Reading Part @ Aug. 03, 2017

Ch 2: Harnessing Adaptability ( P26-37 )

• The Brains of London Cabbies
• Adaptability

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Summary:

昨天阅读的第一章里，作者用 “有目的的练习”（purposeful practice） 刷新了我们在学习新技能中不自觉的普遍都采用的 “天真的练习” （naive practice）这种传统方式，在结尾处留了个悬念，还有比 “有目的的练习” 更强大更有效的 “刻意练习”（deliberate practice）。

作者在引言部分有提到，各种不同练习之间的差别，在于对人类的大脑和身体的适应能力的利用程度不同。

Because one of the key differences among different types pf practice is the extene to which they harness the adaptability of the human brain and body.

因此，今天的这部分阅读，作者就列举讲述了一些有关大脑的研究实验，来分析大脑的适应能力。

大脑的海马体，是大脑中涉及记忆发展，形状像海马的部位；通过空间导航和记住空间中的事物位置，最能激活海马体。

作者通过对出租车司机的海马体实验研究，和对失明/失聪者的大脑可塑性研究，证明了大脑的结构和功能并不是固化的，它是会因为使用而改变的。因此，我们可以通过有意识的“刻意练习”来重新塑造我们的大脑。

These studies of brain plasticity in blind subjects - and similar studies in deaf subjects - tell us taht the brain's structure and function are not fixed. They change in response to use. It is possible to shape the brain - your brain, my brain, anybody's brain - in the ways that we desire through conscious, deliberate training.

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Reflection:

关于适应能力这个话题，我们并不陌生，日常生活中经常会听到的，“哎呀，人上了年纪了，记忆力不行，学什么都不会了”，“哎呀，我已经跑了1公里了，再也跑不动了，要是年轻的时候还可以继续”，“别别别，我可是个路痴，从小分不清东西南北的”。。。

当我们潜意识抗拒排斥不想去学习新事物，懒得做出改变的时候，我们不自觉的就会归咎于我们的“身体”不行，“大脑”不好，可事实上呢？还真不是这样的！今天阅读的这部分实验数据，拿出来可是能分分钟 “秒打” 懒人滴~

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Words and Expressions:

To start with, there is no grid of thoroughfares that can be used for orientation and touring as you will find in Manhattan or Paris or Tokyo.

thoroughfare, 可数名词，表示 “大街、大道、通行” 的意思, the main road through a place such as a city or village. 例：main thoroughfare - 主干道；no thoroughfare - 禁止通行

例句：Police closed off about 12 blocks of a major San Francisco thoroughfare for today's march.

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Half or more of the prospective drivers end up dropping out, but those who stay with it and earn their licenses have internalized London to a degree that Google Maps, with its satellite images, camera cars, and unfathomable memory and processing power, can only vaguely approximate.

unfathomable, 形容词，表示 “深不可测的；无底的；高深莫测的”，too strange or mysterious to be understood. 原文意思是，伦敦司机对道路高深莫测的记忆力可以仅凭乘客一个模糊的地址就可以送客到目的地。

例句：His glance at her was unfathomable.
仿造句：The scientists have kept studying the unfathomable complexity of the human brain.

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That still left one loose end, ...

loose end, 可数名词，表示 “未了结的零星问题”，a part of something (such as a job or story) that has not been completed；常用作复数（loose ends）；

固定搭配有：at loose ends (美式) 或者 at a loose end（英式）: not knowing what to do / not having anything in particular to do 不知做什么事好；无所事事。

例句：We still have one more loose end to deal with before we're finished with the project.
例句：He was at a loose end.
仿造句：Please call me if you find yourself at loose ends this weekend.

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......and the extensive testing they went through was nothing more than a weeding-out process that zeroed in on those prospective drivers who were naturally better equipped to be able to learn their way around the maze that is London.

zero in on, 短语动词，zero in on (someone or something): to direct all of your attention to (someone or something) ; to aim something (such as a gun or camera) directly at (someone or something); 向......集中注意力，对准
例句：He zeroed in on her with the camera.

类似短语动词：home in on something; to aim exactly at an object or place and move directly to it; to direct your efforts or attention towards a particular fault or problem；对准目标
例句：Researchers are homing in on the cause of the disease.

延伸学习：zero (something) out or zero out (something) US: to reduce the amount of (something) to zero; to remove (something) completely; 取消；归零；使…为零
例句：Be sure to zero out [=empty] the account before you switch banks.

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Some Expressions:

• To start with
• More to the point
• By contrast
• As we've noted
• Interestingly enough

8月英文原版读书会 图/Eric