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? 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.

　　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?

　　The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ rests 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. 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. Other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), capture the main aspects of IQ tests.

　　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 Testing?”, Sternberg notes that traditional tests best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ tests 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.

　　译文

　　在过去的几年中，《星期日报》增刊《标榜》一直刊登一个名为：“问问玛丽莲”的专栏。报纸邀请人们向玛丽莲?福斯?赛文特问问题。年仅10岁的玛丽莲测试出的智力水平与大约23岁的人的智力水平一样;这使得她得到了228的智商分数——这个分数是有史以来的最高分。智商测试要求人们在其它类似的任务中完成词语和视觉类推的分析题，要求想象纸被折叠剪切之后的样子，并且推导数列，以及其它一些类似的任务。所以，当福斯?赛文特回答普通人(智商为100)的诸如“爱与喜欢之区别”或“幸运与巧合之本质”之类的问题时，就显得有点迷惑不解了。一个人具备形象思维和数字推导的能力，是否就能够解答许多最优秀的诗人和哲学家都无法回答的问题，这一点是使人不解的。

　　不过有一点很清楚，那就是智力不仅仅包含测试的分数。那么，聪明究竟是什么意思呢?有多少智力因素可以被具体化?而且从神经学、基因学、电脑科学以及其它领域中又能对其了解多少?

　　人类智力的限定性词语似乎仍然是智商测试的分数，尽管智商测试现在已经不像以前那样频繁进行。智商测试一般有两种形式：斯坦福—比奈智力标准以及威治斯勒智力标准(均具有成人版和儿童版)。这两种智力标准测试一般成本均在几百美元。虽然这两种智力标准测试的不同种类多见于书店和万维网，但是通常只有心理学家进行这两个智力标准的测试。像福斯?赛文特那样的超高分现在已经不可能了，因为现在的分数是基于同龄人中的统计人口分布之上的，而不是简单地利用生理年龄除以智力年龄再乘以100。其它的标准化测试，比如学术评估测试和研究生入学考试已经抓住了智商测试的主要方面。

　　但是罗伯特·J·斯特恩博格认为：此类的标准化测试也许不能够评估在学校和生活中取得成功所需要的所有的重要因素。在他的《智力测试有多聪明?》一文中，他指出：传统测试最能评价的是分析和语文能力，但是却无法测量创造力以及实践知识这些对解决问题和取得生活上的成功同样非常重要的因素。而且，当人口与情况发生变化，智商测试就不一定总能做出正确的预测。研究已经发现：如果测试时没有什么压力，智商分数就预测出领导技能。但是测试时如果压力较大，智商就与领导才能的关系成反比——也就是说，高智商预示着低领导才能。任何费尽千辛万苦通过学术评估测试的人都能证明，考试技巧，即知道什么时候猜答案，什么问题可以跳过去，同样重要。

　　词汇

　　Analogy　 n. 相似, 类似

　　例句：As a mechanical analogy, We can think of pebbles dislodged from a beach by water waves. 作为一种力学比拟，我们可以想象海滩上被水波移动的卵石。

　　词组：bear an analogy to/ have an analogy to 具有与……相似之处by analogy 用类推法on the analogy of/ by analogy with 从……类推; 根据……类推

　Coincidence　 n. 巧合, 同时发生

　　例句：It is a mere coincidence that they see eye to eye on this point. 他们在这一点上见解一致完全是巧合。

　　词组：by coincidence碰巧， 由于巧合

　　Chronological　 a. 年代学的, 按时间顺序的, 按照年月顺序的

　　例句：We'll talk about the causes of the war in chronological order. 我们将按时间先后顺序来谈谈战争的一些起因。

　　correlated a. 有相互关系的

　　例句：The doctors correlated alcoholism with severe brain disease. 医生们认为酗酒同严重的脑病有关系。

　　Deduce　 vt. 推论, 演绎出

　　例句：Beyond the obviousfacts, I can deduce nothing else. 除了这些显而易见的情况以外，我推断不出别的什么。

　　词组：deduce a conclusion from these facts从这些事实推出结论

　　反义词：induce

　　Dividing　 adj. 起划分(区分、分割)作用的

　　例句：I can see no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 我认为没有理由把公司划分为小单位。

　　词组：a dividing line分界线dividing ridge分水岭

　　Envision　 vt. 想象, 预想

　　例句：They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。

　　Elude　 vt. 逃避, 规避, 把……难倒

　　例句：They go rambling over the world as if pursued by some mysterious fate they cannot possibly elude. 他们似乎受了什么无可逃避的神秘命运的驱使，在世界上到处流浪。

　　词组：elude one's understanding使人不解

　　同义词：avoid dodge escape evade miss

　　Numerical　 a. 数字的, 数值的, 以数字表示的, 擅长于计数的

　　例句：The numerical values available in Newton's time were not highly precise. 在牛顿的时代，可利用的数据都不是很精确的。

　　词组：a numerical order号数numerical value数值

　　Neurology　 n. 神经病学

　　例句：Freud's work stands at the crossroads between psychology and neurology. 弗洛伊德的理论站在心理学和精神病学的交叉点上。

　　Predict　 vt. 预知, 预言, 预报vi. 预知, 预言, 预报

　　例句：Is it accurate to predict the result on the basis of one secret vote? 以一次不记名投票为基础预测结果准确吗?

　　词组：predict rain for tomorrow预告明天有雨

　　同义词：divine forecast foresee foretell portend prophesy

　　Query　 n. 疑问, 疑问号, 质问, 查询vt. 询问, 质问vi. 询问, 质问

　　例句：Nor do they realize that the query must be reworked the following week. 他们也不知道，在下一周必须重新编制查询。

　　词组：raise a query提出疑问(质问)

　　同义词：ask demand inquire interrogate question quiz

　　Sequence

　　n. 序列, 续发事件, 顺序, 连续vt. 按顺序排好

　　例句：He described the events of that day in sequence. 他按先后次序描述了那一天发生的种种事件。

　　词组：in sequence 顺次, 挨次in rapid sequence 紧接着, 一个接着一个in regular sequence 按次序, 有条不紊地the sequence of events 事情的先后顺序

　　同义词：continuation progression series succession

　　反义词：severance

　　Testify　 vt. 证明, 作证, 声明, 表明vi. 证明, 作证, 声明, 表明

　　例句：Her actions testify her willingness to help. 她的事迹体现了她助人为乐的精神。

　　词组：testify about 就……作证testify against 作不利于……的证明testify to 证明, 证实testify under oath that ... 发誓证明

　　Verbal　 a. 用言辞的, 言语的, 口头的, 逐字的, 动词的【医】 言语的, 口述的

　　例子：I wrote a memorandum to confirm our verbal agreement. 我写了份备忘录以确认我们的口头协议。

　　同义词：oral pronounced said spoken voiced

　　反义词：written

　　Visualize　 vt. 使看得见, 使具体化, 想象, 设想vi. 想象, 显形

　　例句：I could visualize the scene at the time and Mitchell's inscrutability. 我可以想象得出当时的情景和米切尔的那种神秘莫测的表情。

　　Variation　 n. 变更, 变化, 变种, 变奏

　　例句：It serves to acknowledge plainly our ignorance of the cause of each particular variation. 这也明显地表示出，我们对于每一特殊变异的原因是茫然无知的。

　　词组：the variation of opinion意见的改变