2014届最新高考英语一轮单元复习 精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇八六.docVIP

2014届最新高考英语一轮单元复习 精品阅读理解提升文章精选一百篇（86） Unit 86 Turning Thoughts into Actions　　The World Cup final is about to begin. You want to turn on the TV and get to the right channel. So a small area of your brain calls the motor cortex processes and sends intricate electrical signals to your arm and hand, which allow you to pick up the remote control and operate it in time to see the game. But if you dont have the use of your arms, like people who are paralyzed or have nerve or muscular damage, you have to wait for a caregiver to do it. That is, until this past year.　　In June, 2004, a completely paralyzed man underwent surgery to implant a small sensor in his brain that allows him to write e-mail, play video games, change TV channels and open curtains -- using only his thoughts. Although regulatory approval is still several years away, this is the beginning of a new age of neurotechnology. For 20 years researchers studied monkeys to learn how humans go from thought to action and eventually invented a sensor that detects neural activity in the brain. This led to development of the BrainGate Neural Interface System to be used in human clinical trial.　　How difficult is this surgery? The surgeon makes a craniotomy thats the diameter of a large coin. The sensor, which is the size of an aspirin with 100 tiny appendages, is implanted in the region that issues commands to the arms. The software tells the surgeon exactly where to go and the whole surgical procedure takes about two and a half hours. Afterwards only a small connector to the computer can be seen from the outside.　　How does the system work? The patient directs his thoughts to move the cursor on his computer screen. The sensor in his brain picks up those hard-to-detect electrical signals and sends them through three computers that process them into signals just like those from a computer mouse. These processors, which currently sit on a cart and are not mobile, will eventually become wireless and small enough to fit i