Most people respect those who have more than the usual brain power or intelligence,but one of our expressions'egghead'does not really sound like praise for a person who thinks.Egghead comes from what was believed to be the common shape of an intellectual's head.An intellectual's head looks like an egg，so the story goes，because all the thinking he does causes his hair to fall out.There is some debate about when egghead was firstly used.Some experts say it first appeared about 90 years ago in an American story written for young boys.Other experts say the word was first used in Canada.However,all agree that egghead first became popular during the American presidential campaign in 1952. In that campaign Dwight Eisenhower was running as the Republican candidate against Democratic Edley Stevenson.Eisenhower was a famous military hero,he was popular in both parties.Stevenson was a lawyer and a respected governor of Illinois. Most of his supports came from liberals,who were better educated than the average citizen. Stevenson became more as an egghead，mainly because of his campaign speeches.They were full of serious ideas，and sharp,funny expressions. Being known as an egghead did not help things.One political writer reported a comment from a Republican friend,'Sure,all the eggheads love Stevenson.But how many eggheads can you see there are?'The elections did not answer that question. But it showed that many more people believed that Eisenhower would be a better president.He won the presidential election by a large majority.

　　Many expressions use the word'brain' to mean intelligent，one of these expressions is'brain trust'.It became popular during the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt.It meant a group of experts who gave advice usually on governmental policy.Roosevelt announced during the presidential campaign in 1932that he had asked three Columbia University professors to help prepare his speeches.After he won the election，President Roosevelt continued to use experts from outside the government to give him advice.Reporters soon began using this expression'brain trust' to describe a group of intellectual advisers who acted as Roosevelt's unofficial cabinet.'Brain storming' is a group of activity, that seeks to find a sudden new idea to solve a problem. Meetings by brain storming in this way often produce good solutions.

　　Form VOA,special program,2003,4,20

　　egghead知识分子，受过高等教育的人，理论家

　　brain trust提供咨询服务的专家小组(如电台节目中的智囊团)

　　brain storming群策群力，通力攻关(大家献计献策，通过集体讨论解决问题)

　　(文/北京刘虹录制；英语辅导报大学二年级版03～04学年第11期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)