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The brain’s real super-food may be learning new languages.
[1] On a sweltering August morning, in a classroom overlooking New York’s Hudson River, a group of 3-year-olds are rolling sticky rice balls in chocolate sprinkles, as a teacher guides them completely in Mandarin.1
编者注：第一段有四个非大纲单词，只有Mandarin一词影响理解。
1. sweltering：If you describe the weather as sweltering, you mean that it is extremely hot and makes you feel uncomfortable；sticky rice：在中国南方称为糯米，而北方则多称为江米；sprinkle：If you sprinkle a thing with something such as a liquid or powder, you scatter the liquid or powder over it，撒在上面的一层东西；Mandarin：Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Putonghua，普通话。
[2] This is just one toddler learning game at the total immersion language summer camp run by the primary school Bilingual Buds, which offers a year-round curriculum in Mandarin as well as Spanish (at a New Jersey campus) for kids as young as 2.1
编者注：文章第一段描述了这样一个场景：一个闷热异常的8月早晨，在一间可以俯瞰纽约哈德逊河的教室里，一群3岁小孩在老师的指导下做手工（蘸着巧克力粉揉糯米团）——完全用普通话指导。第二段解释场景：人物，地点，事件。
1. toddler：A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps；immersion：Someone's immersion in a subject is their complete involvement in it, the total immersion language summer camp：全封闭“浸泡式”语言夏令营；primary school：= elementary school，小学。
[3] Bilingualism, of course, can be a leg up for college admission and a résumé burnisher.1 But a growing body of research now offers a further rationale: the regular, high-level use of more than one language may actually improve early brain development.2
编者注：这段第一句话建议背记下来。可以说是写作的万能句式，而且运用了有加分作用的插入语 (of course)。
1. a leg up for college admission：对大学入学有帮助；a résumé burnisher：名词结构，burnish：To burnish the image of someone or something means to improve their image. (WRITTEN)；resume：简历。
2. rationale：The rationale for a course of action, practice, or belief is the set of reasons on which it is based. (FORMAL)
[4] According to several different studies, command of two or more languages bolsters the ability to focus in the face of distraction, decide between competing alternatives, and disregard irrelevant information.1 These essential skills are grouped together, known in brain terms as “executive function.”2 The research suggests they develop ahead of time in bilingual children, and are already evident in kids as young as 3 or 4.3
编者注：这段第一句陈述了几项研究的共同结果：掌握两种或更多种语言，能促进三种能力的发展。第二句中引号中的术语不必深究，如果在这段之后复现，能够往回找到这里就可以了。
1. bolster：If you bolster something such as someone's confidence or courage, you increase it.
2. executive：执行。CEO（首席执行官）中的E就是指这个单词。
3. evident：If something is evident, you notice it easily and clearly.
[5] While no one has yet identified the exact mechanism by which bilingualism boosts brain development, the advantage likely stems from the bilingual’s need to continually select the right language for a given situation.1 According to Ellen Bialystok, a professor at York University in Toronto and a leading researcher in the field, this constant selecting process is strenuous exercise for the brain and involves processes beyond those required for monolingual speech, resulting in an extra stash of mental acuity, or, in Bialy-stok’s terms, a “cognitive reserve.”2
编者注：1. identify：= discover；mechanism：非大纲词汇，但by which... 起到了补充说明的作用，意为“机制”；boost：= bolster（第四段第一句），同义替换；stem from：If a condition or problem stems from something, it was caused originally by that thing.
2. strenuous：A strenuous activity or action involves a lot of energy or effort；monolingual：词根 ‘mono-’ 表示“单一，独，一”；stash：A stash of something valuable is a secret store of it. (INFORMAL)；acuity：Acuity is sharpness of vision or hearing, or quickness of thought. (FORMAL)
[6] Bilingual education, commonplace in many countries, is a growing trend across the United States, with 440 elementary schools (up from virtually none in 1970) offering immersion study in Spanish, Mandarin, and French, in that order of popularity.1
编者注：单句成段，结构多样（插入语，with结构，现在分词）。
1. popularity：联系大纲词汇popular记忆。
[7] For parents whose toddlers can’t read Tolstoy in the original Russian, the research does offer some comfort: Tamar Gollan, a professor at University of California, San Diego, has found a vocabulary gap between children who speak only one language and those who grow up with more.1 On average, the more languages spoken, the smaller the vocabulary in each one. Gollan’s research suggests that while that gap narrows as children grow, it does not close completely.
编者注：1. Tolstoy：托尔斯泰；gap：A gap between two groups of people, things, or sets of ideas is a big difference between them，代沟 (generation gap) 也用这个单词。
[8] The rule of thumb for improving in any language is simple practice. “The more you use it, the better off you are,” Gollan says. “Vocabulary tests, SATs, GREs — those are tests that probe1 the absolute limits of your ability, and that’s where we find that bilinguals have the disadvantage, where you know the word but you just can’t get it out.”
编者注：1. probe：If you probe a place, you search it in order to find someone or something that you are looking for.
[9] Gollan believes this deficit can be compensated for with extra study.1 A more complicated question is how and whether bilingualism may interact with other cognitive issues that can appear in early childhood, specifically attention disorders, says Bialystok.2 Because attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to compromised executive functioning, it is unclear what impact learning a second language — which calls upon exactly these executive skills — might have on children with this condition. Research on this question is underway.
编者注：1. deficit：不足，缺陷；compensate：If you compensate for a lack of something or for something you have done wrong, you do something to make the situation better.
2. interact：相互作用、影响；disorder：混乱，凌乱。
[10] Some of the most valuable mental perks1 of bilingualism can’t be measured at all, of course. To speak more than one language is to inherit a global consciousness that opens the mind to more than one culture or way of life2.
编者注：1. perk：Perks are special benefits that are given to people who have a particular job or belong to a particular group.
2. inherit：If you inherit something such as a task, problem, or attitude, you get it from the people who used to have it, for example because you have taken over their job or been influenced by them；consciousness：Your consciousness is your mind and your thoughts.
[11] Bilinguals also appear to be better at learning new languages than monolinguals. London-based writer Clarisse Lehmann spent her early childhood in Switzerland speaking French. At 6, she learned English. Later she learned Spanish, German, and, during three years spent living in Tokyo, Japanese.
[12] “There’s a witty humor in English that has a different sensibility in French,” she says. “And in Japanese, there’s no sarcasm. When I tried, it would be ‘We don’t understand what you’re trying to say.’?”
编者注：1. witty：Someone or something that is witty is amusing in a clever way.
2. sarcasm：讽刺。
[13] With five languages under her belt — and a working familiarity with Latin and Greek as well — Lehmann finally considers herself sufficiently multilingual. “Enough, enough!” she says. “I don’t want to learn any more languages.” ♥
编者注：sufficiently：可判断词性为副词，不影响理解大意，充分的，足够的；multilingual：词根 ‘multi-’ 表示many或者much，多。
一开始题目中就有一个单词不认识，不着急，看副题，学会一门新的语言可能是大脑最好的营养品。再来拆分bilingual这个单词，‘bi-’ 这个词根表示“两个，两，双”，大纲词汇bicycle就是这样构词的。那题目“为什么be bilingual 聪明”就可以判断和学习一门新语言有关。另外，lingual是不是和language长得有点像。
[1] On a sweltering August morning, in a classroom overlooking New York’s Hudson River, a group of 3-year-olds are rolling sticky rice balls in chocolate sprinkles, as a teacher guides them completely in Mandarin.1
编者注：第一段有四个非大纲单词，只有Mandarin一词影响理解。
1. sweltering：If you describe the weather as sweltering, you mean that it is extremely hot and makes you feel uncomfortable；sticky rice：在中国南方称为糯米，而北方则多称为江米；sprinkle：If you sprinkle a thing with something such as a liquid or powder, you scatter the liquid or powder over it，撒在上面的一层东西；Mandarin：Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Putonghua，普通话。
[2] This is just one toddler learning game at the total immersion language summer camp run by the primary school Bilingual Buds, which offers a year-round curriculum in Mandarin as well as Spanish (at a New Jersey campus) for kids as young as 2.1
编者注：文章第一段描述了这样一个场景：一个闷热异常的8月早晨，在一间可以俯瞰纽约哈德逊河的教室里，一群3岁小孩在老师的指导下做手工（蘸着巧克力粉揉糯米团）——完全用普通话指导。第二段解释场景：人物，地点，事件。
1. toddler：A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps；immersion：Someone's immersion in a subject is their complete involvement in it, the total immersion language summer camp：全封闭“浸泡式”语言夏令营；primary school：= elementary school，小学。
[3] Bilingualism, of course, can be a leg up for college admission and a résumé burnisher.1 But a growing body of research now offers a further rationale: the regular, high-level use of more than one language may actually improve early brain development.2
编者注：这段第一句话建议背记下来。可以说是写作的万能句式，而且运用了有加分作用的插入语 (of course)。
1. a leg up for college admission：对大学入学有帮助；a résumé burnisher：名词结构，burnish：To burnish the image of someone or something means to improve their image. (WRITTEN)；resume：简历。
2. rationale：The rationale for a course of action, practice, or belief is the set of reasons on which it is based. (FORMAL)
[4] According to several different studies, command of two or more languages bolsters the ability to focus in the face of distraction, decide between competing alternatives, and disregard irrelevant information.1 These essential skills are grouped together, known in brain terms as “executive function.”2 The research suggests they develop ahead of time in bilingual children, and are already evident in kids as young as 3 or 4.3
编者注：这段第一句陈述了几项研究的共同结果：掌握两种或更多种语言，能促进三种能力的发展。第二句中引号中的术语不必深究，如果在这段之后复现，能够往回找到这里就可以了。
1. bolster：If you bolster something such as someone's confidence or courage, you increase it.
2. executive：执行。CEO（首席执行官）中的E就是指这个单词。
3. evident：If something is evident, you notice it easily and clearly.
[5] While no one has yet identified the exact mechanism by which bilingualism boosts brain development, the advantage likely stems from the bilingual’s need to continually select the right language for a given situation.1 According to Ellen Bialystok, a professor at York University in Toronto and a leading researcher in the field, this constant selecting process is strenuous exercise for the brain and involves processes beyond those required for monolingual speech, resulting in an extra stash of mental acuity, or, in Bialy-stok’s terms, a “cognitive reserve.”2
编者注：1. identify：= discover；mechanism：非大纲词汇，但by which... 起到了补充说明的作用，意为“机制”；boost：= bolster（第四段第一句），同义替换；stem from：If a condition or problem stems from something, it was caused originally by that thing.
2. strenuous：A strenuous activity or action involves a lot of energy or effort；monolingual：词根 ‘mono-’ 表示“单一，独，一”；stash：A stash of something valuable is a secret store of it. (INFORMAL)；acuity：Acuity is sharpness of vision or hearing, or quickness of thought. (FORMAL)
[6] Bilingual education, commonplace in many countries, is a growing trend across the United States, with 440 elementary schools (up from virtually none in 1970) offering immersion study in Spanish, Mandarin, and French, in that order of popularity.1
编者注：单句成段，结构多样（插入语，with结构，现在分词）。
1. popularity：联系大纲词汇popular记忆。
[7] For parents whose toddlers can’t read Tolstoy in the original Russian, the research does offer some comfort: Tamar Gollan, a professor at University of California, San Diego, has found a vocabulary gap between children who speak only one language and those who grow up with more.1 On average, the more languages spoken, the smaller the vocabulary in each one. Gollan’s research suggests that while that gap narrows as children grow, it does not close completely.
编者注：1. Tolstoy：托尔斯泰；gap：A gap between two groups of people, things, or sets of ideas is a big difference between them，代沟 (generation gap) 也用这个单词。
[8] The rule of thumb for improving in any language is simple practice. “The more you use it, the better off you are,” Gollan says. “Vocabulary tests, SATs, GREs — those are tests that probe1 the absolute limits of your ability, and that’s where we find that bilinguals have the disadvantage, where you know the word but you just can’t get it out.”
编者注：1. probe：If you probe a place, you search it in order to find someone or something that you are looking for.
[9] Gollan believes this deficit can be compensated for with extra study.1 A more complicated question is how and whether bilingualism may interact with other cognitive issues that can appear in early childhood, specifically attention disorders, says Bialystok.2 Because attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to compromised executive functioning, it is unclear what impact learning a second language — which calls upon exactly these executive skills — might have on children with this condition. Research on this question is underway.
编者注：1. deficit：不足，缺陷；compensate：If you compensate for a lack of something or for something you have done wrong, you do something to make the situation better.
2. interact：相互作用、影响；disorder：混乱，凌乱。
[10] Some of the most valuable mental perks1 of bilingualism can’t be measured at all, of course. To speak more than one language is to inherit a global consciousness that opens the mind to more than one culture or way of life2.
编者注：1. perk：Perks are special benefits that are given to people who have a particular job or belong to a particular group.
2. inherit：If you inherit something such as a task, problem, or attitude, you get it from the people who used to have it, for example because you have taken over their job or been influenced by them；consciousness：Your consciousness is your mind and your thoughts.
[11] Bilinguals also appear to be better at learning new languages than monolinguals. London-based writer Clarisse Lehmann spent her early childhood in Switzerland speaking French. At 6, she learned English. Later she learned Spanish, German, and, during three years spent living in Tokyo, Japanese.
[12] “There’s a witty humor in English that has a different sensibility in French,” she says. “And in Japanese, there’s no sarcasm. When I tried, it would be ‘We don’t understand what you’re trying to say.’?”
编者注：1. witty：Someone or something that is witty is amusing in a clever way.
2. sarcasm：讽刺。
[13] With five languages under her belt — and a working familiarity with Latin and Greek as well — Lehmann finally considers herself sufficiently multilingual. “Enough, enough!” she says. “I don’t want to learn any more languages.” ♥
编者注：sufficiently：可判断词性为副词，不影响理解大意，充分的，足够的；multilingual：词根 ‘multi-’ 表示many或者much，多。
一开始题目中就有一个单词不认识，不着急，看副题，学会一门新的语言可能是大脑最好的营养品。再来拆分bilingual这个单词，‘bi-’ 这个词根表示“两个，两，双”，大纲词汇bicycle就是这样构词的。那题目“为什么be bilingual 聪明”就可以判断和学习一门新语言有关。另外，lingual是不是和language长得有点像。