介绍： Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.
译文：虽然一开始在20世纪60年代和7...

介绍： Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.
译文：虽然一开始在20世纪60年代和70年代有过一段乐观的时期——那时候似乎晶体管电路和微处理器的发展使它们在2010年前能模仿人类大脑的活动——但是最近研究人员已经开始将这个预测延后效十年，甚至数百年。
点睛：本句的主干足…researchers…have begun to extend that forecast…。句首的介词结构Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s…作让步状语，其中还包含了一个由when引导的定语从句，修饰the 1960s and 1970s，在这个定语从句中还包含一个表语从句that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010.
spell意为“一小段时间”，所以a spell of initial optimism的意思是“开始的一段乐观时期”。