In the past 50 years there has been a great increase in the amount of research being done on 關于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.
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 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只要 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.
chemist
n. one who studies and understands chemistry 化學家
biologist
n. one who studies the life of animals and plants 生物學家
biology
n. 生物學
complicated
n. difficult to understand, complex 難懂的；復雜的
chemical
a. of chemistry
unable
a. not able
reaction
n. 反應
mathematician
n. one who studies and understands mathematics 數學家
equip
n. 設備，裝置
kilo = kilogram
公斤，千克
recent
a. done or made not long ago 近來的
recall
vt. remember 記得；回憶起
differ
vi. be different (from)
mentally
ad. 智力上，腦力上
physical
a. of the body; of matter; of the science of physics 身體的；物質的；物理學的