Chapter 2 Harnessing Adaptability

词语学习

Few cities in the world can baffle a GPS like London can. To Start with, there is no grid of thoroughfares that can be used for orientation and routing as you will find in Manhattan or Paris or Tokyo. Instead the city's major streets are set at odd angles to each other. They curve and they squiggle.

baffle // if something baffles you, you cannot understand or explain it at all.

E.g. The question baffled me completely.

Imitation: I just have the confidence that no one would baffle me in the debate.

thoroughfares 英                                                                                            [ˈθʌrəfeə(r)] // 通行，大道，大街

squiggle 在这里是不及物动词，其名词释义为a short wavy twist or line, curlicue

Each run earns a numerical score based on its accuracy, and as the prospective driver accumulates points, the tests get harder and harder, with the endpoints becoming more obscure and the routes longer, more complicated, and more convoluted.

obscure 形容词 // difficult to understand

E.g. For some obscure reason, the group is very popular.

Imitation: That journal is obscure to understand.

convoluted 形容词 // having many twists and bends.

E.g. His signature convoluted like the trills of a coloratura soprano.

Imitation: He complained the convoluted work process that was assigned to his team.

Indeed, even after passing all the tests and getting licensed, London taxi drivers continue to increase and hone their knowledge of London's streets.

hone // to improve your skill at doing something, especially when you are already very good at it.

E.g. He set about honing his skills as a draughtsman.

Imitation: After deliberate learning, we can still keep honing the skills that we have obtained.

Until the first decade of the twenty-first century, most scientists would have flat out denied that something like what Maguire has seen in the brains of London cabbies was even possible.

flat out 属于副词用法 // in a direct and complete way,  同意词组：straight out

E.g. She asked him flat out if he was seeing another woman.

Imitation: It would be flat out easier if you just confess your fault now.

阅读体会

In the way we desire through conscious, deliberate training, we can shape our brains.

伦敦出租车司机的例子印证了大脑不同于肌肉，是一种大脑组织的增长。人的大脑拥有无限的适应能力。遇到的困难和挑战越大，人们大脑的变化就越大。通过在舒适区外不太远的、持续强度的训练，我们会使大脑发生改变。