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| Writing
Style |
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This text is a piece of expository
writing, narrated in the third person. The whole text
is well-organized with the theme focused on development of the
brain research. At the beginning of the text, the author directly
presents the difficulties of this task—Man still has a lot to
learn about the most powerful and complex part of his body—the
brain. Then different findings are enumerated in time order.
The relationship between the sentences, even paragraphs, is
very clear, with no ambiguity and obscurity in the major or
minor points. So the whole discourse is well-knit.
The language is well-chosen for an expository science writing.
To make his exposition more serious，convincing and objective,
the author employs some unemotional phrases and sentence patterns
like “it is thought that…”, “scientists thought that…”, “it
has been found that…”, etc. This objectiveness is also shown
in the less change of tense, more passive voice, long and complicated
sentences. To achieve that effect, the author also employs scientific
research findings in his writing. That means all his conclusions
are based on the results of the scientific research rather than
on his own subjective assumptions.
In order to make his writing more impressive, formal and
well-written, the author exploits some rhetorical devices to
achieve that effect. The first rhetorical device he uses is
metaphor. In the title, he compares
the human brain to ‘the most powerful computer’ in the universe.
So the readers can see the mysteriousness, powerfulness and
complexity of the brain. And in the last paragraph, the readers
can see another metaphor. The author compares ‘the human brain’
to ‘that other universe’. From this comparison the readers can
see the mysteriousness and the vastness of our brain. The second
rhetorical device he uses is contrast.
In paragraph 2, the wrong idea of the human brain in ancient
times forms a contrast with the scientific idea of the 18th
century. In paragraph 3, the wrong idea of the brain in the
19th century contrasts with the correct idea of the modern times.
In paragraph 4, the readers can see the contrasting phenomenon—‘the
more the scientists find out, the more questions they are unable
to answer’. In paragraph 6, the readers also can see the two
contrasting ideas of the earlier scientists and the present
researchers on the issue whether the people’s mental power decreases
as they are aging.
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| metaphor
（暗喻） |
A metaphor
makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one
quality or characteristic in common. It is different from simile（明喻）.
The comparison in a simile is stated (明确指出的) with words such as like,
as and as…as, while that in a metaphor is implied（暗含在内的）but not stated.
For example:
As the desert is like a sea, so is the camel like a ship. (simile)
He fought like a lion in the battle. (simile)
What he meant is as clear as day. (simile)
The sidewalks became tossing（摇摇荡荡的）seas of umbrellas. (metaphor)
A mighty fortress is our God. (metaphor)
contrast（对照）
A contrast refers to a comparison of unlike objects in order
to exhibit the striking unlikeness or differences. For example:
Cowards（懦夫） die many times before their deaths; the valiant（勇士）
never taste of
death but once.
It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry,
simultaneously.（据说那时，当当的钟声，和呱呱的啼声，恰好同时并发。）
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