take much brain：费很多脑子

“费很多脑子”的“脑子”含义是“能用于思考的生理资源”，肯定不可数，如

【例句1】It doesn't take much brain to work out that both stories can't be true. （不用太费脑子就能想明白，这两个说法不可能都是真的。）[牛津高级学者辞典]

但可能因为brain的“个体体验感”还是太强了，即便它引申为“思考的能力，支持思考的资源”，还是a brain常见，如

【例句2】She has a good brain for mathematics. (她很有数学头脑。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句3】Teachers spotted that he had a good brain at an early age. (老师们很早就发现他脑子很灵光。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句4】I had a good brain and the teachers liked me. (我脑子好使，老师们都喜欢我。) [柯林斯高级学者辞典]

【例句5】Jack's got the brain to realize that the money won't last forever. （杰克有头脑，明白这些钱总有花完的一天。）[牛津高级学者辞典]

很多时候可能为了夸张，使用复数形式brains (也可能强调能想出各种各样的花招，或者不同思考任务下有不同的呈现；也可能是因脑子有大脑、小脑、间脑、左脑、右脑多个脑)，如

【例句6】You need brains as well as brawn (= intelligence as well as strength) to do this job. (做这份工作既需要体力，也需要头脑。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句7】She must have inherited her mother's brains.(她的聪明才智肯定是遗传了她母亲。)[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句8】He's got brains but he's too lazy.（他很聪明但太懒）[剑桥高级学者辞典]

【例句9】Something's addled your brains (=made you confused). (你是不是脑子糊涂 。)[朗文当代英语词典]

【例句10】If you had any brains, you'd know what I meant. (你要是有点脑子，就该明白我的意思。) [朗文当代英语词典]

【例句11】The job requires brains. (这份工作需要有头脑 / 需要聪明才智。) [朗文当代英语词典]

对多人，用brains很自然，如

【例句12】They relied on brains rather than brawn. （他们靠的是智慧而非蛮力。）[牛津高级学者辞典]

【例句13】They were not the only ones to have brains and ambition. （并非只有他们既有才智又有抱负。） [柯林斯高级学者辞典]