Words & Phrases

1. A tape measure 卷尺

釋義：(Tool) a long narrow band of cloth or steel, marked with centimetres, feet etc, used for measuring something

原文：A tape measure works, or you can simply look in the mirror and...

E.g :? A tape measure can help him to know how long and wide the desk is.

2. A six-pack

①六塊腹肌（一種幽默的用法）

釋義：well-developed muscles that you can see on a man's stomach – used humorously

②6支裝的罐裝或盒裝飲料

釋義：six cans or bottles of a drink, especially beer, sold together as a set

You don't develop a six-pack on your forehead.

（這句的意思是你總不能在你的額頭上練出六塊腹肌來。感覺這也是作者文筆下的一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)小幽默）

E.g: It was surprisly that he drank a six-pack of beer at once.

3. Baffle v. （及物動(dòng)詞）難住，不理解

釋義：if something baffles you, you cannot understand or explain it at all

Few cities in the world can baffle a GPS system like London can.

（另外，注意這里的like是連詞，不是介詞，介詞后面不可以跟從句）

E.g:? When I had my math class, the question that my teacher asked me baffled me and I didn't answer it, which made me feel very embarrassed.

4. Dead end （可數(shù)）

①死胡同

釋義：a street with no way out at one end

..., there are traffic circles and dead ends all over, ...

E.g: I always drive into the dead ends, because I just moved to this city last month and was unfamiliar with the streets.

②僵局 a situation where no more progress is possible

come to/ reach a dead end

E.g: Their research had come into a dead end .

③低薪切沒有機(jī)會(huì)的工作 a job with low wages and no chance of progress

E.g: The higher certificates you have, the fewer opportunities that you get a dead end job.

5.描述位置的詞 in the vicinity/on the? facade

In the vicinity 在……臨近

釋義：in the area around a particular place

…, taking notes on which buildings and which landmarks are in the vicinity.

On the facade of在……的正面

釋義：the front of a building, especially a large and important one

…; the statue, on the facade of a building, was just on foot tall.

感悟

第2章的題目是 Harnessing Adaptability, 即控制并利用自身的適應(yīng)能力。開篇便是通過對比健身的可測量性，寫出大腦的變化并不是肉眼可見的，但并不是沒有變化的。提出大腦的結(jié)構(gòu)和功能會(huì)因?yàn)槎鄻拥挠?xùn)練而產(chǎn)生變化。

英國倫敦由于城市道路的復(fù)雜性和出租車行業(yè)的嚴(yán)格考核，需要參加想成為出租車司機(jī)的人對整個(gè)倫敦地區(qū)的街道地點(diǎn)都十分熟悉。在Maguire的研究中，那些通過一系列測試考核并最后成為出租車司機(jī)的人的腦中的hippocampu（seahorse-shaped part of the brian involved in the development of memories）這一部分是產(chǎn)生了變化的。最后說明人的大腦是可以在高強(qiáng)度的訓(xùn)練下得到對應(yīng)的提升的。

其實(shí)這個(gè)倫敦出租車的例子跟背單詞有些相似之處，同樣都是使用大腦記憶的能力，在持續(xù)的時(shí)間內(nèi)記憶單詞并且使用，在逐漸的記憶和使用的過程中增加自己的單詞量，就如同去記憶每一個(gè)街道和城市中每一處的位置。這算是一個(gè)大腦的開發(fā)的過程，但是這樣的開發(fā)需要持續(xù)的輸入和輸出，當(dāng)自己半途而廢放棄了，前面所付出的時(shí)間和精力也都基本付諸東流。

后面又通過盲人和聾啞人的例子來說明人的大腦功能對應(yīng)不同情形的變化。并且將人腦比做電腦，認(rèn)為人腦其實(shí)并不會(huì)像電腦一樣會(huì)受到類似于CUP等的終極影響。

這樣的適應(yīng)是人在某一狀態(tài)下作出的反應(yīng)，我認(rèn)為這樣的反應(yīng)其實(shí)跟作者前面所說道的目的性的訓(xùn)練有相似之處，是有針對性的。