What does "Therein lies the cerebral beauty and the cerebral rub of plasticity" mean? Context: No one today fully knows what is happening in the brains of children as they learn to read while immersed in digitally dominated mediums a minimum of six to seven hours a day (Kaiser report, 2010). The present reading brain's circuitry is a masterpiece of connections linking the most basic perceptual areas to the most complex linguistic and cognitive functions, like critical analysis, inference and novel thought (ie, "deep reading processes"). But this brain is only one variation of the many that are possible. Therein lies the cerebral beauty and the cerebral rub of plasticity.

What does "Harry had no one" mean in this context? Context: A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look. At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

Chinese Idiom Stories 负荆请罪 Background information: This story happened in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The State of Qin was a powerful country and finally unified China. The State of Zhao was a weak country. Lian Po was one of its generals and Lin Xiang Ru (abbreviated as Lin) was its prime minister who was good at diplomatic stuff. ------- Lian Po said: "As the general of Zhao, I take credit for leading combat in the wilderness and having many towns annexed, but Lin is going to be in a higher position than mine merely because of his eloquence. It is unfair! Plus, Lin was born in a low-class family, so I feel humiliated and cannot bear for being under him!" Lian Po continued to swear: "The next time I meet him, I will definitely humiliate him." Heard this, Lin started to avoid meeting with Lian Po. Every time all the generals and ministers were going to attend the conference, Lin always claimed to be sick and tried to avoid getting involved in the conflict with Lian Po. Before long, Lin went out and accidentally came across him. Lin turned his carriage and avoided to meet. The members of Lin's think tank ended up gathering around Lin and complained: "The reason why we left our homes to serve you was that we admired your nobleness and sense of justice. However, even though you are now in a higher position than Lian Po, you are still afraid, trying to avoid him after he made such an offensive remark! Even we ordinary people would feel insulted, let alone a prime minister like you! You are too cowardly and we do not want to serve you any longer, please let us quit!" Lin insisted on retaining them, he asked: "Among the general Lian Po and the king of Qin, who do you think is more powerful?" The members answered: "The king." Lin said:" To the king of Qin, I still dared to reprimand him in his court and humiliated his courtiers. Am I afraid of Lian Po? No. I thought that the only reason why the powerful Qin did not dare to invade Zhao is that we stuck together. However, we are now fighting each other. Just like tigers' fighting, it will inevitably result in one's death. I have been so tolerant, is to set the country's crisis prior to the personal hatred!" Touched by these words, Lian Po took off his coat, exposed his upper body, tied the twigs to his back, and came to Lin's door to ask for punishment. He said: "I, a coarse and lowly person, unexpected that you are so broad-minded!" In the end, they forgave each other and swore to live or die together.

Chinese Idiom Stories 凿壁偷光 Kuang Heng was diligent and studious, but he was so poor to have a candle. Although his neighbor had candles, the light could not reach his home. Kuang Heng figured out a solution; he dug a hole in the wall to let the light pass so that he was able to read books under such a dim situation. In his town there was a man; he was illiterate but rich, and he owned many books. Kuang Heng often went to his home and worked for him without payment. The rich was surprised and asked him why; he answered: "I want to read all of your books." heard this, the rich was impressed and donated all the books to him. Long after, Kuang Heng had become a famous scholar. It can be easily seen from this story that the external reasons, such as the environment and wealth, are not the essential factors for success, but the internal reasons, such as determination and effort, are. ---------------------------- 匡衡勤奋好学，但家中没有蜡烛。邻家有蜡烛，但光亮照不到他家，匡衡就在墙壁上凿了洞引来邻家的光亮，让光亮照在书上读书。县里有个大户人家不识字，但家中富有，有很多书。匡衡就到他家去做雇工，但不要报酬。主人感到很奇怪，问他为什么这样，他说：“我希望读遍主人家的书。”主人听了，深为感叹，就借给匡衡书（用书资助匡衡），并不要报酬。于是匡衡成了一代大学问家。 从凿壁借光的事例可看出，外因（环境和条件）并不是决定性的因素，而内因（坚强和努力）是。 原文 匡衡勤学而无烛，邻舍有烛而不逮，衡乃穿壁引其光，以书映光而读之。邑人大姓文不识，家富多书，衡乃与其佣作而不求偿。主人怪，问衡，衡曰：“愿得主人书遍读之。”主人感叹，资给以书，遂成大学。

Does anybody tried the corpus to help to learn Mandarin, or to teach Mandarin?

Chinese Idiom Stories 自相矛盾 In the Warring States Period, there was a man who sold lances and shields. He boasted that his shield was the hardest, and said: "Nothing can pierce it!" Then he boasted that his lance was the sharpest, and said: "It can pierce everything!" People in the market heard this, and questioned him: "If you use your lance to stab your shield, what will happen?" The man could not answer, and all the people laughed at him. A shield that cannot be pierced and a lance that can pierce everything would not exist together. Nowadays, the idiom 自相矛盾 means " to contradict oneself." ----------------------- 在战国时期，楚国有个卖矛和盾的人，他先夸耀自己的盾很坚硬，说：“无论用什么东西都无法破坏它！”然后，他又夸耀自己的矛很锐利，说：“无论什么东西都能将其破坏！”，市场上的人质问他：“如果用你的矛去刺你的盾，它们将怎么样？”，那个人无法回答。众人嘲笑他。无法被刺穿的盾牌和没有刺不破盾的长矛，是不可能共同存在的。 原文 楚人有鬻盾与矛者，先誉其盾之坚，曰：“吾盾之坚，物莫能陷也。”俄而又誉其矛之利，曰：“吾矛之利，万物莫不陷也。”市人诘之曰："以子之矛陷子之盾，何如？”其人弗能应也。众皆笑之。夫不可陷之盾与无不陷之矛，为名不可两立也。

Chinese Idioms Stories 疑邻盗斧 Once upon a time, a man lost his hatchet. He suspected that the neighbor's son had stolen it. He started observing that person. In his view, the person walked like a thief, looked like a thief, talked like a thief, and everything of the person was like of a thief. Before long, he found his hatchet when moving his strawstack. The next day, he saw the neighbor's son; this time, he felt that the person was not like a thief at all. This allegory tells us that prejudice is an obstacle to understanding the truth. If one observes the world with preconceived ideas, he or she will inevitably distort the original appearance of objective things. ----------------------- 从前有个人，丢了一把斧子。他怀疑是邻居家的儿子偷去了，便观察那人，那人走路的样子，像是偷斧子的；看那人的脸色表情，也像是偷斧子的；听他的言谈话语，更像是偷斧子的，那人的一言一行，一举一动，无一不像偷斧子的。不久后，他在翻动他的谷堆时发现了斧子，第二天又见到邻居家的儿子，就觉得他言行举止没有一处像是偷斧子的人了。 这则寓言说明，主观成见，是认识客观真理的障碍。当人以成见去观察世界时，必然歪曲客观事物的原貌。 原文： 人有亡鈇者，意者邻之子，视其行步，窃鈇也；颜色，窃鈇也；言语，窃鈇 也；动作态度，无为而不窃鈇也。俄而抇其谷而得其鈇，他日复见其邻人之子，动作态度，无似窃鈇者。

Chinese Idioms Stories 盲人摸象 Once upon a time, there were four blind men who wanted to know like what an elephant looks. However, due to their blindness, all they could was to touch the elephant. The fat man felt/touched the elephant's teeth and said: "I know it. The elephant is a big, thick, and smooth carrot." The tall man reached the ear, "No! The elephant is definitely a palm-leaf fan!", he shouted. "You're talking nonsense. The elephant is only a massive/huge pillar." The short man stroked the elephant's leg and said. However, the old man touched the tail and murmured: "The elephant is not so big; it is just a straw rope." The four men started arguing and could not stop; they all believed that the elephant was like what they had touched. Nonetheless, none of them were right. Nowadays, the idiom 盲人摸象(literally, Blind People Touch Elephant) is used as a metaphor/allegory for overgeneralization. When people comment on certain person or certain phenomenon, they often make judgement based on partial information. That leads to ignorance and bias. The only way to avoid that is to observe, to gather information, and not to jump to conclusions. ------------------ 从前，有四个盲人很想知道大象是什么样子，可他们看不见，只好用手摸。胖盲人先摸到了大象的牙齿。他就说：“我知道了，大象就像一个又大、又粗、又光滑的大萝卜。”高个子盲人摸到的是大象的耳朵。“不对，不对，大象明明是一把大蒲扇嘛！”他大叫起来。“你们净瞎说，大象只是根大柱子。”原来矮个子盲人摸到了大象的腿。而那位年老的盲人呢，却嘟嚷：“唉，大象哪有那么大，它只不过是一根草绳。”原来他摸到的是大象的尾巴。四个盲人争吵不休，都说自己摸到的才是大象真正的样子。而实际上呢？他们一个也没说对。 后以“盲人摸象”比喻看问题以偏概全。人们在评论一个人、一种社会现象的时候，往往因为只看到局部而下结论，便造成了片面性。要避免这种现象，唯一的办法是多观察，多了解，不要轻易下结论。 原文： 《大般涅盘经》三二：“尔时大王，即唤众盲各各问言：‘汝 见象耶？’众盲各言：‘我已得见。’王言：‘象为何类？’其触牙者即言象形如芦菔根，其触耳者言象如箕，其触头者言象如石，其触鼻者言象如杵，其触脚者言象如木臼，其触脊者言象如床，其触腹者言象如瓮，其触尾者言象如绳。”