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Sandy Ho Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Taunting

The taunting vision is that whereas a chip the size of a pinky fingernail might contain a billion transistors, a processor of the same size could contain trillions of DNA strands.

This is a article about biology computer.

I don't understan the meaning of "taunting" here.

and I don't think "ridiculous" or "laugh" is the answer.

I look it up on internet ,here is what I found on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunting

So I think "taunting" here means "competition".But I also feel it's big chance I'm wrong again.

Could you please explain to me what exact the meaning of "taunting" here?

Thank you!
  

Top answer

It is taunting or teasing because it does not yet seem possible to build a processor from DNA-- it is at the moment only a wild dream, not a possibility.

— Mister Micawber

  • It is taunting or teasing because it does not yet seem possible to build a processor from DNA-- it is at the moment only a wild dream, not a possibility.
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7 Answers
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It is taunting or teasing because it does not yet seem possible to build a processor from DNA-- it is at the moment only a wild dream, not a possibility.
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I know the original meaning of taunting, but I still don't quite get it.

My take is that

the vision is a chip compare to a processor.

Why has the vision been considered "taunting" ?

The sentence didn't tell us any possibility.

It doesn't make much sense to me.
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Your vision is near-sighted. The passage is not comparing chips to processors, but billions to trillions. In the passage, chips = processors, and transistors = DNA strands.
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Sure it is. that is to say,the sentence tell us.

The computer we are using today compare to biocomputer is not thing. just to compare this two is also taunting.

So , Can I comprehend this sentence as "the biocomputer is great, even as you said it's just a dream right now." ?
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Yes, I think that is a fair interpretation, Sandy.
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Thank you for your time!
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Personally, I think the author meant "tantalizing" when he wrote "taunting".

tantalizing: possessing a quality that arouses or stimulates desire or interest; also : mockingly or teasingly out of reach

(www.m-w.com)

CJ
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