您现在的位置是:首页 > 英语听力 > 大学英语听力 > 大学英语精读听力第二册 正文 大学英语精读听力第二册Unit Nine:What Is Intelligence,Anyway? 2007-05-31来源: TEXTAsimov explains why there is much more in intelligence than just being able to score high on intelligence tests.What Is Intelligence, Anyway?Isaac AsimorWhat is intelligence, anyway? When I was in the army I received a kind of aptitude test that all soldiers took and, against a normal of 100, scored 160. No one at the base had ever seen a figure like that and for two hours they made a nig fuss over me. (It didn't mean anything. The next day I was still a buck private with KP as my highest duty.)All my life I've been registering scores like that, so that I have the complacent feeling that I'm highly intelligent, and I expect other people to think so, too. Actually, though, don't such scores simply mean that I am very good at answering the type of academic questions that are considered worthy of answers by the people who make up the intelligence tests - people with intellectual bents similar to mine?For instance, I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not possibly have scored more than 80, by my estimate. I always took it for granted that I was far more intelligent than he was. Yet, when anything went wrong with my car I hastened to him with it, watched him anxiously as he explored its vitals, and listened to his pronouncements as though they were divine oracles - and he always fixed my car.Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I'd prove myself a moron. And I'd be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute. Its worth is determined by the society I live in. Its numerical evaluation is determined by a small subsection of that society which has managed to foist itself on the rest of us as an arbiter of such matters.Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: "Doc, a deaf-and-dumb guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"I lifted my right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto-repair man laughed heartily and said, "Why, you dumb fool, he used his voice and asked for them." Then he said, smugly, "I've been trying that on all my customers today." "Did you catch many?" I asked. "Quite a few," he said, "but I knew for sure I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you're so goddamned educated, doc, I know you couldn't be very smart."And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.NEW WORDSaptituden. natural ability or skill 能力,才能normaln. the usual state or level 正常的状态或水平figuren. 数字fussn. unnecessary expression of excitement, anger, impatience, etc. 大惊小怪buck private n. (sl.) common soldier of the lowest rank 列兵 KP (abbr)kitchen police (a military duty of helping the cooks prepare and serve the food, wash the dishes, and clean up the kitchen) 炊事值勤(员)registervt. achieve; write in a list or record 取得;登记complacenta. self-satisfactory; pleased with oneself 自满的;自鸣得意的highly ad. to a great degree; verysimplyad. just; only 仅仅;只不过academica. scholarly, theoretical, not practical; of a college or university 学术的,学究的;学院的worthy (of) a. deserving 值得的bentn. natural tendency or inclination 嗜好,倾向similara. alike; of the same sort 类似的auton. (short for) automobile 汽车estimaten. judgment or opinion about how much, how many, how good, etc. 估计grantvt. give or allow (what is asked for) 授予;准予hastenvi. go fast; be quick 赶快;急忙explorevt. search or examine thoroughly 探索;探究vitalsn. essential parts of anything; the main bodily organs 主要部件;(人体的)重要器官 pronouncementn. formal or authoritative statement; opinion 声明;见解divinea. coming from God; sacred 神的;神圣的oraclen. 圣言;神谕devisevt. think out; plan 想出;设计carpentern. 木匠academiciann. member of an art, literary or scientific academy or society院士,学会会员morronn. stupid person 低能者;蠢人verbala. complicated with words and their use; spoken, not written 词语的;口头的intricatea. complicated 错综复杂 absolutea. not measured by comparison with other things 绝对的determinevt. fix or find out exactly 确定numericaln. of a number; shown by numbers 数字的;用数字表示的evaluationvt. 估价,评价evaluatevt. subsectionn. part of a section 小组,分部foistvt. force (sth.) on another person by fraud or trickery 把...强加于arbitern. judge 仲裁人,公断人joken. sth. said or done to cause laughter or amusementautomobilen. 汽车hood n. (汽车)引擎罩doc(short for) doctordeafa. unable to hear 聋的dumba. unable to speak; stupid 哑的;愚笨的deaf-and-dumba. unable to hear and speak hardwaren. metal goods such as utensils, tools, nails, etc. 金属器具hammern. 锤子;榔头v. strike repeatedly (with a hammer) clerkn. salesclerk; person who works in a shop selling things 店员scissorsn. 剪刀scissorv. cut with scissors whereuponad. upon, at, or after which 于是,因此;然后heartilyad. 尽情地smuglyad. complacently 沾沾自喜地goddamnedad. (sl.) very, extremely uneasya. awkward; not easy in mind or body 局促的;不安的;不安适的PHRAESE & EXPRESSIONSmake a fuss of / over为...大惊小怪 worthy of deserving 值得make up prepare ready for use 编制;配制by one's estimate据某人估计take sth. for grantedregard it as true or as certain to happen 认为某事当然go wrongstop working as true or as certain to happen 出毛病pick outselect 挑选try...on在...身上试验for surefor certain; certainly 确切地;肯定PROPER NAMESIsaac Asimov艾萨克.阿西莫夫 本栏目更多同类内容 扫码关注和谐英语微信公众号,第一时间获取最新学习资料 或公众号搜索myhxen 上一篇 大学英语精读听力第二册Unit Eight:Honesty:Is It Going out of Style? 下一篇 大学英语精读听力第二册Unit Ten:Profits of Praise 相关文章 大学英语精读听力第二册 2_un10大学英语精读听力第二册 Word_un10大学英语精读听力第二册 2_un09大学英语精读听力第二册 Word_un09大学英语精读听力第二册 2_un08大学英语精读听力第二册 Word_un08大学英语精读听力第二册 2_un07大学英语精读听力第二册 Word_un07大学英语精读听力第二册 2_un06大学英语精读听力第二册 Word_un06