Question

【題目】 Does your older brother think he’s cleverer than you? Well, he’s probably right. According to a new research published in the journal Intelligence, the oldest children in families are likely to have the highest IQs and the youngest the lowest.

A number of studies have suggested that IQ scores decline with birth order. In the most recent study, at Vrije University, Amsterdam, researchers looked at men and women whose IQ had been tested at the ages of 5，12 ，and 18．

The results, which show a trend for the oldest to score better than the youngest in each test, involved about 200,000 people. That showed that first-borns had a three-point IQ advantage over the second-born, who was a point ahead of the next in line．

The order of birth can also affect personality, achievement, and career, with first-borns being more academically successful and more likely to win Nobel prizes. However, eldest children are less likely to be radical（不同凡響的） and pioneering. Charles Darwin, for example, was the fifth child of six．

Exactly why there should be such differences is not clear, and there are a number of theories on environmental influences on the child．

The so-called dilution(稀釋法) theory suggests that as family resources, both emotional and physical, as well as economic, are limited, it follows that, as a result , as more children come along, the levels of parental attention and encouragement will drop. Another theory is that the intellectual environment in the family favors the first-born who has, at least for some time, the benefit of individual care and help．

The theory which enjoys the most support is that the extra time and patience that the earlier-borned get from their parents, compared with those arriving later, gives them an advantage．

【1】What is the passage mainly about?

A.IQ scores have little to do with the order of birth．

B.Intellectual families favor the first-born.

C.The order of birth can have an effect on IQ.

D.The order of birth can affect personality, achievement, and career．

【2】By using Charles Darwin as an example, the author wants to prove that________.

A.eldest children are the smartest in a family

B.youngest children will usually become experts

C.first-borns are more likely to win Nobel prizes

D.eldest children are less likely to try something new

【3】What do we know about the dilution theory?

A.Intellectual parents love the first –born better

B.Parents’ attention will drop with more children coming

C.Family resources, both emotional and physical are endless．

D.First-born get less care and help from their parents．

【4】The passage is developed mainly by .

A.offering opinion with further explanation

B.pointing out similarities and difference

C.comparing opinions from different fields

D.providing typical examples

【5】The passage can be classified into the following type of writing_______.

A.argumentationB.description

C.narration(記敘文)D.exposition(說明)

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】D

【3】B

【4】A

【5】D

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。根據(jù)一項新研究，出生的順序會影響智力。關(guān)于為什么會產(chǎn)生這種差異，不同的理論有不同的解釋。

【1】主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章第一段中的According to a new research published in the journal Intelligence, the oldest children in families are likely to have the highest IQs and the youngest the lowest.可知根據(jù)一項新研究，家庭中年齡最大的孩子可能智商最高，而最小的智商最低。文章后面也進(jìn)一步解釋了這個以及介紹了相關(guān)的理論，所以本文主要講出生的順序會影響智力，故選C項。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第四段中However, eldest children are less likely to be radical（不同凡響的） and pioneering. Charles Darwin, for example, was the fifth child of six．可知長子不太可能激進(jìn)和開拓。例如，查爾斯·達(dá)爾文（Charles Darwin）是六個孩子中的第五個孩子。在這里作者用達(dá)爾文是第五個孩子的例子證明前文中“長子不太可能激進(jìn)和開拓”，也就是長子不太可能嘗試新的東西，故選D項。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段中的The so-called dilution(稀釋法) theory suggests that as family resources, both emotional and physical, as well as economic, are limited, it follows that, as a result , as more children come along, the levels of parental attention and encouragement will drop.可知所謂的稀釋法理論表明，由于家庭資源，無論是在情感上還是物質(zhì)上以及經(jīng)濟上都是有限的，因此，隨著更多的孩子的出現(xiàn)，父母的關(guān)注和鼓勵水平也會下降。故選B項。

【4】推理判斷題。本文第一二段首先介紹研究表明出生的順序會影響智力，第三段進(jìn)一步闡釋了這項新研究，接著列舉了三個人們用來解釋為什么出生順序會造成智商差異的理論。由此可以看出，作者通過給出一個觀點然后進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步闡釋來寫這篇文章的，故選A項。

【5】推理判斷題。作者先提出新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)家庭中年齡最大的孩子可能智商最高，而最小的智商最低，然后對其進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步闡釋使讀者對其有了一定的認(rèn)識，是一篇說明文，選D項。