英语高级视听说unit 4.docxVIP

Unit 4 Brain ManAlmost 25 years ago, 60 Minutes introduced viewers to George Finn, whose talent was immortalized in the movie Rain Man. George has a condition known as savant syndrome, a mysterious disorder of the brain where someone has a spectacular skill, even genius, in a mind that is otherwise extremely limited.Morley Safer met another savant, Daniel Tammet, who is called Brain Man in Britain. But unlike most savants, he has no obvious mental disability, and most important to scientists, he can describe his own thought process. He may very well be a scientific Rosetta stone, a key to understanding the brain. ________________________________________Back in 1983, George Finn, blessed or obsessed with calendar calculation, could give you the day if you gave him the date.What day of the week was August 13th, 1911? Safer quizzed Finn.A Sunday, Finn replied.What day of the week was May 20th, 1921? Safer asked.Friday, Finn answered.George Finn is a savant. In more politically incorrect times he would have been called an idiot savant - a mentally handicapped or autistic person whose brain somehow possesses an island of brilliance.Asked if he knew how he does it, Finn told Safer, I dont know, but its just that, thats fantastic I can do that.If this all seems familiar, there?s a reason: five years after the 60 Minutes broadcast, Dustin Hoffman immortalized savants like George in the movie Rain Man.Which brings us to that other savant we mentioned: Daniel Tammet. He is an Englishman, who is a 27-year-old math and memory wizard.I was born November 8th, 1931, Safer remarks.Uh-huh. Thats a prime number. 1931. And you were born on a Sunday. And this year, your birthday will be on a Wednesday. And youll be 75, Tammet tells Safer.It is estimated there are only 50 true savants living in the world today, and yet none are like Daniel. He is articulate, self-sufficient, blessed with all of the spectacular ability of a savant, but with very little of the disability. Take his math sk