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.
Other people now believe that we use only 1% of our brains' full potential. 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 works and how to make that best use of it. We are told to make noted hut we are not taught how our brains accept information and which is the best way to organize 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 that other universe which is inside himself -- the human brain.
NEW WORDS
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
potential
n. 潛力
limit
n. 局限，限度