每个人都有自己喜欢的方式来培养自己的兴趣，提高自己的能力。我就定期和大家分享一些当下比较热门的英文原版书。有一本好书，才是开口朗读的必要条件。捧一本书，说一口地道标准的英音，想想也是一件让你和听你读书的人愉悦的事情。

    那今天要推荐的这本就是The Intelligence Trap，我和大家用英音一起朗读，感受读书的快乐。

The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Stupid Mistakes

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (August 6, 2019)

Language: English

Author: David Robson

Genre: Non-fiction

Book Tag: #Cognitive Psychology #Neuropsychology #Medical Neuropsychology

Brainy is the New Sexy!

用新鲜书单，3分钟升级英语力、性感力!

Venture into the darker recesses of the internet, and you may come across the views of a man named Kary. If he is to be believed, he has some unique insights that could change the world order. He suspects he was abducted by an alien near the Navarro River, California, for instance, after encountering a strange being who took the form of a glowing raccoon with “shifty black eyes.” He can’t actually remember what happened “after the little bastard” gave him a “courteous greeting”; the rest of the night is a complete blank. But he strongly suspects it involved extra-terrestrial life. “There are a lot of mysteries in the valley,” he writes, cryptically.

雅思重点词汇

1. venture /ˈven.tʃə/ v. 冒险、敢于

    Don't venture into the jungle without a guide. 如果没有向导，不要冒险进入森林。

2. raccoon /rəˈkuːn/ n. 浣熊

    The dog chased the raccoon up a tree. 这只狗把浣熊追赶到了树上。

3. cryptically /ˈkrɪp.tɪkəli/ adv. 秘密地、使用密码地， adj. cryptic

    He replied cryptically: " The earth is rotating and is round. 他秘密地说“地球是圆的而且是在旋转的”。

He’s also a devoted follower of astrology. “Most scientists are under the false impression that it is non-scientific and not a fit subject for their serious study,” he huffs in a long rant. “They are dead wrong.” He thinks it’s the key to better mental health treatment and everyone who disagrees has “their heads firmly inserted in their asses.” Besides these beliefs in ET and star signs, Kary also thinks that people can travel through the ether on the astral plane.

Things take a darker turn when Kary starts talking about politics. “Some of the big truths voters have accepted have little or no scientific basis,” he claims. This includes “the belief that AIDS is caused by HIV virus” and “the belief that the release of CFCs into the atmosphere has created a hole in the ozone layer.”

4. astrology /əˈstrɒl.ə.dʒi/ n.占星学

    The zodiac is used in astrology to predict the future. 十二宫图用于占星术中预测未来。

5. huff /hʌf/ v. 发怒

  When I get to the top I am huffing and puffing. 我到达顶端时累得直喘。

6. rant /rænt/ n.v. 咆哮

    You can write about your friends, complain about your boss, or simply rant about what's gone wrong. 你可以写写你的朋友，抱怨一下你的老板，或者就咆哮一下出错了的事。

7. ether /ˈiː.θə/ n.以太空

Needless to say, these ideas are almost universally accepted by scientists—but Kary tells his readers that they are just out for money. “Turn off your TV. Read your elementary science textbooks,” he implores. “You need to know what they are up to.”

I hope I don’t have to tell you that Kary is wrong.

The web is full of people with groundless opinions, of course—but we don’t expect astrologers and AIDS denialists to represent the pinnacle of intellectual achievement.

Yet Kary’s full name is Kary Mullis, and far from being your stereotypically ill-informed conspiracy theorist, he is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist—placing himself alongside the likes of Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Francis Crick.

8. implore /ɪmˈplɔː/ v.恳求、哀求

    She implored me to do her a favor. 她恳求我帮她这个忙。

9. pinnacle  /ˈpɪn.ə.kəl/ n. 小尖塔、高峰

    I can see the small pinnacle from here. 我能从这儿看到那个小尖塔。

10. stereotypical /ˌster.i.əʊˈtɪp.ɪ.kəl/ adj.格式化观念的、老一套的

“Highly readable…[The Intelligence Trap] strikes the right balance between illustrative vignettes and accessible translations of complex research, delivering a smart look at intellect and its shortcomings.”

- Publishers Weekly

“An engrossing standout in the thinking genre that will appeal to anyone who has ever been wrongheaded.”

- Kirkus Reviews

“The Intelligence Trap combines mesmerizing storytelling with groundbreaking new research about why having a high IQ can backfire. Essential reading for anyone who wants to think more clearly.”

- Rolf Dobelli, author of The Art of Thinking Clearly

“I loved The Intelligence Trap. As fun to read as it is fascinating, it celebrates the power of humility and curiosity. Everyone, especially intelligent people, should read this brilliant and important book.”

- Anna Rosling Rönnlund, coauthor of Factfulness

“The Intelligence Trap is a ceaselessly fascinating book written by one of our most consistently superb science writers. Its counter-intuitive argument, that intelligence is no inoculation against wrongness, explains so much about the fractious and baffling times in which we live.”

- Will Storr, author of Selfie

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