assage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
The term IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, generally describes a score on a test that rates the subject’s cognitive ability as compared to the general population. IQ tests use a standardized scale with 100 as the median score. On most tests, a score between 90 and 110 or the median plus or minus 10 indicates average intelligence. A score above 130 indicates exceptional intelligence and a score below 70 may indicate mental retardation. Like their predecessors, modern tests do take into account the age of a child when determining an IQ score. Children are graded relative to the population at their developmental level.
IQ tests are designed to measure your general ability to solve problems and understand concepts. This includes reasoning ability, problem-solving ability, the ability to perceive relationships between things and the ability to store and retrieve information. IQ tests measure this general intellectual ability in a number of different ways. They may test: the ability to visualize manipulation of shapes; the ability to solve problems；the ability to complete sentences or recognize words when letters have been rearranged or removed; the ability to recall things presented either visually or aurally.
Most people perform better on one type of question than on others, but experts have determined that people who ex-cel in one category do similarly well in the other categories, and if someone does poorly in any one category, he/she al-so does poorly in the others. Based on this, these experts theorize there is one general element of intellectual ability that determines other specific cognitive abilities. The best tests, therefore, feature questions from many categories of intellectual ability so that the test isn’t weighted toward one specific skill.
IQ tests measure your ability to understand ideas, not the quantity of your knowledge; learning new information does not automatically increase your IQ. Learning may exercise your mind, however, which could help you to develop greater cognitive skills, but scientists do not fully under-stand this relationship. The scientists are still in the dark about the connection between learning and mental ability, as are the workings of the brain and the nature of intellectual ability. Intellectual ability does seem to depend more on genetic factors than on environmental factors, but most experts agree that environment plays some significant role in its development.
26. In determining an IQ score, _______________.
A) the subject’s cognitive ability is compared with his / her former performance
B) the children’s age is taken into consideration
C) 100 is treated as the standard score
D) children of various developmental levels are tested27. From the description of the IQ tests, we can see that they may test ________.
A) drawing and language ability
B) memory and originality ability
C) psychological and spatial ability
D) memory ability and spatial ability
28. What can we learn from the third paragraph?
A) A person who does poorly in one category is not necessarily poor in other categories.
B) Experts got the conclusion that learning new information can automatically increase your IQ.
C) The general intellectual ability can determine specific cognitive abilities to some extent.
D) Whether a person can do well in one category is not decided by IQ.
29. What is considered to be the best IQ tests?
A) Tests that measure the general factor of intelligence.
B) Tests that also test the quantity of the subject’s knowledge.
C) Tests that help the subject to increase his/her IQ.
D) Tests that include as many abilities as possible.
30. What is known to be certain about intellectual ability?
A) The relationship between learning and intellectual ability.
B) The connection between the workings of the brain and the nature of intellectual ability.
C) Environment does play a role in the development of intellectual ability.
D) Genetic factors are the determining factors of intellectual ability. |
