男性的大脑女性的大脑

 　　Finn: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Finn and with me is Rob. Hi Rob.

　　Rob: Hi Finn.

　　Finn: Rob, I have a question for you. Are you good at reading maps?

　　Rob: I have to say, I am, I really enjoy reading maps and I understand them well.

　　Finn: That's interesting. And today we're talking about new research into the differences between men's and women's brains, and looking at some vocabulary about brains and thinking. Now, this research says that men are better at some things, like reading maps.

　　Rob: Yes, well, I'm good at reading maps and even my wife would agree. She makes me do all the map reading in the car.

　　Finn: But women are better at other things - like remembering faces. That's according to this research. And before we look at it, I have a question about this incredible¹ and mysterious thing - the human brain. Rob, you're a brainy - that is, an intelligent guy, but how much does the average human brain weigh? Is it:

　　a) 1.4 kg

　　b) 2.2 kg

　　c) 3.6 kg

　　Rob: I'll have to use my brain for this. I'm really racking my brains - that means to think very hard. Right, well, I think: c) 3.6 kg.

　　Finn: OK we'll find out if you're right later on. Now this research was by a team from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. They looked at the brains of nearly 1,000 men and women and found they are 'wired differently'.

　　Rob: Yes - so they are connected in different ways.

　　Finn: Let's listen to Dr Ruben Gur talking about the connections in each hemisphere² - each half or each side - of the brain. What's the difference between men and women?

　　Dr Ruben Gur, University of Pennsylvania:

　　What we found was that in males, the stronger connections run within each hemisphere, within each half of the brain. In women the stronger connections are between the two sides of the brain.

　　Finn: So: men have better links - that's stronger connections - inside each half of the brain. So the connections inside the right hemisphere are good, and the connections inside the left hemisphere are good too.

　　Rob: But women have stronger connections between each side - the links are better going from one side to the other, from left to right. But what does that mean?

　　Finn: Well, they say these differences might explain why men are better at learning and performing a single task, like cycling or navigating³ - that's reading maps and finding your way around.

　　Rob: And it explains why women are often better at multi-tasking - that's doing several things at once.

　　Finn: The research also showed women are better at remembering words, faces and information about other people, and they also had longer attention spans⁴ - that means they could concentrate on a task for longer without becoming distracted⁵. Rob? Rob? Are you there?

　　Rob: Ah sorry. I was miles away. You might be right Finn! But not everyone agrees with this research.

　　Finn: No, Professor Heidi Johansen-Berg from the University of Oxford⁶ says the connections inside the brain are not 'hard-wired': in other words, that means they are not permanently⁷ fixed⁸ and they keep changing.

　　Rob: She said the brain is very complex - so you can't make generalisations about it - generalisations are statements that are often true but based on a limited amount of information.

　　Finn: But overall I think it's an interesting idea. We asked our audience on social media what they thought about the study.

　　Rob: Cremildo from Mozambique said he's a man and agrees with the survey, and he admires his mother who is able to do a lot of things by herself.

　　Finn: Pen Pae from Thailand says it depends on the individual - she's good at reading maps and multi-tasking - but don't ask her about language or driving.

　　Rob: And Hana Potki from Iran agrees - she said it took her five times to pass her driving test!

　　Finn: Now Rob, earlier I asked you if you knew how heavy the human brain is, on average:

　　Rob: And I said c) a heavy 3.6 kg.

　　Finn: Very very heavy brain and a lot heavier than the average human brain. The answer was in fact a) 1.4 kg. This compares with the average of 7 kg for whales and 1.4 for dolphins. Albert Einstein's brain was only 1.2 kg; that's lower than average, so size isn't everything. Now, Rob, before we go - would you remind us of today's brain-related words?

　　Rob: Of course. We had:

　　brainy

　　rack my brains

　　hemisphere

　　navigating

　　multi-tasking

　　attention spans

　　hard-wired

　　generalisations

　　Finn: Great. Thank you Rob. And thanks everyone for listening. Join us again for more 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

　　Rob: Bye.

　　Finn: Goodbye.

1 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

2 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

3 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

4 spans   

跨度( span的名词复数 )； 持续时间； 一段时间； （五指张开时的）指距

参考例句：

• A steel railway bridge spans the Yalu River. 鸭绿江上有一座钢铁大桥。
• The wire door was a couple of hand-spans from his face. 铁笼门距他的脸只有一两个巴掌远。 来自英汉文学

5 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。