The Brain

Scientists consider that our brain is the most complicated mechanism which has ever been constructed.

The weight of the human brain is from one to two kg. (kilograms). It has a volume of about 3.21 litres and consists of about 12 billion (миллиард) cells. It has been determined by the scientists that each cell is connected to the other directly or indirectly by nerve fibers.

The brain is the centre of a wide system of communication. It has been found out that a constant flow of stimuli comes into the brain through the spinal cord. The stimuli come to the brain from our eyes, ears, and other sense organs for pain, temperature, smell and other feelings. When all the received stimuli have been summarized and analysed the brain sends orders through the nerve fibers in the spinal cord to different parts of the human body. It is due to these orders that one eats, moves, hears, sees and does many other things.

To estimate the functions of different areas of the brain many experiments have been carried out by the investigators. It is due to such experiments that the investigators have been able to determine those areas of the brain which control vision, hearing, physical movements and even emotions.

Due to experimental studies it has been determined that the motor cortex controlling many body movements of the human being becomes tired rapidly. But the hypothalamus which controls such functions as blood pressure is almost never tired.

Exercise 6. Answer the questions:

1. What is the brain?

2. What is the weight and the volume of the human brain?

3. What does the brain consist of?

4. What are the cells of the brain connected by?

5. How do the stimuli come into the brain?

6. What organs send stimuli to the brain?

7. What does the brain do when all the received stimuli have been summarized and analysed?

8. Can the human brain ever become tired?

Exercise 7. Find English equivalents in the text:

вчені вважають; найскладніший механізм, який був коли-небудь створений; вага мозку; об’єм приблизно в 3.21 літри; складатися приблизно з 12 мільярдів кліток; вченими було встановлено; бути зв’язаним нервовими волокнами; центр широкої системи передачі; постійний потік стимулів; надходити в мозок через спинний мозок; стимули надходять від очей, вух та інших органів відчуття; підсумовувати та аналізувати; надсилати накази до різних частин тіла; оцінювати функції різних частин головного мозку; контролювати зір, слух, фізичні рухи та емоції; руховий відділ кори головного мозку; гіпоталамус; кров’яний тиск; швидко стомлюватися.

Exercise 8. Find the synonyms to the following words in the text:

an investigator, a size, to be composed of, to be linked to, permanent/continual, a motive, fever, to sum up, an activity, a part, sight, quickly.

Exercise 9. Join the words from two columns and translate the word-combinations:

human	flow
complicated	tired
to consist of	cord
nerve	organs
constant	being
spinal	movements
sense	mechanism
physical	pressure
to become	fibres
blood	cells

Exercise 10. Join the word with its definition:

1. brain	a)	any drug, agent, electrical impulse, or other factor able to cause a response in an organism
2. cell	b)	a neural control centre at the base of the brain, concerned with hunger, thirst, satiety, and other autonomic functions
3. fibre	c)	the outer grey layer of the brain
4. spinal cord	d)	any thread-shaped structure
5. stimulus	e)	to form an approximate idea or an opinion about something
6. vision	f)	the ability to experience physical sensations, such as heat, pain, etc
7. feeling	g)	the thick cord of nerve tissue inside the spine; together with the brain it forms the central nervous system
8. to estimate	h)	the basic structural and functional unit of living organisms; it consists of a nucleus which is surrounded by the cytoplasm with inclusions and organelles
9. hypothalamus	i)	the ability of a human to see
10. cortex	j)	the soft mass of nervous tissue inside the skull that is the controlling and coordinating centre of the nervous system and the seat of thought, memory, and emotion

Exercise 11. Read and translate the following sentences paying attention to the adverbs in bold type:

1. I have never taken medicines myself.

2. The patient has already been examined by the doctor.

3. Have you ever been operated on?

4. The nurse has just given him an injection.

5. The doctor has not been sent for yet. Do it immediately.

6. The functions of the heart have been studied by our physiologists lately/recently.

7. The causative agent of tuberculosis has been known since 1882.

Exercise 12. Open the brackets using verb in the Present Perfect Tense either in the Active or Passive Voice:

1. The nurse just (to give) analgesics to the patient suffering from muscle pain.

2. I (to treat) at this clinic for pneumonia since last week.

3. Nelly never (to visit) a dentist.

4. Microorganisms grow after they (to invade) living cells.

5. Some viruses already (to investigate).

6. Experiments (to show) that certain viruses can cause cancer.

7. Recently it (to determined) that the human consists of about 12 billion cells.

8. He just (to discharge) from hospital.

9. The theoretical principles of computed tomography (to know) since 1917.

Exercise. 13. Correct the mistakes:

1. Penicillin have been used since its discovery in the XIX century.

2. Have the operation finished by the surgeon yet?

3. They not have read the text “The liver” yet.

4. The treatment have been changed.

5. The investigations on cholera have carried out by the scientists already.

6. Smoking has cause spasms.

7. Most of chemical elements has known since the XIX century.

8. My friend is already helping me to perform the laboratory work on chemistry.

9. Is he still reading the article “Hepatic diseases”? – No, he have just read it.

Exercise 14. Put special questions to the underlined words:

1. Our brain is the most complicated mechanism which has ever been constructed.

2. The brain consists of about 12 billion cells.

3. Each cell is connected to the other cell directly or indirectly by nerve fibers.

4. A constant flow of stimuli comes into the brain through the spinal cord.

5. Due to the orders sent by the brain we eat, move, hear, see, etc.

6. The motor cortex controls many body movements of the human being.

7. The hypothalamus is almost never tired.

Exercise 15. Translate into English:

1. Він щойно прийняв заспокійливий засіб.

2. Курс лекцій з анатомії для студентів 2 курсу вже закінчився.

3. Вона ніколи не палила, адже паління погіршує здоров’я.

4. Нещодавно студентам була прочитана лекція про тканини.

5. Ви коли-небудь були присутні на операції?

6. Експеримент ще не закінчено.

7. Вони ще не отримали результатів свого наукового експерименту.