Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on the answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions:
ARE HUMAN BEINGS GETTING SMARTER?
Do you think you're smarter than your parents and grandparents? According to James Flynn, a professor at a New Zealand university, you are! Over the course of the last century, people who have taken IQ tests have gotten increasingly better scores-on average, three points better for every decade that has passed. This improvement is known as "the Flynn effect," and scientists want to know what is behind it.
IQ tests and other similar tests are designed to measure general intelligence rather than knowledge. Flynn knew that intelligence is partly inherited from our parents and partly the result of our environment and experiences, but the improvement in test scores was happening too quickly to be explained by heredity. So what was happening in the 20th century that was helping people achieve higher scores on intelligence tests?
Scientists have proposed several explanations for the Flynn effect. Some suggest that the improved test scores simply reflect an increased exposure to tests in general. Because we take so many tests, we learn test-taking techniques that help us perform better on any test. Others have pointed to better nutrition since it results in babies being bom larger, healthier, and with more brain development than in the past. Another possible explanation is a change in educational styles, with teachers encouraging children to learn by discovering things for themselves rather than just memorizing information. This could prepare people to do the kind of problem solving that intelligence tests require.
Flynn limited the possible explanations when he looked carefully at the test data and discovered that the improvement in scores was only on certain parts of the IQ test. Test takers didn't do better on the arithmetic or vocabulary sections of the test; they did better on sections that required a special kind of reasoning and problem solving. For example, one part of the test shows a set of abstract shapes, and test-takers must look for patterns and connections between them and decide which shape should be added to the set.
According to Flynn, this visual intelligence improves as the amount of technology in our lives increases. Every time you play a computer game or figure out how to program a new cell phone, you are exercising exactly the kind of thinking and problem solving that helps you do well on one kind of intelligence test, So are you really smarter than your parents? In one very specific way, you may be.
Which statement would Professor Flynn agree with?
A. People today are more intelligent than in the past in every way.
B. People today have fewer problems to solve.
C. People today are taking easier tests.
D. People today have more visual intelligence.
Đáp án D
Thông tin: According to Flynn, this visual intelligence improves as the amount of technology in our lives increases.
Dịch nghĩa: Theo Flynn, loại thông minh hình ảnh này cải thiện khi lượng công nghệ trong cuộc sống chúng ta tăng lên.
Cuộc sống của chúng ta ngày càng được bao phủ bởi công nghệ, do đó ta ngày càng thông minh hình ảnh hơn. Phương án D. People today have more visual intelligence = Con người ngày nay có nhiều trí thông minh hình ảnh hơn, là phương án chính xác nhất.
A. People today are more intelligent than in the past in every way = Con
người ngày nay thông minh hơn ngày xưa ở mọi khía cạnh.
“the improvement in scores was only on certain parts of the IQ test” = sự cải
thiện trong điểm số chỉ ở một số phần nhất định của bài kiểm tra IQ.
Do đó con người ngày nay chỉ thông minh hơn ở một số phần nhất định chứ
không phải tất cả các mặt.
B. People today have fewer problems to solve = Con người ngày nay có ít vấn đề cần giải quyết hơn.
Không có thông tin như vậy trong bài.
C. People today are taking easier tests. = Con người ngày nay đang làm những bài kiểm tra dễ hơn.
Không có thông tin như vậy trong bài.