生命的意义

That was easy to do,even though it's a little strange.

这个很容易做到 尽管有一点点奇怪

Then,he tried to imagine having no mind.

接着他努力想象自己没有灵魂

But he couldn't.

但却做不到

After all,with no mind how can you imagine anything?

毕竟 没有灵魂怎么想象任何事呢

He summed it up rather neatly with the phrase:

他用非常简洁的一句话提出结论

I think,therefore I am.

我思故我在

He believed that the mind and the body are fundamentally different kinds of things.

他认为灵魂与肉体基本上是不同的事物

Working out how they interconnect is the next step

我们的下一步就是找出它们如何相互连接

for us to find the scientific basis for the meaning of life.

才能了解生命意义的科学基础

Here too,Descartes was well ahead of his time.

笛卡尔在这方面的想法也是领先于他的时代

He suggested the mind was connected to the body at the pineal gland:

他主张灵魂与肉体的连接点就在松果腺

A small lobe at the top of the spine.

那是位于脊椎顶端的一小片脑叶

Although he wasn't entirely right,Descartes was pretty close.

尽管他并不完全正确 笛卡尔已经猜得很接近

We now know that the conscious mind is created by the brain as a whole.

我们现在知道 意识是由整个大脑所创造的

An organ of such stupendous complexity,that I find it mind boggling.

这个器官如此错综复杂 实在令我啧啧称奇

重点讲解

1、sum up

简而言之;概括地说

One voter in Brasilia summed up the mood — 'Politicians have lost credibility,' he complained.

一位巴西利亚的选民将人们的心情一言概之——“政客们已无信誉可言”，他抱怨道。

Obree summed his weekend up in one word: 'Disastrous.'

奥布瑞用一个词总结了他的周末经历：“灾难。”

总结;概括

'I love my wife, my horse and my dog,' he said, and that summed him up.

他说：“我爱我的妻子、我的马和我的狗。”他大致上就是这么一个人。

Sadly, the feud sums up the relationship between Lord Bath and the man who succeeds him.

不幸的是，巴思勋爵和他的继任者之间的关系只能用“积怨已久”来概括。

(在发言后或文章结尾处)作总结;(法官审理结束前)作结案陈词

When the judge summed up, it was clear he wanted a guilty verdict.

当法官作结案陈词时，他明显想作出有罪裁决。

To sum up: We welcome the statement of the Government and appreciate its willingness and commitment to work cooperatively with us.

最后，我们欣然接受政府的声明，并感谢其愿同我们合作的意愿和承诺。

2、fundamental

基本的;根本的;主要的;基础的

Our constitution embodies all the fundamental principles of democracy.

我们的宪法体现了民主的所有基本原则。

A fundamental human right is being withheld from these people.

这些人被剥夺了一项最基本的人权。

根本性的;固有的;根深蒂固的

But on this question, the two leaders have very fundamental differences.

但在这个问题上，两位领导人有着根本性的分歧。

Amnesty says there are fundamental flaws in their military justice system.

国际特赦组织称他们的军事司法体系存在着根本性的缺陷。

必需的;不可或缺的

He believes better relations with China are fundamental to the well-being of the area.

他相信和中国建立更加良好的关系对这一地区的繁荣发展至关重要。

The method they pioneered remains fundamental to research into the behaviour of nerve cells.

他们首创的方法在神经细胞活动的研究中一直是不可或缺的。