1-toast 深受敬慕的人

the toast the town 风云人物

In the late 1930s and early 40s, Hedy Lamarr was already the toast of Hollywood.

2-contemporary 同时代（的人）

Few of her contemporaries knew that her other great passion was inventing.

3-kindred spirit 志同道合的人

4-avant-garde 先锋的，前卫的

5-composor 作曲家

Lamarr met a kindred spirit in Gorge Antheil-an avant-garde paintist, composor and novelist who also had an interest in engeneering.

6-jam 干扰

7-allied 同盟的

When the pair realized that enemy forces were jamming the Allied radio signals, ther set about looking for a solution.

8- ground-breaking 开创性的

9-polymathic 博学的，通才的

It may seem a surprising origin for ground-breaking technology, but the story of Lamarr and Antheil fits perdectly with the growing understanding of the polymathic mind.

10-endeavour 努力

11-saturation point 饱和点

12-pay off 回报

There is a growing recognition that, when concentrating on any complex endeavour, the brain often reaches a kind of saturation point, after which your attention may fade and any extra effort may fail to pay off.

13-apply 全身心地投入

But if you turn to another, unrelated activity, you may find that you are better be able to apply yourself.

14-within the reach 可及的，可够得着的，可达到的

All of which suggests that polymathic abilities may be within the reach of more people than we had once assumed.

15-relentlessly 坚持不懈地

Even if we don't reach the heights of someone like Leonardo. da. Vinci, we will still find some benefits from widening our interests, rather than relentlessly pursuing a narrow specialism.