Warm-up Reading Language in use Project Culture tips Learning to learn homework...

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致用英语致用英语综合教程综合教程致用英语致用英语综合教程综合教程

外语教学与研究出版社

11

Unit 10 The creative brain

Second edition


The creative brain


Study the Forgetting Curve below and answer the following questions:

What does the black curve represent?What dose the yellow curve represent?What does the comparison between the two curves suggest?


A. Listen to the people talking about brain power. Answer the following questions.

1. What does Mary blame Jack for?2. How many times does Jack do this?3. What is Jack’s excuse?4. Do you agree that our memory gets worse and

worse as we grow up?5. What is Mary’s explanation of this problem?6. Has Jack found out the true reason for his

problem? What is it?7. What do you learn from this dialogue?


Mary: Hi, Jack, still remember what I have told you last Friday? Have you brought the book back?Jack: Oh, my god, I forgot. I am so sorry.Mary: You forgot again! This is the third time!Jack: Sorry about that. I didn’t mean it. I just couldn’t remember it. I find my memory is getting worse and worse!Mary: Do you mean you had a good memory before? I doubt it!Jack: Yeah, I assure you. My memory was very good when I was young. Now it’s getting worse when I grow up.


Mary: Well, I once read an article. It says, in fact, every one of us has the ability to recall our brain and the potential to stretch our mind. This is what is known as brain power. If we don’t use our brain, our brain is going to get rusty.Jack: Oh, I see. My memory is getting worse just because I am becoming lazy and don’t use it often.Mary: Yeah, we need to use it and challenge it every day in our life. Our brain will remain creative and efficient only if we use it in the best way and keep it in a good shape.Jack: That’s right. I will do more practice every day and I’ll try to remember to bring your book back.Mary: That will be nice, haha….


Task 1 Pre-reading ActivitiesTask 1 Pre-reading Activities

Task 2 Reading ComprehensionTask 2 Reading Comprehension

Task 3 After-reading ActivitiesTask 3 After-reading Activities


Pre-reading Activities

Before you read, think about the following questions and then exchange information with your partner:

a. How much do you know about our brain, its function and structure?

b. What are the reasons why some people are cleverer than others?

c. What is creativity according to your understanding? How can one be more creative?


All of us are born to be creative, are born to have unlimited potential for creating. But as we grow up, we give away more and more of our creative potential. As a child, we lose up to 75% of our creativity. By the time we are 40, we are nearly expressing less than 2% of the measurable creativity we demonstrated as children. Therefore, we must reawaken our ability to be creative with practice and encouragement. When you are being creative, you are not necessarily doing something that no one else has done before, but you are doing something you have never done before.

Creativity and brainPara.1


The difference between a creative and a non-creative person seems to be that the latter literally uses only one half of the brain. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, with quite different functions. For most of us, the left hemisphere is dominant. It’s verbal, rational and analytical. It functions rather like a computer, and controls the movements of the right side of the body. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is emotional, artistic, intuitive, imaginative, and spiritual. It dreams and fantasises. It helps you recognise family and friends, find your way around the house or do a jigsaw puzzle—and controls the left side of the body (only if you are left-handed and have a left-handed mother are you likely to have a dominant right hemisphere.)

Para.2


When your “right brain” takes over—whether you are sketching, writing, cooking, day-dreaming or playing with the children—you become totally absorbed: All sense of time is lost, colours seem more vivid, and you feel at one with yourself. But if you totally ignore the right brain, you become dull, lifeless, lacking in personality, and eventually your mental health may suffer. The price to be paid for keeping down your creative self may be depression, anxiety, or simply getting stuck in a rut. This isn’t to say that we should abandon the “left brain”. Far from it. We need the left hemisphere to organise our daily routine, talk to people, analyse problems, keep track of time—and to evaluate the ideas generated by the right hemisphere. The right brain might be good at coming up with ideas, but only the left brain can decide which are worth pursuing and which should be dismissed to the wastepaper basket. A truly creative person uses both halves of the brain.

Para.3


Yet the great scientist Albert Einstein—who only had an average IQ—said he thought in images, not words, and trusted his intuition. His theory of relativity began by imagining what it would be like to ride a light beam into space. “Imagination”, said Einstein, “is more important than knowledge.” Anyone can learn to be more creative, intuitive and imaginative; you just have to practise. Here are eight suggestions to get you started. After that, you should be able to create lots more ideas of your own:

1) Arouse your senses; 2) Go back to childhood; 3) Try writing with the wrong hand; 4) Find time for quiet thinking; 5) Record your dreams; 6) Develop your spiritual powers; 7) Let yourself daydream; 8) Discover your hidden abilities.

Para.4-5


1. potentialn. natural ability or quality that could develop to make you

very good at Somethinge.g. The company certainly has the potential for further

growth.

adj. likely to develop into a particular type of person or thing in the future

e.g. We need new ways to attract potential customers.


2. demonstrate v.1) to show or prove something clearlye.g. The study demonstrates the link

between poverty and malnutrition.2) to protest or support something in

public with a lot of other peoplee.g. Supporters demonstrated outside the

courtroom during the trial.


3. hemisphere n.1) one of the two halves of the braine.g. Tim most probably has a dominant left hemisphere since he

shows no artistic talent.

2) a half of the earth, especially one of the halves above and below the equator

e.g. the Northern hemisphere


4. dominant adj. stronger, more powerful or more noticeable than other people

or thingse.g. She was a dominant figure in the film industry.


5. rational adj. based on clear, practical or scientific reasons e.g. It’s impossible to have a rational conversation with him.


6. fantasise v. to imagine something strange or very pleasant happening to you e.g. Sometimes she fantasised about buying a boat and sailing around the world.


7. generate v.1) to produce or cause something e.g. The program would generate a lot of new jobs.

2) to produce heat, electricity, or another form of energy

e.g. Wind turbines generate electricity for the local community.


8. pursue v.1) to continue doing an activity or trying

to achieve something over a long period of time

e.g. She plans to pursue a career in politics.

2) to chase or follow someone or something, in order to catch them, attack them, etc.

e.g. Billy ran across the field with one officer pursuing him.


译文

所有人生来都有创造力和无限的创造潜力。然而随着我们逐渐长大，越来越多的创造潜力被我们放弃。孩提时代，我们就丧失了多达 75% 的创造力。当我们 40 岁时，我们所表现出的创造力不足孩提时的 2% 。因此，我们必须通过训练和鼓励重新唤醒自己的创造力。当你展示创造力时，你不一定要做以前别人没做过的事情，而是做你以前从未尝试过的事情。


译文一个创造力强的人和一个没有创造力的人之间的差别似乎就在于后者只使用了自己大脑的一半。人脑由两个功能截然不同的半球组成。对大部分人而言，左脑起主导作用。它分管言语、理智和分析能力。它的功能类似于一台电脑，控制着人体右半部的活动。而右脑分管情感、艺术感、直觉、想象力和精神。它总是充满梦想和幻想。右脑帮助你辨认家人和朋友，找到回家的路或是帮你完成一幅智力拼图。右脑控制着人体的左半部（只有当你平常惯用左手，而且你的母亲也是如此的时候，你大脑中处于主导地位的才是右脑）。


译文当你的“右脑”处于主导地位时——无论你是在素描、写字、做饭、做白日梦或是在和孩子们玩耍——你都能全神贯注：时间仿佛不存在了，各种颜色看上去格外生动，你完全沉浸在自己的世界里。而如果完全忽略右脑，你将变得迟钝、毫无生气、缺乏个性并且最终引起精神疾病。压抑自己的创造力可能会导致情绪低落、焦虑不安或者囿于刻板而乏味的生活。但这并不是说我们应该放弃“左脑”。相反，我们需要左脑来组织日常生活、与人交流、分析问题、掌握时间以及评估右脑所提出的想法。右脑很善于提出想法，但只有左脑才能够决定哪些想法是值得探寻的，哪些又是应该扔进废纸篓的。一个真正具有创造力的人能够均衡地使用自己的左右脑。


译文然而，伟大的科学家阿尔伯特 ·爱因斯坦——他只拥有和常人一样的智商——说自己是使用图像而不是文字来进行思考的，而且他相信自己的直觉。爱因斯坦的相对论源于他想象驾驶光束进入宇宙时的情景。“想象力”，爱因斯坦说，“比任何知识都要重要。”每个人通过学习都能变得更富创造力、更有直觉力和想象力，你所要做的只是练习。下面有八条入门建议，按照这些建议进行练习以后，你应该能够拥有更多属于你自己的想法：

1 ）唤醒你的感官； 2 ）回到童年； 3 ）试着用不常用的那只手写字； 4 ）找点时间静静思考； 5 ）记下你的梦想； 6 ）发展自己的精神力量； 7 ）让自己做做白日梦 ; 8 ）发觉你潜藏的能力。


After-reading Activities

Discuss the following questions in groups and prepare to report to the class.

1. Do you agree that everyone is born to be creative?2. What do you think is the difference between

creative and non-creative people?3. What is the relationship between the brain and

creativity?4. How can one become more creative?


Task 1 Grammar DevelopmentTask 1 Grammar Development

Task 2 Vocabulary BuildingTask 2 Vocabulary Building


Task 1 Grammar Development ：Parallel structures

Parallelism in sentences refers to matching grammatical structures. Elements in a sentence that have the same function or express similar ideas should be grammatically parallel, or grammatically matched.


A. Read the following sentences taken from the text and pay special attention to the parallel structure.


1. All of us are born to be creative, are born to have unlimited potential for creating.

2. The right hemisphere, on the other hand, is emotional, artistic, intuitive, imaginative, and spiritual.

3. It helps you recognise family and friends, find your way around the house or do a jigsaw puzzle—and controls the left side of the body.

4. We need the left hemisphere to organise our daily routine, talk to people, analyse problems, keep track of time—and to evaluate the ideas generated by the right hemisphere.

5. Anyone can learn to be more creative, intuitive and imaginative, you just have to practise.


1. The factory workers were ready, able, and were quite determined to do a great job.

2. We cannot be worried or terrified of difficulties in life.3. The actor taught his students how to read, how to stand, how to cry, and to talk

with fans.4. The requirements for a chemistry degree are not as strict as a medical degree.5. Either you can join the army or the navy.6. The reorganisation of the company is neither simple nor it will be cheap.7. When I was in high school, I learned piano and how to play the guitar.8. Fred supports the idea because, first, its simplicity; second, it is unique.9. They are either our friends or they are not.10. The work is handsome and skillfully done.

B. There are some parallel structure problems in the following sentences. Correct the mistakes.




1. The factory workers were ready, able, and determined to do a great job. 2. We cannot be worried about or terrified of difficulties in life. 3. The actor taught his students how to read, how to stand, how to cry, and how to talk with fans. 4. The requirements for a chemistry degree are not as strict as the requirements for a medical degree. OR: The requirements for a chemistry degree are not as strict as those for a medical degree. (Those refers to the requirements.) 5. You can join either the army or the navy. 6. The reorganisation of the company is neither simple nor cheap. 7. When I was in high school, I learned how to play the piano and the guitar. 8. Fred supports the idea because, first, it is simple; second, it is unique. 9. They are either our friends or our enemies.10. The work is handsomely and skillfully done.

Answers


1. Susan has wit, charm, and she has an extremely pleasant personality. Susan has wit, charm, and a pleasing personality.2. In English class, John learned to read poems critically and to appreciate

good prose. In English class, John learned to read poems critically and he appreciated

good prose.3. Jack’s IQ is higher than Ralph. Jack’s IQ is higher than Ralph’s.4. He wanted three things out of college: to learn a skill, to make good

friends, and to learn about life. He wanted three things out of college: to learn a skill, to make good

friends, and learning about life.

C. Select the sentence that illustrates the use of a proper parallel construction.


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5. Coach Smith was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and a wise friend.

Coach Smith was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and friend.

6. We found the film repulsive, offensive, and we thought it was embarrassing.

We found the film repulsive, offensive, and embarrassing.7. Professor Ali rewarded his students for working hard on the

final project and going beyond the call of duty. Professor Ali rewarded his students for their hard work on the

final project and going beyond the call of duty.

C. Select the sentence that illustrates the use of a proper parallel construction.


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Grammar tips

平行成分的一致是语法一致的体现。两个或更多的词、短语或分句在一起使用，其语法作用应该是平行的，有关部分的关系是同等的。保持其平行的主要纽带是并列连词，如 and ， but ， or等，以及相关连词，如 not only… but also, either… or, neither… nor等。要真正地做到平行，除了选用适当的连词外，还需注意以下问题：1. 平行成分在句法上的同类性e.g. Roger talks rapidly and loudly.2. 平行成分在结构上的完整性e.g. Johnny will not look at or speak to his sister.3.关联词使用的对等性e.g. She is famous not only in China but also abroad.4.句子结构的同一性e.g. The surgeon examined the patient quickly and began the operation.


Task 2 Vocabulary Building: Phrasal verbs with take and put

There are some very frequently used verbs in English, such as take, put, get, have, go, come, make, and do. They combine with other words in many different ways.


A. Which expressions go with take and which with put? Write take or put next to each expression.


one’s arm round somebody three hours to get there somebody in charge of somebody/something for granted a plan into practice responsibility for something pressure on somebody drugs no notice his work first part a risk place my advice


B. There are lots of “v. + adv.” or “v. + prep.” structures in English. They are called phrasal verbs, or multi-word verbs. Sometimes the same phrasal verb can have several different meanings. What are the different meanings of take off and put down in the following sentences?

He took off his coat.He took a day off work.The football player was taken off at half-time.The plane took off.The business took off.The book was so good I couldn’t put it down.Come to a party next Saturday. Put it down in your diary.She’s always telling me I’m rubbish. I hate the way she puts me down.



Brainstorming: A way of thinking

What is brainstorming? Brainstorming is a method of generating ideas and sharing knowledge to solve a particular commercial or technical problem, in which participants are encouraged to think without interruption. Brainstorming is a group activity where each participant shares ideas as soon as they come to mind. At the conclusion of the session, ideas are categorised and ranked for follow-on action.


Brainstorming: A way of thinkingHow to do brainstorming?

When planning a brainstorming session, it is important to define clearly the topic to be addressed. A topic which is too specific can constrict thinking, while an ill-defined topic will not generate enough directly applicable ideas. The composition of the brainstorming group is important too. It should include people linked directly with the subject, as well as those who can contribute novel and unexpected ideas. It can comprise staff from inside or outside the organisation.


Brainstorming: A way of thinking To ensure a productive session and one to which all present

contribute, there are several brainstorming “rules”:Encourage novel and innovative ideas, however odd they may

first appear;The quantity of ideas is more important than quality, so while

ideas are shared with the group, they are not discussed or criticised in detail—this is reserved for a later stage;

Build on the ideas put forward by others;Every person and every idea has equal worth;Each idea generated belongs to the group rather than the

individual who thought of it.


Intelligence across cultures

In recent years, researchers in Africa, Asia and elsewhere have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about intelligence that differ fundamentally from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests.

In recent years, researchers in Africa, Asia and elsewhere have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about intelligence that differ fundamentally from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests.


People in Western cultures tend to view intelligence as a means for individuals to devise categories and to engage in rational debate, while people in Eastern cultures see it as a way for members of a community to recognise contradiction and complexity and to play their social roles successfully. Researchers found that Chinese conceptions of intelligence emphasize understanding and relating to others—including knowing when to show and when not to show one’s intelligence. Other researchers have found that people in some African communities— especially where Western schooling has not yet become common—tend to blur the Western distinction between intelligence and social competence. Such differences between Eastern and Western views of intelligence are tied to differences in the basic cognitive processes of people in Eastern and Western cultures.

People in Western cultures tend to view intelligence as a means for individuals to devise categories and to engage in rational debate, while people in Eastern cultures see it as a way for members of a community to recognise contradiction and complexity and to play their social roles successfully. Researchers found that Chinese conceptions of intelligence emphasize understanding and relating to others—including knowing when to show and when not to show one’s intelligence. Other researchers have found that people in some African communities— especially where Western schooling has not yet become common—tend to blur the Western distinction between intelligence and social competence. Such differences between Eastern and Western views of intelligence are tied to differences in the basic cognitive processes of people in Eastern and Western cultures.


Think about the following questions and then work in groups and share your responses.

1. What plans have you got for continuing with your English after this course? Discuss with other students.


2. Have you considered the following strategies? If possible, try to organise some of them before the course finishes.

a. Setting up self-help groups (finding other learners).b. Finding out how you can receive the BBC World Service.c. Finding out about , and possibly subscribing to, an English

(language) magazine or newspaper.d. Setting up pen-pal networks (possibly with other ex-course

members).e. Finding native English-speakers in your hometown and making

contact.f. Buying reference books, cassettes, novels, etc


Work in groups of four.Surf on the Internet for a video which talks about how the brain works (within 4 mins) and share it with your classmates next time.


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Warm-up Reading Language in use Project Culture tips Learning to learn homework...

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