PART V READING COMPREHENSION [25MIN.]

In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.

Mark your answers on your answer sheet.

Text A

Intelligence tests have been involved in the promotion of eugenics, the idea that you could control the human race by selective breeding. Francis Galton - one of the pioneers of intelligence tests - was also a founding member of the Eugenics Society in the UK. The belief that intelligence is biologically determined in the make-up of the brain, and therefore to some extent genetically determined, is widely accepted. But a number of researchers over the years have used this idea to advocate social change. Using intelligence as one of their factors, Hernstein and Murray's controversial book, The Bell Curve (1994) argued that differences in IQ scores between racial groups reflect innate biological differences.

The Bell Curve is a graph that plots the range of IQ scores of an average population. However, it can be interpreted in many ways, and when the intelligence of the whole human race is in question, the stakes are high. Critics argue that the way intelligence is measured contains a high level of randomvariation and therefore it's impossible to generalize it all into one graph. However, belief in the Bell Curve and in the genetic, rather than social, basis for intelligence has unfortunately led to the propagation of many racist ideas. Evidence to suggest social factors are important in 'intelligence' is strong. The US military tested recruits to assign rank and found that black applicants scored lower than whites. However, analysis of the recruits were found to be due to educational differences; black recruits scored very low until the 1950s, when an increase in score corresponded to improved educational standards for all.

In spring 1998, Robert Plomin claimed to have discovered a gene linked with intelligence. More recently, the Human Genome Project is cautious when approaching areas implying racial differences since research actually shows greater genetic differences within races than between races. However, not all individuals are endowed with the same intelligence and many believe this must have something to do with our genes and the way they interact with the environment. Identical twins are more likely to obtain the same score in an IQ test than twins from two separate eggs that have a different genetic make up.

It is important to remember that genes work by interacting with the environment, so social factors will also influence intelligence. Intelligence tests may be more of an assessment of social factors, such as your educational background. Black children adopted into white middle class families score significantly higher on average than those in working class families- implying a cultural slant to tests. It is impossible to devise questions without some cultural or gender bias; boys tend to do better in spatial tests whereas girls score higher on linguistic tests. Better schooling, parenting and increased leisure time for activities are believed to have influenced improved IQ scores across the board. Good nutrition means an individual is able to function well both physically and mentally. Although many believe this plays a role in intelligence, it is very difficult to assess.

81．What is the text mainly about？

[A]The book of The Bell Curve

[B]factors that determine or influence intelligence

[C]IQ intelligence tests

[D]racial difference and racialism

82．According to paragraph 1, it is widely believed that___.

[A]The human race would be under control through different ways of upbringing .

[B]Intelligence is closely related to genes in some degree.

[C]Biological differences contribute a lot to different IQ scores between races.

[D]Eugenics employ IQ tests to promote eugenics.

83．The graph in the book of Bell Curve ____.

[A]introduce genetic factors as well as social ones in intelligence.

[B]is criticized by critics as unscientific and incomprehensive.

[C]is obviously meant to advocate racist ideas.

[D]strong evidence used by US military in analyzing recruits .

84．Which of the following is untrue according to the text?

[A]Racists employ the idea of genetic determination in intelligence to propagate racialism.

[B]According to the US military analysis, differences in IQ tests scores are caused by genetic factors.

[C]Blacks may be more genetically different between themselves than compared with whites.

[D]It is believed by many people that intelligence is related to our genes and their interaction with social factors.

Text B

It is known that the brain shrinks as the body ages, but the effects on mental ability are different from person to person. Interestingly, in a study of elderly men and women, those who had more education actually had more brain shrinkage. "That may seem like bad news," said study author Dr. Edward Coffey, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. However, he explained, the finding suggests that education allows people to withstand more brain-tissue loss before their mental functioning begins to break down. The study is the first to provide biological evidence to support a concept called the "reserve" hypothesis, according to the researchers. In recent years, investigators have developed the idea that people who are more educated have greater cognitive reserves to draw upon as the brain ages; in essence, they have more brain tissue to spare.

Examining brain scans of 320 healthy men and women ages 66 to90, researchers found that for each year of education the subjects had, there was greater shrinkage of the outer layer of the brain known as the cortex. Yet on tests of cognition and memory, all participants scored in the range indicating normal. "Everyone has some degree of brain shrinkage," Coffey said. "People lose 2.5 percent per decade starting in adulthood." There is, however, a "remarkable range" of shrinkage among people who show no signs of mental decline, Coffey noted. Overall health, he said, accounts for some differences in brain size. Alcohol or drug use, as well as medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, contribute to brain-tissue loss throughout adulthood. In the absence of such medical conditions, Coffey said, education level helps explain the range of brain shrinkage exhibited among the mentally-fit elderly. The more-educated can withstand greater loss. Coffey and colleagues gauged shrinkage of the cortex by measuring the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain. The greater the amount of fluid, the greater the cortical shrinkage.

Controlling for the health factors that contribute to brain injury, the researchers found that education was related to the severity of brain shrinkage. For each year of education from first grade on, subjects had an average of 1.77 milliliters more cerebrospinal fluid around the brain. For example, Coffey's team reported, among subjects of the same sex and similar age and skull size, those with 16 years of education had 8 to 10 percent more cerebrospinal fluid compared with those who had four years of schooling. Of course, achieving a particular education level is not the definitive measure of someone's mental capacity. And, said Coffey, education can be "a proxy for many things". More-educated people, he noted, are often less likely to have habits, such as smoking, that harm overall health.

But, Coffey said that people should strive throughout life to keep their brains alert by exposing themselves to new experiences. Traveling is one way to stimulate the brain, and a less adventuresome way is to do crossword puzzles.

85．We can know from the first paragraph that___.

[A]Brains of the more-educated people may become more contracted when they get aged.

[B]Education may do harm to people's brains.

[C]More educated people may suffer from brain tissue loss.

[D]The less educated can resort to more cognitive reserves when aged.

86．According to the second paragraph, it can be found by researchers that______.

[A]Only educated people suffer from brain shrinkage.

[B]The more the brain shrinks, the more abnormal people's cognition and memory become.

[C] People might loss no mentality even with brain shrinkage.

[D] No brain-tissue loss will be induced by indulgence in alcohol

87．Which of the following is not mentioned in the text as one of the factors that may influence brain shrinkage?

[A]indulgence in drinking

[B]education

[C]emotional fluctuations

[D]hypertension

88．The text informs us that_____.

[A]Mental capacity is surely measured by education level.

[B]More－educated people never develop habits harmful to health

[C]People should keeping stimulating the brain to bear more brain-tissue loss.

[D]We should take less adventuresome way to stimulate the brain.

Text C

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