书城外语《21世纪大学英语》配套教材.阅读.2
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第6章 Unit Two(3)

A number of important cautions should be kept in mind when interpreting the results of intelligence tests, most of them related to the misconceptions described earlier.For example, teachers need to remember that the validity and reliability (有 效 性) of all measures of intelligence are less than perfect.If Johnny s measured IQ today is 120 and Frank s is 115, it would be foolish in the extreme to conclude that Johnny is more intelligent than Frank and that he should therefore be granted the privilege of studying with the group called the “Orioles”(金 莺类, 白头 翁科 的 小鸟 ) rather than with the“ White-Breasted Kites (鸢鹞鹰)”. It might well be that Johnny s measured IQ next month would be 110 or that Frank s measured IQ on another test today would be 130.It is, in fact, precisely the relative imprecision of measured IQ that has served to justify the secrecy that sometimes surrounds the IQ.Unfortunately, the concept of IQ is not at all well understood by parents; perhaps even more unfortunate, it is often not well understood by educators.

Teachers need to keep in mind, too, that intelligence is not a fixed and unchanging characteristic.As we saw, formal schooling and continued interaction with things like television sets and computers increase intellig ence.

What these cautions mean is that a teacher s decisions based on test results should be tentative and subject to continual review, that students should not be labeled on the basis of limited and changing samplings of their behavior, and that, in short,good sense should prevail here as it should elsewhere.

1.When intelligence tests are skillfully administered and intelligently interpret-ed they are.

A.profitable B.beneficial.

C.useful or desirable D.meaningful and unchecked.

2.A teacher is expected to remember that the validity and reliability of all measures of intelligence are.

A.perfect B.irresistible.

C.not likely to change D.not perfect.

3.The writer that intelligence tests are of great help when they are skilfully administered and intelligently interpreted.

A.admits B.does not believe.

C.is not of the opinion D.never believes.

4.In the author s opinion, the samples used in intelligence test.

A.are well-chosen B.are of very good quality.

C.are limited and changing D.cover a wide range of subjects.

5.According to the passage, students measured IQ.

A.tends to remain the same B.tends to change.

C.never changes D.keeps unchanged.

Scholars and students have always been great travelers.The official case for“ academic mobility” is now often stated in impressive terms as a fundamental necessity for economic and social progress in the world, and debated in the corridors of Europe, but it is certainly nothing new.Serious students were always ready to go abroad in search of the most stimulating teachers and the most famous academies; in search of the purest philosophy,the most effective medicine, the likeliest road to gold.

Mobility of this kind meant also mobility of ideas, their transference across frontiers, their simultaneous impact upon many groups of people.The point of learning is to share it,whether with students or with colleagues; one presumes that only eccentrics have no interest in being credited with a startling discovery,or a new technique.It must also have been reassuring to know that people in other parts of the world were about to make the same discovery or were thinking along the same lines, and that one was not quite alone, confronted by inquisition,ridicule or neglect.

In the twentieth century, and particularly in the last 20 years, the old footpaths of the wandering scholars have become vast highways.The vehicle which has made this possible has of course been the aeroplane, making contact between scholars even in the most distant places immediately feasible, and providing for the very rapid transmission of knowledge.

Frequently these specializations lie in areas where very rapid developments are taking place, and also where the research needed for developments is extremely costly and takes a long time.It is precisely in these areas that theadvantages of collaboration and sharing of expertise appear most evident.

Associated with this is the growth of specialist periodicals, which enable scholars to become aware of what is happening in different centres of research and to meet each other in con ferences.From these meetings come the personal relationships which are at the bottom of almost an formalized schemes of co-operation, and provide them with their most satisfactory stimulus.

But as the specializations have increased in number and narrowed in range,there has been an opposite movement towards interdisciplinary studies.These owe much to the belief that one cannot properly investigate the incredibly complex problems thrown up by the modern world, and by recent advances in our knowledge along the narrow front of a single discipline.This trend has led to a great deal of academic contact between disciplines, and a far greater emphasis on the pooling of specialist knowledge, reflected in the broad subjects chosen in many international conferences.

1.According to the passage, scholars and students are great travelers because.