英语听力精选进阶版 7289

美国总统奥巴马最近斥资一亿美元发起了一项旨在研究人类大脑所蕴藏的“巨大奥妙”的科研计划。奥巴马总统希望这一“大脑计划”能够帮助世人了解和学习到人类大脑的运转方式以及一些如老年痴呆等不同的脑部疾病。

The president's advisors¹ call the BRAIN project ambitious, even audacious. It aims to produce dynamic pictures of the brain that show, in the words of a White House statement, how individual cells and complex neural² circuits interact at the speed of thought. Announcing the programme, Barack Obama said humans could identify distant galaxies³ and study subatomic particles, but still had a limited understanding of the brain.

Barack Obama:

"There's this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked. The BRAIN Initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember."

That knowledge, he said, would be transformative: families no longer helpless at the onset⁴ of Parkinson's, and war veterans able to reverse the effects of traumatic brain injury. The administration reckons it costs around $500bn a year to treat the various conditions this project hopes to address. It believes that technological⁵ advances, in data processing and revolutionary new techniques like optogenetics mean that, for the first time, this hugely ambitious research is actually possible.

Quiz 听力测验

What does Obama hope the pictures of the brain will show?

He hopes they will show how individual cells and complex neural circuits interact at the speed of thought.

Which word does Obama use to describe the problem of our lack of understanding of the human brain?

He calls it a "mystery".

Does Obama think the project will have any real effect on people's lives?

Yes. He thinks the knowledge gained will transform the lives of people with diseases like Parkinson's, and their families.

True or false? The Obama administration believes this research could have been done long ago, but they didn't have enough money.

False. The Obama administration believes that reseach is only now possible for the first time thanks to new technological advances.

Glossary 词汇表

audacious 大胆的

neural circuits 神经回路

subatomic particles 亚原子粒子

initiative 倡议

transformative 转变性的

onset 发作

war veterans 战役老兵

traumatic 创伤的

address 处理（问题等）

optogenetics 光遗传学

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

3 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

4 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

5 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。