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.
The Flynn effect is ..................
A. used to measure intelligent
B. an increase in IQ test scores over time
C. unknown in some parts of the world
D. not connected to our experiences
Đáp án B
Thông tin: people who have taken IQ tests have gotttn increasingly better scores-on average. three points better for every decade that has passed. This improvement is known as “the Flynn effect”
Dịch nghĩa: những người đã làm bài kiểm tra trí tuệ đã đạt được điểm ngày càng cao hơn- trung bình, 3 điểm cao hơn cho mỗi thập kỉ qua đi. Sự cải thiện này được biết đến như là “Hiệu ứng Flynn“
Từ thông tin trên, phương án B. The Flynn effect is an increase in IQ test scores over time = Hiệu ứng Flynn là một sự tăng lên về điểm kiểm tra trí tuệ qua thời gian, là phương án chính xác nhất.
A. used to measure intelligent = được dùng để đo lường sự thông minh.
Không có thông tin trong bài nói rằng hiệu ứng Flynn được dùng để đo lường sự thông minh, mà đó là những bài kiểm tra trí tuệ (IQ tests and other similar tests are designed to measure general intelligence)
C. unknovvn in some parts of the world = không được biết tới ở một số nơi trên thế giới.
Không có thông tin như vậy trong bài.
D. not connected to our experiences = không liên quan đến những kinh nghiệm của chúng ta.
“Flynn knew that intelligence is partly inherited from our parents and partly the result of our environment and experiences” = Flynn biết ràng sự thông minh là một phần được di truyền từ bố mẹ và một phần là kết quả của môi trường và kinh nghiệm
Ta thấy rõ ràng hiệu ứng Flynn có liên quan đến kinh nghiệm. Do đó phương án D sai.