWORDS

computer

n.machinethatstoresinformationandworksoutanswers計(jì)算機(jī)

universe

n.宇宙

complex

a.difficulttounderstandorexplain錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的，難懂的

ancient

a.inoroftimeslongago古代的；古老的

philosopher

n.哲學(xué)家

philosophy

n.哲學(xué)

involve

vt.causetobecomeconnectedorconcerned使卷入

working

n.（usu.pl.）operation;action運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，運(yùn)行，活動(dòng)

ability

n.能力

exactly

ad.withcompleteconnectedorconcerned確切地；精確地

amount

n.數(shù)量，數(shù)額

chemist

n.onewhostudiesandunderstandschemistry化學(xué)家

biologist

n.onewhostudiesthelifeofanimalsandplants生物學(xué)家

biology

n.生物學(xué)

complicated

n.difficulttounderstand,complex難懂的；復(fù)雜的

chemical

a.ofchemistry

unable

a.notable

reaction

n.反應(yīng)

mathematician

n.onewhostudiesandunderstandsmathematics數(shù)學(xué)家

equip

n.設(shè)備，裝置

kilo=kilogram

公斤，千克

recent

a.doneormadenotlongago近來的

recall

vt.remember記得；回憶起

differ

vi.bedifferent（from）

mentally

ad.智力上，腦力上

physical

a.ofthebody;ofmatter;ofthescienceofphysics身體的；物質(zhì)的；物理學(xué)的potential

n.潛力

limit

n.局限，限度

PHRASES&EXPRESSIONS

put……to（good）use

use（inaprofitable）（好好）利用

differfrom

bedissimilarto與……不同

comparedto/with

incompari