Intelligence makes for better leaders —from undergraduates to managers to presidents — according to multiple studies. It certainly makes sense that handling a market shift or anything alike requires intelligence. But new research on leadership suggests that, at a certain point, having a higher IQ stops helping and starts hurting.
Although previous research has shown that groups with smarter leaders perform better by objective measures, some studies have suggested that followers might subjectively view leaders with extremely high intellect as less effective. Decades ago, Dean Simonton, a psychologist from the University of California, Davis, proposed that brilliant leaders’ words may simply go over people’s heads, their solutions could be more complicated to carry out and followers might find it harder to relate to them. Now Simonton and two colleagues have finally tested that idea, publishing their results in the July 2017 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.
The researchers looked at 379 male and female business leaders in 30 countries across fields including banking, retail and technology. The managers took IQ tests and each was rated on leadership style and effectiveness by an average of eight co-workers. IQ positively correlated (和......正相关)with ratings of leader effectiveness, strategy formation, vision and several other characteristics—up to a point. The ratings peaked at an IQ of around 120, which is higher than roughly 80 percent of office workers. Beyond that, the ratings declined(降低).
The researchers suggest the “ideal” IQ could be higher or lower in various fields, to 140 or 100, depending on whether technical or social skills are more valued in a given work culture.
“It’s an interesting and thoughtful paper,” says Paul Sackett, a management professor at University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the research. “To me, the right interpretation of the work would be that it highlights a need to understand what high-IQ leaders do leads to lower understanding by followers,” he says. “The wrong interpretation would be, “Don’t hire high-IQ leaders.”
The study’s lead author, John Antonakis, a psychologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, suggests leaders should use their intelligence to use creative language that will persuade and inspire others—the way former U.S. President Barack Obama did. “I think the only way a smart person can signal their intelligence properly and still connect with the people,” Antonakis says, “is to speak in charming ways.”
1.The reason why those with high IQs are viewed as worse leaders is probably that _______.
A.followers think of their leaders to be less effective
B.it is hard for them to get their plans across to followers
C.their IQ has a positive correlation with leader effectiveness
D.their social skills can’t be recognized in some work culture
2.Which of the following graphs shows the correct relationship between IQ points and leadership qualities?
A.
B.
C.
D.
3.To improve their leadership, high-IQ leaders can _______.
A.use inspiring and accessible language B.interpret the work they are involved in
C.take a course in leader effectiveness D.communicate more with their followers
4.What is Paul Sackett’s attitude towards hiring high-IQ leaders?
A.Unconcerned. B.Positive. C.Doubtful. D.Unclear.
5.What could be the best title for the passage?
A.A Way to Success for High-IQ Leaders.
B.The Latest Research on Intelligence.
C.Does a High IQ Advance Your Leadership?
D.Choose to be a Leader of Low Intelligence.
A woman held her phone tightly to her heart the way a minster might hold a Bible. She was anxious to take a picture of an impressive bunch of flowers that sat not so far away, but first she had to get through a crowd of others pushing their way to do the same. The cause of this was Bouquets to Art, one of the most popular events at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Flower sellers were asked to create flower arrangements that respond to pieces of art on display, from ancient carvings to contemporary sculptures. It’s extremely attractive and also memorable, to the point that it has become a problem.
In recent years, the de Young received more than a thousand complaints from people who felt that cell phones had spoiled their experience of the exhibit. Institutions of fine art around the world face similar problems as the desire to take photographs becomes a huge attraction for museums, as well as something that upsets some of their patrons (资助人). So the de Young responded with a kind of compromise: carving out “photo free” hours during the exhibition’s six-day run.
One common complaint about the effect of social media on museum culture is that people seem to be missing out on experiences because they are so busy collecting evidence of them. A study recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests there is some truth to this. It finds that people who keep taking photos of an exhibit and posting them on social media rather than simply observing it have a hard time remembering what they see. But the issue is complex for the professionals running museums. Linda Butler, the de Young’s head of marketing and visitor experience, acknowledges that not everyone wants a museum to be “a photo-taking play land.” Yet a lot of people do, and she believes that the de Young is in no position to judge one reason for buying a $28 ticket to be more valid than another. “If we removed social media and photography,” she says, “we would risk becoming irrelevant.” If this is a battle, signs indicate that the pro-phone crowd has already won.
1.How did the de Young respond to the dilemma?
A.By making the exhibition free of charge.
B.By setting periods without photo-taking.
C.By compromising with the government.
D.By extending the free exhibition hours.
2.The recent study finds that the use of social media in museums may _______ .
A.uncover the truth B.cause many complaints
C.accumulate evidence D.play a negative role
3.Which of the following may Linda Butler support?
A.Catering to visitors. B.Reducing admission prices.
C.Reserving judgment in public. D.Banning social media and photography.
4.What does the underlined word “irrelevant” in the last paragraph mean?
A.divorced from society B.unrelated to art
C.in line with museum regulations D.in touch with the times
Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Leonardo da Vinci…the art world has never lacked talent. And now, a new painter is ready to join the list, although this one isn’t even human.
Next month, auction house(拍卖行) Christie’s Prints and Multiples will make history by offering the first piece of art created by artificial intelligence (AI) for sale. The painting is a portrait of a man called Edmond De Belam, and is expected to be sold for up to $10,000 (69,000 yuan).
The work, which features a man with a mysterious look on his face, was created by software developed by the French art group Obvious. Laugero-Lasserre, an art collector, called the work “odd and amazing at the same time”. This isn’t the first example of Al-produced artwork, as AI has already been used to write poems and compose songs. However, many people doubt whether it should be called art at all.
According to Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828 -1910), art is about creating emotion. It’s “a means of…joining people together in the same feelings” he once said.
So, if the emotion behind art is what makes it, the ability to create and use tools is what makes human beings different from other species. And as a tool itself, the AI technology used to create the portrait is the result of a lot of effort made by several designers. Together, they “fed” the AI a huge collection of paintings from the 14th to the 18th centuries, until it was able to work out how to make similar paintings of its own.
The introduction of AI art could be the beginning of a new artistic movement. However, not everyone is ready to welcome these high-tech artists just yet.
“The human mind is what’s behind the AI technology. And the human mind is not a cold, hard fact,” Oscar Schwartz, a professor of AI, said during a Ted X Sydney speech. “Rather, it is something that’s created with our opinions and something that changes over time.”
1.Why are Monet, Picasso and da Vinci mentioned at the beginning of the passage?
A.To list world famous talented artists.
B.To highlight the inhuman painter by contrast.
C.To show the prosperity of the art world.
D.To introduce a new painter as great as them.
2.Why does the painting mentioned in Paragraph 2 gain special concern?
A.It’ll be auctioned in a famous auction house.
B.It’s the first AI-produced artwork for sale.
C.It’s the portrait of a man with mysterious look.
D.Its auction price is expected to be the highest.
3.Which of the following statement may Leo Tolstoy agree with?
A.AI technology is a tool for artistic creation.
B.AI is taught to express human emotions in art.
C.AI copied paintings of the 14th -18th centuries.
D.AI art joins people together in the same feelings.
4.What might be the future of the new artistic movement?
A.Predictable. B.Unacceptable.
C.Popular. D.Unclear.
Places of Interest in Wales
Conway: On the north Wales coast, Conway is where you’ll find the world’s smallest house, as well as a much larger “house”, Conway Castle, which was built in the 13th century.
Anglesey: This beautiful island is joined to the rest of north Wales by a road bridge and a railway bridge, and it’s just a short drive from Conway. Here you can visit the village of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll which has the strangest name in Europe. Don’t miss the station. The sign runs the complete length of the platform! Also on Anglesey is Beaumaris Castle, which was started in the 13th century and to this day remains unfinished.
Snowdonia: Just a couple of hours’ drive from Beaumaris is the Snowdonia mountain range, which takes its name from the highest mountain in Wales, Mount Snowdon. From there, visit the famous Swallow Falls at nearby Betwsy-Coed.
Portmeirion: In 1925 Clough, Williams-Ellis bought an attractive piece of Welsh land for less than ￡5,000. He then set out to show the world how a naturally beautiful castle could be built without being damaged and spent the next 50 years building the town of Portmeirion with a style of Italy.
For more information, order our full-colour brochures:
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1.What do we know about Anglesey?
A.It is far from Conway.
B.It lies in the south of Wales.
C.It can be reached by train.
D.It has the smallest house in the world.
2.What can visitors get from the brochures?
A.Introduction of the climate in Wales.
B.Characteristics of buildings in Wales.
C.Detailed information about people in Wales.
D.Information about adventure activities.
请阅读下面文字，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
The University of Cambridge confirmed on Monday that it had been using scores from China's national college entrance examination, or gaokao, as part of its admission criteria for Chinese students for several years.
It says in Weibo post, however, that it does not admit students only based on their test scores.
The University statement came after some Chinese media reported over the weekend that the university would start to admit Chinese students that ranked in the top 0.1 percent in the gaokao in their province, indicating that it would try to compete for talent with top universities in China.
The news immediately became one of the most viewed topics on social media, being read by 280 million users on Sina Weibo.
The gaokao is increasingly accepted by universities in Australia, the United States, Canada and Europe. The University of New Hampshire became the first US state university to accept the gaokao in its entrance criteria last year. The test is also recognized by 30 universities in Australia and 30 in Canada, as well as colleges in Italy, France and Spain.
［写作内容］
1.用约30个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2.谈谈剑桥大学接受中国高考成绩对你的启示，用2-3个理由或论据支撑你的看法。
［写作要求］
1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
［评分标准］
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意；每个空格只填1个单词.请将答案写在答题纸上相应题号的横线上。
The future belongs to the flexible mind. This is the argument behind best-selling author Leonard Miodinow's new book, Elastic（灵活的），which examines the ever-increasing changes we find ourselves living through, and the ways of thinking best suited to them.
Do we need to develop a flexible mind?
Times we live in demand a flexible style of thinking. In politics, we now have to cope with more scandals in a single year than we used to encounter in a lifetime. Meanwhile, the speed and processing power of computers makes it difficult for us to navigate a landscape in which, the number of websites has been doubling every two to three years, and the way we use and access them is subject to frequent "disastrous changes". More importantly, social attitudes are changing just as fast.
Logical thought is an analysis that can be described by an algorithm （算术）of the kind that computers follow. Elastic thought cannot. Logical thought is solved to help us face the everyday challenges of life while elastic thought helps us succeed when circumstances change. Elastic thought is where our new ideas come from. Logical thought can determine how to drive from our home to the grocery store most efficiently, but it's elastic thought that gave us the automobile.
What makes it hard to think "flexibly"?
Flexible thinking comes naturally to all humans, but one way it may be blocked is through another power exercised by our brain, the ability to tune out "crazy” ideas. A single information processor depends on an algorithm to solve a problem. The human brain, instead, acts as a set of interacting and competing systems. They use our knowledge and expectations of the world to assess ideas. That approach is well suited to a stable environment. But it can be less productive when circumstances change.
How can we learn to be more flexible in our own thinking?
One of the abilities most important to flexible thinking is the power to relax our mind and let our guard down. If we are constantly alerted, our ideas may have a narrow range, and tend to be conventional.
One can also cultivate flexible thinking by adjusting one's external conditions. Studies show that sitting in a darkened room, or closing our eyes, can widen our perspective. Low ceilings, narrow corridors, and windowless offices have the opposite effect. Being able to think without any kind of time pressure is also important when striving for novel ideas. Just as important, interruptions are deadly. A short phone call, e-mail or even a text message can redirect your attention and thoughts.
As a more general exercise to nurture our mental flexibility we can try to pay special attention to one of our strongly held beliefs, take it seriously and recall times in the past that we were wrong about something, our intellectual interactions may also be helpful.
Deep 1. into Flexible Thinking | |
Passage outline | Supporting details |
2. to possess a flexible mind | •Political change along with technological and social changes in our times 3. for flexible thinking. •Flexible thinking and logical thinking are playing different roles in our daily lives. The latter helps make what we analyze accurate while the former enables us to be 4.. |
5. to thinking flexibly | • 6. information processors, our brain can either ignore new ideas or kill them 7. on our experience and expectations. |
Ways to cultivate flexible thinking | • It is better to let our mind off guard occasionally so as to avoid 8. our ideas to conventional ones. • Adjusting external surroundings 9. and thinking without time pressure and distractions is also important. • 10. on one of our strongly held beliefs and having some doubt about it may be of help. |
