2007考研英语阅读理解真题解析第二篇“智商测验”

2007 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?①It’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.

在过去的几年，《星期日报》的增刊《漫步》开设了一个名为“询问玛丽琳”的专栏。人们被邀请去询问

玛丽琳?沃斯?萨文特，玛丽琳?沃斯?萨文特在10岁时测试的智力水平达到别人23岁时的水平，这使得她的智商高达228――是有记录的最高水平。智商测试要求你完成口头和视觉分析，要求你在纸张被折叠、剪切后想象它的形状，要求你推论数字的顺序，还有其他类似的项目。所以，当沃斯?萨文特面对普通人（智商为100）提出的像“热爱与喜爱之间的区别是什么？”或者“运气与巧合的特征是什么？”这样的问题时，她感到有点困惑。设想物体、判断数字模式的能力如何使一个人能够回答难倒了一些最杰出的诗人和哲学

家的问题，这可并不那么显而易见。

mental adj.精神的, 智力的

verbal adj.口头的

【记】verb（言语），＋al（形容词后缀）＝口头的；nonverbal：不用语言的

analogy n.类似, 类推

【习】have an analogy to/with具有与...相似之处;by analogy用类推法

【例】No analogy exists between them.

两者毫无相似之处。

envision vt.想象, 预想

numerical adj.数字的, 用数表示的

fondness n.爱好, 溺爱

coincidence n.一致, 相合, 同时发生或同时存在(尤指偶然)的事

【巧】co（together）+ incidence（incident）＝coincidence：两个小的事情同时发生，“巧合”【例】What a coincidence.多巧啊。

elude v.躲避

1、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.

【译文】有些问题连一些最杰出的诗人和哲学家都难以回答，但是想象物体和计算数字模式的能力却能使

人找出答案，其中原因并不为人所知。

【析句】这是一个简单句，It只是形式主语，真正的主语是how引导的主语从句。而在主语从句中，主

语是the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns，谓语是suits，宾语是one，to answer questions是宾语补足语，而questions后又跟了一个定语从句。

【讲词】visualize意为"想象"，是imagine的同义词。例如：He had a hard time to visualize the

scene as it was described.（他难以设想所描绘的场景。）

elude表示"躲避"，也可表示"理解不了，想不起来"。根据句中的意思，可以译为"回答不了"。例如：The answer to this question eluded me for a long time, perhaps because it was so simple.（这个

问题的答案我想了许久，也许是因为问题太简单了。）

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?

毫无疑问，智力包含的不仅仅是一次测试所得的分数。而聪明意味着什么？可以明确显示智力有多少？

我们能够从神经学、遗传学、计算机科学以及其他领域了解的智力又有多少？

encompass v.包围, 环绕, 包含或包括某事物

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.

②Superhigh 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.

人类有关智力的定义性术语似乎仍然是智商分数，即使人们并不像以前那样经常进行智商测试。智商

测试主要表现为两种形式：斯坦福—比奈特智力衡量表和威斯勒智力衡量表（两种都包含成人和儿童测试

类型）。由于这些测试一般要花费几百美元，因此通常只有心理学家才进行这些测试，尽管这些测试的变种

存在于书店和环球网上。像沃斯?萨文特得到这样的超高分数也再不可能，因为现在的分数依据的是相同年

龄者的统计学群体分布状况，而不是简单地通过实足年龄乘以100来划分智能年龄。其他标准测试，比如

学术能力检测以及研究生入学考试，包含了智商测试的主要方面。

statistica adj.统计的, 统计学的n.统计量

peer n.同等的人

2、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.

【译文】再也不可能出现vos Savant测得的智力高分了，因为评分标准是根据同年龄中人口分布统计数

据而制定，而不是简单根据时间年龄除以智力年龄，再乘以100。

【讲词】这句话中包含一些术语，如：scoring（得分，即智力测验的得分），statistical population

distribution（人口分布统计），age peers（同龄人），mental age（智力年龄），chronological age

（时间年龄或日历年龄）。

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

③Sternberg notes that traditional test best assess analytical and verbal

Testing?”，

skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also

critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ test 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.

罗伯特?杰?斯顿伯格认为，这样的标准测试不可能评估在学校和生活中取得成功所需的所有重要因素。

在其名为“智力测试如何明智？”的文章中，斯顿伯格指出，传统的测试最恰当地评估了分析能力和语言表

达能力，但没有测量创造性和实际知识，这些也是解决问题和在生活中取得成功的关键因素。而且，一旦