节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-01
难易度:Medium
关键字:compel, informative, involve, sharpen, neural pathway, stimulation
It is October 1 and we are starting with the article Make Your Brain Smarter,
a great way to start the month because we want to compel you to use your brain
as you think in English.
Today we've talked a lot about how studies show that the more you use your brain
and open up new neural pathways, the smarter your brain can become.
And our first tip toward a smarter brain was to limit your TV viewing.
If you do watch TV, watch a show that is educational and informative - like
Studio Classroom.
Well, let's continue with the rest of our lesson and learn some more about these
tips.
Make Your Brain Smarter.
Travel.
Traveling to a new country forces you to see and do things in a new way,
providing stimulation to the brain.
Learn a new language.
Acquiring a new language involves different learning methods.
Learning a language sharpens your brain and helps prevent memory problems in
later years.
Master a new subject.
Each week, select an animal, a bird or a fish, and read everything you can about
it.
Stretch your brain as you become an expert on the subject.
All right.
Well, you're becoming an expert in English here today.
Let's go back to this other step toward making your brain smarter.
We start out with travel here.
Traveling to a new country forces you to see and do things in a new way,
providing stimulation to the brain.
Well, I like traveling.
Carolyn, do you like traveling?
I do love to travel.
And this is very encouraging - if I travel more, then my brain will be smarter.
Yes, you will if you travel more.
That's a great reason to travel.
Of course, if you love traveling already, here's another reason to add toward
why you should travel.
Go somewhere new in the world.
This is good stimulation for your brain.
And that's another word... it kind of means excitement, stimulation or
excitement for your brain.
That's right.
So stimulation will help you to think of things in a new way.
It will fill your... your brain with new ideas.
So when you travel, don't simply travel to some place that is familiar or some
place that has the same language.
When I travel, I love to go to countries where I don't speak the language.
Well, then maybe you would have to learn that language if you wanted to speak to
the people on the streets.
Here's another tip here: Learn a new language.
Acquiring a new language involves different learning methods.
And of course if you're watching or listening to Studio Classroom, you already
know that this is making your brain smarter.
That's right.
And here we see a word from the Word Bank, the word "involve." Now if something
involves something, then it is part of the action or the process.
Right now you are involved in learning English.
You are in an English class right here at Studio Classroom.
That's right.
But of course we want to encourage you to also be involved in your community
somehow.
You want to make yourself useful and contribute.
Do good things for your community; see how you can get involved.
That's right.
And we learn some other benefits about learning a language.
Learning a language sharpens your brain and helps prevent memory problems in
later years.
Well, I think I need to learn about five more languages.
You need to learn five more languages!
Well, that will really sharpen your brain, Carolyn.
Let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank.
It is "sharpen." If you sharpen something, that means it may get sharper.
So it's the opposite of to make something dull.
That's right.
And if you sharpen your brain, then you can think very quickly.
You knew exactly what to say, when to say it.
And you can think and process things more clearly, more quickly.
And if you learn a new language, then you can start using that same fast, quick
speed in... in another language.
And that's fantastic.
It's true.
And you can sharpen other things.
If you have any kind of talent or skill, you can sharpen those skills.
You can sharpen your mind.
That's another way to say you're sharpening your brain.
This reminds me of a part of the Bible, actually, that says: As iron sharpens
iron, so one man sharpens another.
That means we are supposed to be helping each other in life to be sharper in a
lot of ways.
Well, right now it's time for us to learn more with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
They, of course, always help us to sharpen our brains.
As we go through today's lesson, I'm sure we all hope to have a healthy and
smart brain.
But maybe you are already a brain.
Ah, there's something for thought.
We all have a brain, but can we also be a brain?
Well, if you're super smart, get straight A's in school, then people will
probably call you a brain.
Or even a superbrain, which is a highly intelligent person like Albert Einstein.
Yes, Einstein was definitely a brain.
But if you're not a brain, don't worry.
Most of us aren't.
You may still have the brains.
Changing brain to the plural form "brains," we get a different meaning -
intelligence.
That's right, Ken.
And brains, with an S, is often used in the context of brains versus brawn.
Now Ken, what is brawn?
Brawn refers to strong, well-developed muscles.
So in the case of brains versus brawn, you're deciding between the use of
intellect or brute strength to solve a problem.
And finally, a no-brainer.
Ken, do you feel like having Japanese food or Italian food for lunch today?
That's a no-brainer, Steve.
Italian, of course.
Nothing beats Casa Della Pasta.
So a no-brainer is just an informal expression that means something is so
obvious that a person shouldn't even have to think about it.
OK, pasta it is.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, our last tip for today on steps toward a smarter brain is to master a new
subject.
Each week, select an animal, a bird or a fish, and read everything you can about
it.
This sounds great.
Well, I know it sounds great.
Carolyn loves animals.
I think that you could definitely do this.
And of course we continue here reading:
Stretch your brain as you become an expert on the subject.
So if you stretch your brain, you're... you're stretching yourself.
You're becoming better at something.
That's right.
Well, I hope that you will continue to stretch your brain as we go join Michelle
in the Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's return to our teachers now.
Well, one of our tips for today for Making Your Brain Smarter, one of our steps
was to master a new subject.
Of course our lesson encouraged us to maybe get a new subject every week... or
think of a new subject every week and become a master at that subject.
What would you like to become a master of?
Carolyn?
Well, I'm still working on my Chinese language skills.
And I would really like to master that especially since it was one of the other
steps.
That's two steps done in one.
Well, I think that's a great idea.
For me, I think I would like to know more about snakes and spiders.
I want to know which ones are poisonous and which ones are not.
Oh. Well, I can tell you all about that, Gabe.
Carolyn knows all about that.
Thank you, friends, for joining us today.
And we'll see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.