Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.
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 born 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.
The Flynn effect must be the result of____________.
A. heredity
B. our environment and experiences
C. taking fewer tests
D. memorizing information
Đáp án B
Thông tin: 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.
Dịch nghĩa: Flynn biết rằng sự thông minh là một phần được di truyền từ bố mẹ và một phần là kết quả của môi trường và kinh nghiệm, nhưng sự cải thiện trong điểm kiểm tra đã đang xảy ra quá nhanh để có thể được giải thích bằng di truyền.
Nghĩa là yếu tố di truyền không đóng vai trò quan trọng trong việc giải thích, từ đó Hiệu ứng Flynn hẳn là do yếu tố môi trường và kinh nghiệm. Phương án B. our environment and experiences = môi trường và những kinh nghiệm của chúng ta là phương án chính xác nhất.
A. heredity (n) = sự di truyền.
C. taking fewer tests = làm ít bài kiểm tra hơn.
“Because we take so many tests, we learn test-taking techniques that help us perform better on any test” = Bởi vì chúng ta làm quá nhiều bài kiểm tra, chúng ta học các kỹ thuật làm bài kiểm tra mà giúp chúng ta thể hiện tốt hơn trong bất kì bài kiểm tra nào.
Như vậy, Hiệu ứng Flynn phải là kết quả của việc làm nhiều bài kiểm tra hơn mới đúng.
D. memorizing information = nhớ thông tin.
“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” = Một giải thích có khả năng khác là sự thay đổi trong phong cách giáo dục, với việc giáo viên khuyến khích trẻ con học bằng cách tự khám phá mọi thứ thay vì chỉ ghi nhớ thông tin.
Như vậy nghĩa là việc ghi nhớ thông tin không làm cho kết quả kiểm tra tăng lên, không dẫn đến Hiệu ứng Flynn.