让我们玩脑力游戏

Let’s Play the Brain Game 让我们玩脑力游戏

Hello and welcome to the VOA Learning¹ English program Words and Their Stories. I’m Anna Matteo and today we are going to talk about the brain!

We all know what a brain is. A doctor will tell you that the brain is the organ of the body in the head. It controls our body’s functions, movements, sensations², emotions and thoughts.

But a brain can mean so much more.

A brain can also simply be a smart person. If a person is called brainy, she is smart and intelligent. If a family has many children but one of them is super smart, you could say, “She’s the brains in the family.”

And if you are the brains behind something you are responsible for developing or organizing something. For example, Bill Gates is the brains behind Microsoft.

A brain trust is a group of experts who give advice. Word experts say the phrase “brain trust” became popular when Franklin D. Roosevelt first ran for president in 1932. Several professors gave him advice on social and political issues facing the U.S. These professors were called his "brain trust."

These ways we use the word “brain” all make sense. But other ways we use the word are not so easy to understand.

For example, to tease³ is to make fun of someone. But a brainteaser is not one who makes fun of someone else’s brain. A brainteaser is a riddle⁴ or puzzle that makes you think. Here is a fun brainteaser: What can go all around the world but still stays in one corner? The answer – a stamp! You can share that brainteaser with your friends.

To understand the next brain expression you first need to know the word “drain⁵.” As a verb, to drain means to remove something by letting it flow away. So, a brain drain may sound like a disease⁶ where the brain flows out the ears. But, brain drain is when a country’s most educated people leave their countries to live in another. The brains are, sort of, draining⁷ out of the country.  

Next, we have a brainchild. A brainchild sounds like a really smart kid. But it isn’t. A brainchild is an idea that one has without any help from others. If you have a really great idea, it is your brainchild – no one else’s.

However, if many people are responsible for a great idea, you could say they brainstormed⁹ it. Here, brainstorm⁸ is not an act of weather. It is a process of thinking creatively about a complex topic. For example, business leaders may use brainstorming¹⁰ to create new products, and government leaders may brainstorm to solve problems.  

But if you can’t find a solution to a problem, or if you can’t even remember what the problem is, you may have to rack¹¹ your brains. This expression means to think very hard about something.

To pick someone’s brain is quite different. For example, if you meet someone who knows a lot about a subject you like, you may want to pick his brain to learn more.

But do not mix these expressions up! You cannot rack someone else’s brain or pick your own.

Now, if people are brainwashed it does not mean their brains are nice and clean. To brainwash means to make someone accept new beliefs by using repeated pressure in a forceful or tricky¹² way. Keep in mind that brainwash is never used in a positive way.                                     

And that’s all for this week’s Words and Their Stories. If you have Words and Their Stories on the brain that means you cannot stop thinking about it. Don’t worry. There are more shows on our website.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 sensations   

感觉( sensation的名词复数 )； 感受； 知觉； 激动

参考例句：

• Whenever his physical sensations were a little under control the terror returned. 只要身体感官稍一正常，恐怖便又袭上心头。 来自英汉文学
• All sensations seemed to be magnified. 所有的知觉都很敏感。 来自英汉文学

3 tease   

vt.戏弄，取笑，挑逗，撩拨；n.戏弄人者

参考例句：

• The other boys tease him because he is fat.因为他很胖，所以其他男生都取笑他。
• His friends used to tease him about his tatty clothes.他的朋友过去常常笑话他破旧的衣服。

4 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

5 drain   

n.排水沟，阴沟；消耗，负担；v.排去，放干

参考例句：

• Drain off the rest of the wine from this barrel.把桶里剩余的酒排出去。
• First,you have to drain the container of all the old oil.首先，你得从油箱中把所有的陈油都抽去。

6 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

7 draining   

n.排水，泄水，排泄v.（使）流干， （使）逐渐流走( drain的现在分词 )；喝光，喝干；使（精力、金钱等）耗尽

参考例句：

• Draining mountains of everlasting snow, the river twists for nineteen hundred miles. 这条河把终年积雪的群山上的融雪带走，蜿蜒1900英里长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old lady's strength is draining away. 老妇人的体力在渐渐衰竭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 brainstorm   

vi.动脑筋，出主意，想办法，献计，献策

参考例句：

• The women meet twice a month to brainstorm and set business goals for each other.她们每个月聚会两次，在一起出谋献策，为各自制定生意目标。
• We can brainstorm a list of the most influential individuals in the company.我们可以集体讨论，列出该公司中最有影响的人员的名单。

9 brainstormed   

集中各人智慧猛攻( brainstorm的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The marketing team brainstormed for hours in designing the marketing campaign for the new product. 行销小组脑力激荡多时，集思广益，设计新产品的行销策略。
• The team brainstormed the CAR response. 这队有人提供脑力激荡或意见者。

10 brainstorming   

献计献策,合力攻关

参考例句：

• With Brainstorming, treat the view on how to solve the problem rightly. 利用脑激励法(Brainstorming)，正确对待学生实验中的问题解决观。
• We are going to do some brainstorming soon. 我们很快就要做些脑力激荡。

11 rack   

n.挂架，搁架；vt.折磨；使紧张，使努力

参考例句：

• He went over and took his jacket from the coat rack.到衣架上取外套。
• The old house soon went to rack and ruin.这所旧房子很快就毁坏了。

12 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。