历年考研英语阅读理解2007年02
[00:00:05]2007年黑暗版历年阅读真题解析第二篇
[00:01.03]For the past several years,
[00:02.64]the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called “Ask Marilyn.”
[00:08.18]People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant,
[00:12.32]who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old;
[00:17.90]that gave her an IQ of 228 — the highest score ever recorded.
[00:23.65]IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies,
[00:28.32]to envision paper after it has been folded and cut,
[00:31.80]and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks.
[00:36.14]So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries
[00:40.68]from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as.
[00:45.25]What’s the difference between love and fondness?
[00:46.33]Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence?
[00:49.35]It’s not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects
[00:53.36]and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions
[00:56.81]that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers.
[01:02.15]Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test.
[01:07.26]Just what does it mean to be smart?
[01:09.87]How much of intelligence can be specified,
[01:12.78]and how much can we learn about it from neurology,
[01:16.04]genetics, computer science and other fields?
[01:19.51]The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score,
[01:25.39]even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be.
[01:29.69]The test comes primarily in two forms:
[01:32.99]the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales
[01:37.86](both come in adult and children’s version).
[01:41.10]Generally costing several hundred dollars,
[01:44.10]they are usually given only by psychologists,
[01:47.18]although variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web.
[01:52.80]Superhigh scores like vos Savant’s are no longer possible,
[01:56.70]because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers,
[02:03.50]rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100.
[02:10.62]Other standardized tests,
[02:12.48]such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE),
[02:18.88]capture the main aspects of IQ tests.
[02:22.46]Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed
[02:29.11]in school and in life,
[02:30.89]argues Robert J. Sternberg.
[02:33.24]In his article “How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?”,
[02:37.80]Sternberg notes that traditional tests best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail
[02:43.90]to measure creativity and practical knowledge,
[02:48.13]components also critical to problem solving and life success.
[02:53.15]Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations
[02:59.25]or situations change.
[03:01.36]Research has found that IQ predicted leadership skills when the tests
[03:06.87]were given under low-stress conditions,
[03:09.60]but under high-stress conditions,
[03:12.40]IQ was negatively correlated with leadership—that is,
[03:15.90]it predicted the opposite.
[03:18.36]Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters,
[03:24.96]whether it’s knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.
