Winter Holiday English Learning

Day 1

ted-learning-Do we see the reality as it is?

Summary

Do we see the reality as it is?

False Assumption: Perceptions are like reality, reality is like perception.

Mystery: The relation between brain activity and conscious experience.

It’s been a long time since the first batch of people thought about this problem. As Galileo’s interesting saying, do we just misinterpret the nature of our perceptions? To answer this question, from the perspective of modern science, we can consider our brain science.

The area that controls vision accounts for a large part of our brain. Our vision system is powerful without doubt. In fact, we not only construct what we see, but also reconstruct the reality. But why vision is so accurate. From the point view of evolution, accurate seems to be fitter. But the male beetles in Australia often mistake the bottle as female, which is not good for the species. They have great vision system, but evolution just gives them a hack.

So, does natural evolution really favor seeing reality as it is? The answer is no. In fact, the evolution equation is about fitness not reality. Fitness is not reality but has something to do with the state of the organism, not just the reality. The species only having perception of reality go extinct.

We are shaped with tricks and hacks that keep us alive. Reality is more like a 3-D desktop. Interface hide the complexity of reality and guide adaptive the behavior. And in zxr’s view, our brain is just like a filter. In fact, different species may view the same object in different ways, different color(heat vision), different shapes. What we see or percept are just part of properties of the real object. As the speaker said: “Viewing the space time as the nature just misinterpret the perception.” I do agree with it. We human are blind in the blindness. But fortunately, we have science, math, logic. Mathematics and logic are in the direction of truth, sometimes they are just beyond our perception and intuition.

New Word Recorder

monopoly 垄断

grant v: 同意,承认 n: 拨款

medieval 中世纪的

restraint 控制,约束

poultry 家禽

chief 主席的,主要的

murmur 小声说话,嘀咕,私下抱怨

migrate 迁徙,移动

recreation 娱乐,消遣

Day 2

ted-learning-3 clues to understanding your brain

Summary

The function of structures of human brain.

How to study the brain scinence.

The main approach is to look at patients with sustained damage to a small region of the brain. Then you get a highly selected loss in one function with other functions being preserved intact. And this just give the confidence of asserting that region of brain is somehow involved in mediating that function. So we can map function onto the region of structure and to see how the region’s doing to generate the function.

The speaker showed three examples.

The first example is called Capgras syndrome. To put it simply, people have this syndrome just can’t recognize others’ faces. Another rare syndrome is Capgras delusion. The patient just can’t recognize his mother by looking.

From the point of stand Freudian view, the explanation is some kind of absurd. Generally, it’s about the sexual attraction to mother. But there are indeed other patients who can’t recognize dogs. Can you say that we human have the original sexual attraction to dogs?

The reasonable explanation is that the wire of wire area to the emotion core is cut. And also the tests showed the same conclusion. That is, when the patient look at other objects, his emotion changed normally. But when he saw the picture of his mother, there was no emotion change. So, this experiment just proved the explanation.

The second example is about phantom. It turns out that in the case of sudden loss of limbs, the representative area of the limbs loses the constant input of neural information. In other words, the body map will be redrawn to varying degrees when the human body is suddenly missing. But in this process, it is inevitable to produce some confusing and painful information. Ramachandran(the speaker) believes that the reason why amputees have phantom limb pain is because the brain makes a wrong response to the amputation.

To put it simply again, after amputated the arm, the learned paralysis carries over into his body image, the patient still feel the pain from the phantom.

How to solve this? We can use vision system to adjust the ciaos brain system by showing the patient a mirror. And let him move the normal hand(or leg), then he would think his phantom is also moving. It’s because the brain is faced with tremendous sensory conflict. It’s getting messages from vision saying the phantom is back. But no muscle signals saying it’s really a arm. So the brain just says there is no arms due to the conflicts. This is a denial to the phantom. And through the visual input, he now get the right feeling of his phantom, and gradually get rid of this kind of phantom.

The third example is about synesthesia. The explanation is that there are some wired regions in our brain. A abnormal gene may cause the abnormal cross of these regions. And people with synestheia will have propensity towards metaphorical thinking and creativity . And it’s really interesting, because sometimes, i just have many math ideas, and even make them concrete in my life, it means that i can really see them, great experiences.

New Word Recorder

barely 刚刚,仅仅只不过,几乎不

race 人种,民族

Day 3

Summary

ted-learning-interactive_experiences_with_perceptual_computing

Emm… Seems a little boring. Just talked the normal topics added some representations.

New Word Recorder

federal 联邦的

breed n: 品种,v: 培育

resident 常住居民,常驻的

whereas 而

rig v: 操纵,垄断 n: 装置,设备

devotion 热爱,奉献

precedent 先例,范例

Day 4

Summary

New Word Recorder

restore 修复

productive 多产的,富有生产力的

pose vt: 形成、构成 n: 样子

prescription 处方

negotiate 谈判

specialist 医学专家,专业的

Day 5

Summary

New Word Recorder

burden 重担

engagement 保证、参与、订婚

strive 奋斗、努力

underestimate 低估、轻视

privilege 特权

Day 6

Summary

New Word Recorder

thrive 兴旺发达、旺盛

integrity 诚实、正直、完整

warehouse 仓库、货栈

maintain 维持、保持

budget 款项、预算

resemblance 相似

stubborn 顽固的、执拗的

substantial 大量的、相当程度的

Day 7

Summary

New Word Recorder

plead 恳求

spotlight n: 聚光灯,v: 使公众注意

subordinate adj: 隶属的,n: 下级

nurture 养育、培养

bonus 好处、奖金

masterpiece 杰作

slaughter 屠杀

pole 极点,杆子

reign n: 主宰期,v: 统治

ignite 燃烧、点燃

stomach 胃、欲望

blink 眨眼睛、闪烁

masculine 男子气概的

supplementary 增补的、补充的

eccentric 不合常规的、古怪的

scatter 散布、分散

Day 8

Summary

New Word Recorder

dome 穹顶

petition n: 请愿书、诉状 v: 向…请愿

reconcile 使共存、妥协

pipe 管子

elite n: 精英 adj: 出类拔萃的

lubricate 润滑

suite 套间,套件

optimist 乐观的人

fraud 诈骗、欺诈、骗子

cardinal 最重要的

dreadful 可怕的

liner 班机、定期列车、远洋客轮

cripple 损坏、严重削弱

pendulum 钟摆、摇摆不定的局面

straightforward 简单的、直率的

mute 哑的

Day 9

Summary

New Word Recorder

precede v.先于

batter 连续猛击

sober adj: 清醒的 v: 使清醒

provocative 挑衅的

distort 使变形,歪曲

conceive 构思、设想

rebellion n: 反对、叛乱

correlation 联系

protest 抗议

combat 搏斗、战斗

disposal 处理、解决

commentary 评论、解说

virtue 美德、优点

hinge 铰链、取决于(hinge on)

Day 10

Summary

ted-3 questions to ask yourself about everything you do

Overview:

Introduction / Background: The speaker precede the speech with a story of visiting the governor of Georgia when she was in high school. She went there with her parents by bus because of the poverty. Then the family came to the gate, the guard just rejected them by his prejudice. Suffering from this painful experience, she determinant to become the man to open the gate. Not only the gate for the young African women who are told they don’t belong, but also the gate for everyone in Georgia, for justice.

Main Idea: The question becomes how to move forward. She introduced the 3 questions as the title mentioned which are also the core of the speech.

  1. What do i want?
  2. Why do i want it?
  3. How do i get it done?

For the what part, be aggressive about your ambition and do not allow setback to set you back.

Understand why you want do it, it’s not something that you should do, but something that you must do. In particular, i really like the speaker’s saying: “It has to be something that doesn’t allow you to sleep at night unless you’re dreaming about it; something wakes you up in the morning and gets you excited about it.”

For the how to do it part, there are 3 things hold us hostage, Finances、Fear、Fatigue. But we are supposed to get over them, and keep moving every single day.

New Word Recorder

grip 紧握、紧抓

intellectual 脑力的、智力的

dramaticdramatic 戏剧的、突然的、显著的

extraordinary 非凡的、意想不到的

deficiency 缺乏、不足

rehearsal 排练、练习

stimulus 刺激、刺激物

erect adj: 垂直的、树立的 v: 建立、建造、竖起

tract (器官中的)道,例如消化道、一片土地(很大)

track才是追踪

huddle 把身子蜷成一团、聚集在一起、挤作一团

hazard 危险

Day 11

Summary

New Word Recorder

narrative 记叙文、讲述、故事

wage 工资、工钱

legacy 遗产

cable 缆绳

furniture 家具

plunge 纵深投入,一头进入

perspective 视角、观点

preliminary 初步的

quantitative 定量的,量的

outward 向外的

Day 12

Summary

New Word Recorder

scheme 计划、规划、方案

stroll 散步、闲逛

conscientious 凭良心的、勤勤恳恳的

bypass 分路、旁路

external 外面的、外部的

latitude 维度、自由度

overturn 使翻转

juvenile 青少年的

culminate 以…告终

Day 13

Summary

New Word Recorder

reside 居住在

relieve 缓解、减轻

superintendent 负责人、主管

verbal 口头的

substitute 代替者、替代物

slump 猛跌

lane 小路

Day 14

Summary

New Word Recorder

corresponds to 相当于,相应于

circulation 循环、流通

resignation 辞职、辞呈

timely 及时的

substance 物质、材料

innovation 革新

Day 14

Summary

New Word Recorder

decent 过得去的,体面的,舒适的

setback 挫折、倒退、失败

drill 钻、密集训练、演习

extinguish 熄灭

resort 向…求助

vulnerable 易受攻击的、脆弱的

dictate 口述、命令

curse 诅咒

conversion 转变、转换

Day 15

Summary

New Word Recorder

comprehend 理解

radical 根本的、意义深远的、创新的

downfall 垮台、衰落

consecutive 连续的、不断的、接连而来的

transmit 传送、传输

tilt 倾斜

surgery 外科手术

intensive 密集使用的

Day 16

Summary

New Word Recorder

capacity 能力

conservation 节约

cereal 可食用的谷类作物

suspicion 猜疑、怀疑

neglect 忽视

ideology 思维方式、意识形态

decorate 装饰

emission 发出、散发物

relay 转送、转发

discount 把…打折扣、折扣

inevitable 必然发生的、不可避免的

Day 17

Summary

New Word Recorder

tub 浴缸、桶

elementary 基本的、初级的

implication 暗示、含义

spectacle 精彩表演

vocal 嗓音的、发声的

intense 高度集中的、强烈的

gaze 凝视

client 当事人、委托人、客户

Day 18

Summary

New Word Recorder

embed 牢牢嵌入、埋置

nutrition 营养学、食物

primary 首要的、主要的

rhythm 韵律、节律

violate 违反、违背

transplant 移植、移居

counsel 劝告、忠告

machinery 机械、机器

weird 十分奇怪的

referee 仲裁、裁判

prospect 机会、可能性

Day 19

Summary

New Word Recorder

demonstrate 演示、展示

dart 飞镖、急冲

shatter 打碎、粉碎

integral 积分、必须的、必要的

foremost 最突出的

kidnap 劫持、绑架

triumph 胜利、获胜

Day 20

Summary

New Word Recorder

manufacture 生产、制造

bump 碰撞、邂逅

loom 隐约出现

cling 坚持

competence 能力

transmission 传输、传送

persistence 坚持不懈

prosper 兴旺、繁荣

exclusive

hose 水管

retain 保持、保留

ingredient 成分

Day 21

Summary

New Word Recorder

marble 大理石

counter 反驳、抵消、计数器

reap 获得、收到

myth 神话

neutral 中立的、中性的

revenue 税收

pest 害虫

hybrid 杂交生物

Day 22

Summary

New Word Recorder

expenditure 经费、费用

overwhelming 巨大的

venture 冒险

blunt 直率的、耿直的

staple 主要的、重要的

multitude 大量的人

dub 给…起别名

metallic 金属般的

glamor 魅力

Day 23

Summary

New Word Recorder

superficial 肤浅的、表面的

sociable 友好的、

contend 生称、主张

liable 有义务的

distract 转移、分心

coverage 媒体报道

gamble 赌博

summon 召集、传唤

obsession 着迷、困扰

inherent 内在的、固有的

Day 24

Summary

New Word Recorder

slash 砍击

consent 同意、赞许

feminine 妇女的、女子的

inferior 下级的

brew 酝酿、酿造

crush 压碎

breach 破坏、违反

sentiment 观点、看法

Day 25

Summary

New Word Recorder

midst 中央

fatal 致命的

bracket 括号

snack 点心

regime 政权

urban 城市的

receipt 收据

thesis 论文

confront 面对、正视

intensify 加强

Day 26

Summary

New Word Recorder

designate 指定、选派

instinct 本性、本能

brutal 野兽般的、无情的

quantify 表示…的数量、量化

perfection 尽善尽美、完美无缺

segregate 隔离、使分开

provoke 激怒、挑衅

sophisticated 老于世故的、精密的

household 家庭、家庭的

infection 传染

Day 27

Summary

New Word Recorder

trend 趋势

revision 修改、修订

warrant 使有必要

compromise 妥协

delicate 易碎的、脆弱的

devastating 毁灭性的、极具破坏性的

reaction、

reaction 反应、反响

Day 28

Summary

New Word Recorder

contest 比赛、争论

knit 编织、使团结

redundant 多余的、过剩的

bud 花蕾、发芽

principal 首要的、校长

gland 腺

entail 使承担、使成为必须

Day 29

Summary

New Word Recorder

contention 观点、争论

sacrifice 牺牲

trait 特征、特点

deliberate 故意的

commitment 承认

fatigue 疲劳

stylish 时髦的

reckon 以为、认为

modification 修改

Day 30

Summary

New Word Recorder

obscure 无名的、鲜为人知的、难以理解的

stump 树桩

embark 上船、开始从事

misery 痛苦

dividend 红利、被除数

champagne 香槟酒

grim 令人沮丧的

defective 有缺陷的

console 控制台、安慰

plague 瘟疫、灾祸

dim 黯淡的

tuition 学费、讲授

consult 和…商量、咨询

collide 碰撞

Day 31

Summary

New Word Recorder

paperback 平装书

vigorous 用力的、充满活力的

crew 全体船员

resistant 抵抗的、反抗的

decay 腐败、腐坏

overwhelm 使感情上受不了、使不知所措、压倒

biography 传记

fulfil 履行、实现

readily 乐意地、欣然地

exotic 奇异的、外国的

resistant 抵抗的、反抗的