2007年Text 2

　　For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called "Ask Marilyn." People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old; that gave her an IQ of 228 -- the highest score ever recorded. IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut, and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks. So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as, What's the difference between love and fondness? Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence? It's not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers.

　　Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test. Just what does it mean to be smart? How much of intelligence can be specified, and how much can we learn about it from neurology, genetics, computer science and other fields?

　　The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be. The test comes primarily in two forms: the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler intelligence Scales (both come in adult and children's version). Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web. Superhigh scores like vos Savant's are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. Other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), capture the main aspects of IQ tests.

　　Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg. In his article "How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?", Sternberg notes that traditional tests best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change. Research has found that IQ predicted leadership skills when the tests were given under low-stress conditions, but under high-stress conditions, IQ was negatively correlated with leadership -- that is, it predicted the opposite. Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it's knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.

　　26. Which of the following may be required in an intelligence test?

　　[A] Answering philosophical questions.

　　[B] Folding or cutting paper into different shapes.

　　[C] Telling the differences between certain concepts.

　　[D] Choosing words or graphs similar to the given ones.

　　[答案] D

　　[解題思路]

　　本題對應于文章第一段的第三句話"IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut, and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks"(智商測試要求你完成一些文字和圖像的分析，要求你在紙張被折疊和剪切后想象它的形狀，要求你推論數字的順序，還有其他類似的項目)，顯然A和C選項的內容不包括其中，因而是錯誤選項。B選項的表述與原文"to envision paper after it has been folded and cut"意思相左，也可排除。D選項對應于"to complete verbal and visual analogies"，因而是正確答案。

　　[題目譯文]

　　下列的哪一項在智商測試中有所要求?

　　[A] 回答哲學問題

　　[B] 把紙折成或剪成不同的形狀

　　[C] 區別一些概念之間不同

　　[D] 根據給定的詞匯或者圖像選擇相似的詞匯或圖像。

　　28. People nowadays can no longer achieve IQ scores as high as vos Savant's because

　　[A] the scores are obtained through different computational procedures.

　　[B] creativity rather than analytical skills is emphasized now.

　　[C] vos Savant's case is an extreme one that will not repeat.

　　[D] the defining characteristic of IQ tests has changed.

　　[答案] A

　　[解題思路]

　　本題的對應信息在文章第二段的第四句話"Superhigh scores like vos Savant's are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100"( 像沃斯•薩文特那么高的分數也再也不可能出現了，因為現在的分數依據的是相同年齡者的統計學群體分布狀況，而不是簡單地通過實際年齡乘以100來劃分智能年齡)，顯而易見主要是因為現在的計算方法不同，答案為A選項。B和D選項的表述與原文相反，而C選項則屬于無中生有，與原文無關。

　　[題目譯文]

　　現在的人們不再可能取得沃斯•薩文特那么高的智商分數是因為

　　[A] 現在使用不同的計算程序計分

　　[B] 現在更加強調創造力而不是分析能力

　　[C] 沃斯•薩文特的例子只是一個不會再出現的極端情況

　　[D] 智商測試的定義性特征發生了變化