Intelligence And Giftedness - IELTS Reading Answers & Explanations
From IELTS Past Papers Academic Reading Test 04 · Part 2 · Questions 14–26
Reading Passage
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Intelligence and Giftedness
A. In 1904 the French minister of education, facing limited resources for schooling, sought a way to separate die unable from the merely lazy. Alfred Binet got the job of devising selection principles and his brilliant solution put a stamp on the study of intelligence and was the forerunner of intelligence tests still used today, he developed a thirty-problem test in 1905, which tapped several abilities related to intellect, such as judgment and reasoning, the test determined a given child's mental age', the test previously established a norm for children of a given physical age. (for example, five-year-olds on average get ten items correct), therefore, a child with a mental age of five should score 10, which would mean that he or she was functioning pretty much as others of that age. the child's mental age was then compared to his physical age.
B. A large disparity in the wrong direction (e.g., a child of nine with a mental age of four) might suggest inability rather than laziness and mean he or she was earmarked for special schooling, Binet, however, denied that the test was measuring intelligence, its purpose was simply diagnostic, for selection only. This message was however lost, and caused many problems and misunderstanding later.
C. Although Binet's test was popular, it was a bit inconvenient to deal with a variety of physical and mental ages. So in 1912 Wilhelm Stem suggested simplifying this by reducing die two to a single number, he divided the mental age by the physical age, and multiplied the result by 100. An average child, irrespective of age, would score 100. a number much lower than 100 would suggest the need for help, and one much higher would suggest a child well ahead of his peer.
D. This measurement is what is now termed the IQ (for intelligence quotient) score and it has evolved to be used to show how a person, adult or child, performed in relation to others, (the term IQ was coined by Lewis m. Terman, professor of psychology and education of Stanford university, in 1916. he had constructed an enormously influential revision of Binet's test, called the Stanford-Binet test, versions of which are still given extensively.)
E. The field studying intelligence and developing tests eventually coalesced into a sub-field of psychology called psychometrics (psycho for ‘mind’ and metrics for 'measurements'). The practical side of psychometrics (the development and use of tests) became widespread quite early, by 1917, when Einstein published his grand theory of relativity, mass-scale testing was already in use. Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare (which led to the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915) provoked the United States to finally enter the First World War in the same year. The military had to build up an army very quickly; it had two million inductees to sort out. Who would become officers and who enlisted men? Psychometricians developed two intelligence tests that helped sort all these people out, at least to some extent, this was the first major use of testing to decide who lived and who died, as officers were a lot safer on the battlefield, the tests themselves were given under horrendously bad conditions, and the examiners seemed to lack commonsense, a lot of recruits simply had no idea what to do and in several sessions most inductees scored zero! The examiners also came up with the quite astounding conclusion from the testing that the average American adult's intelligence was equal to that of a thirteen-year-old!
F. Intelligence testing enforced political and social prejudice, their results were used to argue that Jews ought to be kept out of the united states because they were so intelligently inferior that they would pollute the racial mix; and blacks ought not to be allowed to breed at all. And so abuse and test bias controversies continued to plaque psychometrics.
G. Measurement is fundamental to science and technology, science often advances in leaps and bounds when measurement devices improve, psychometrics has long tried to develop ways to gauge psychological qualities such as intelligence and more specific abilities, anxiety, extroversion, emotional stability, compatibility, with marriage partner, and so on. Their scores are often given enormous weight, a single IQ measurement can take on a life of its own if teachers and parents see it as definitive, it became a major issue in the 70s, when court cases were launched to stop anyone from making important decisions based on IQ test scores, the main criticism was and still is that current tests don’t really measure intelligence, whether intelligence can be measured at all is still controversial, some say it cannot others say that IQ tests are psychology’s greatest accomplishments
Questions
Questions 14–17 Matching Information
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Questions 18–21 One Choice
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Questions 22–26 True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
Answers & Explanations Summary
| # | Answer | Evidence | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q14 | G | psychometrics has long tried to develop ways to gauge psychological qualities such as intelligence and more specific abilities, anxiety, extroversion, emotional stability, compatibility, with marriage partner, and so on | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that tests try to measure many different human mental traits and abilities, including anxiety, extroversion, emotional stability, and intelligence. Answer Explanation: The answer means that Paragraph G is the section that mentions intelligence (IQ) being only one of many different human traits or qualities. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is G because Paragraph G lists several psychological qualities that experts try to measure, such as anxiety, extroversion, emotional stability, compatibility with a marriage partner, and intelligence. This shows that intelligence measured by IQ is just one single characteristic among many other human traits. |
| Q15 | C | So in 1912 Wilhelm Stem suggested simplifying this by reducing die two to a single number, he divided the mental age by the physical age, and multiplied the result by 100 | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage shows the steps Wilhelm Stern used to find a single test score: he took the mental age, divided it by the physical age, and then multiplied that number by 100. Answer Explanation: The answer is paragraph C. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because Paragraph C describes the method (methodology) used by Wilhelm Stern (written as Wilhelm Stem in the passage) to make test scoring simple. He explained how to calculate the score by dividing mental age by physical age and multiplying by 100. |
| Q16 | B | Binet, however, denied that the test was measuring intelligence, its purpose was simply diagnostic, for selection only | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage shows that Binet himself said his test was not built to measure intelligence, but was only a simple tool to choose students who needed special help. Answer Explanation: The answer B points to paragraph B as the section that discusses how Binet's test was not intended or adequate for measuring full intelligence. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because paragraph B explains that Binet himself stated his test did not measure actual intelligence, as it was only meant to help identify children who needed special schooling. The word 'inadequacy' refers to the test's limitations for measuring general intelligence, which corresponds to Binet's statement that 'the test was measuring intelligence' was not true. |
| Q17 | D | the term IQ was coined by Lewis m. Terman, professor of psychology and education of Stanford university, in 1916 | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that the name 'IQ' was first created in 1916 by Lewis M. Terman, a professor at Stanford University. Answer Explanation: The answer is D because Paragraph D contains information about the person who created the name 'IQ' and his job as a professor. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is D because Paragraph D explicitly mentions that the term 'IQ' was coined (meaning created or invented) by Lewis M. Terman, who was a 'professor of psychology and education'. The keyword 'coined' matches 'created', and 'professor' matches 'professor' in the statement. |
| Q18 | B | Alfred Binet got the job of devising selection principles | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that Alfred Binet was hired to make rules for picking or choosing students. Answer Explanation: The answer B means that Professor Binet created the test to select or choose students. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because paragraph A states that Alfred Binet was given the task of creating "selection principles" to help separate children who were unable to learn from those who were lazy. Paragraph B also confirms that the test's goal was "for selection only." Here, the word "selection" matches the concept of choosing. |
| Q19 | B | the test determined a given child's mental age', the test previously established a norm for children of a given physical age | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage shows that the test worked by finding out a child's mental score and comparing it to what is normal for children of a certain physical age. Answer Explanation: The answer choice B means that the intelligence test was created based on age. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is B because the passage explains that Binet's test was made to measure a child's mental age by using normal standards set for children of a specific physical age. Keywords like 'mental age' and 'physical age' show that age is the main factor used to design the test. |
| Q20 | A | Who would become officers and who enlisted men? Psychometricians developed two intelligence tests that helped sort all these people out, at least to some extent, this was the first major use of testing to decide who lived and who died, as officers were a lot safer on the battlefield, the tests themselves were given under horrendously bad conditions, and the examiners seemed to lack commonsense, a lot of recruits simply had no idea what to do and in several sessions most inductees scored zero | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that test creators made two intelligence tests to help the military organize new soldiers and decide who would become officers. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the military used intelligence tests to choose people to become officers. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is A because Paragraph E states that the US military needed to organize new army members during the First World War. Test makers created two intelligence tests to sort people out and decide who would become officers and who would be enlisted men. |
| Q21 | C | the main criticism was and still is that current tests don’t really measure intelligence, whether intelligence can be measured at all is still controversial, some say it cannot others say that IQ tests are psychology’s greatest accomplishments | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage states that many people doubt if tests actually measure intelligence and that this topic is still widely debated, showing both the limitations and discussions around the validity of the test. Answer Explanation: The answer means that the main reason for writing the text is to examine if intelligence tests are accurate and to highlight their weaknesses and problems. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is C because the text describes how intelligence testing developed, how it was misused, and the doubts surrounding its accuracy. The text ends by highlighting that people still argue over whether these tests genuinely measure real intelligence, which shows that discussing the accuracy (validity) and shortcomings (limitations) of these tests is the central focus. |
| Q22 | TRUE | Binet, however, denied that the test was measuring intelligence, its purpose was simply diagnostic, for selection only. This message was however lost, and caused many problems and misunderstanding later | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage says that Binet did not create the test to measure intelligence, but only to pick out children who needed help. However, people did not remember this point, which caused many problems and misunderstandings. Answer Explanation: The answer is TRUE because the statement correctly matches the facts given in the text. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because Paragraph B explains that Binet created the test only for selection and diagnosis, not to measure intelligence itself. However, people forgot this goal, which led to confusion and misunderstanding later. Therefore, Binet's actual goal or intention when creating the test was indeed misunderstood. |
| Q23 | FALSE | he divided the mental age by the physical age, and multiplied the result by 100 | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage shows that Wilhelm Stern used both mental age and physical age together to calculate a person's score. Answer Explanation: The answer FALSE means that the statement is wrong because Wilhelm Stern did not completely ignore age in his test. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is FALSE because Wilhelm Stern's test formula specifically used age to calculate a score. He calculated the score by dividing a child's mental age by their physical age, which means age was a key part of his method, not completely overlooked. |
| Q24 | NOT GIVEN | The practical side of psychometrics (the development and use of tests) became widespread quite early, by 1917, when Einstein published his grand theory of relativity, mass-scale testing was already in use | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage mentions Einstein only to show what year mass testing began. It does not say anything about Einstein's IQ score or whether he was a counter-example to test results. Answer Explanation: The answer is NOT GIVEN because the text does not tell us if Einstein was an opposite example or counter-example to any IQ test results. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage mentions Albert Einstein only to mark the time period (1917) when testing became common. It never mentions whether Einstein was a counter-example to any conclusion made by IQ tests. |
| Q25 | TRUE | Intelligence testing enforced political and social prejudice, their results were used to argue that Jews ought to be kept out of the united states because they were so intelligently inferior that they would pollute the racial mix; and blacks ought not to be allowed to breed at all | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage explains that intelligence test results were used in a bad way to support unfair ideas about racial groups, including keeping Jewish people out of the country and stopping Black people from having children. Answer Explanation: The answer is TRUE, which means the statement agrees with the information provided in the passage. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is TRUE because Paragraph F explicitly mentions that intelligence test results were used to promote prejudice against specific racial groups, such as keeping Jewish people out of the United States and preventing Black people from reproducing. This shows that intelligence testing had a harmful effect by supporting racial discrimination. |
| Q26 | NOT GIVEN | whether intelligence can be measured at all is still controversial, some say it cannot others say that IQ tests are psychology’s greatest accomplishments | Excerpt/Passage Explanation: The passage shows that people have different opinions about measuring intelligence. Some people say intelligence cannot be measured, while others think IQ tests are a huge achievement. It does not state what the author thinks about the goal itself. Answer Explanation: The answer "NOT GIVEN" means that the text does not say whether the author thinks measuring intelligence is a goal that has almost no meaning. Reason For Correctness: The correct answer is NOT GIVEN because the passage does not share the author's personal view on whether measuring intelligence is useful or meaningful. Paragraph G explains that measuring intelligence is still a topic of debate (controversial), where some people believe it cannot be measured and others think IQ tests are psychology's greatest success. Because the author does not express their own opinion on this matter, we cannot say if the statement is true or false. |