EDoesyourolderbrotherthinkhe’sclevererthanyou?Wellhe’sprobablyright．AccordingtoanewresearchpublishedinthejournalIntelligencetheoldestchildreninfamiliesarelikelytohavethehighestIQsandtheyo

　　E

　　Doesyourolderbrotherthinkhe’sclevererthanyou?Wellhe’sprobablyright．AccordingtoanewresearchpublishedinthejournalIntelligencetheoldestchildreninfamiliesarelikelytohavethehighestIQsandtheyoungestthelowest

　　AnumberofstudieshavesuggestedthatIQscoresdeclinewithbirthorder．InthemostrecentstudyatVrijeUniversityAmsterdamresearcherslookedatmenandwomenwhoseIQhadbeentestedattheagesof5，12，and18．

　　Theresultswhichshowatrendfortheoldesttoscorebetterthantheyoungestineachtestinvolvedabout200000people．Thatshowedthatfirst-bornshadathree-pointIQadvantageoverthesecond-bornwhowasapointaheadofthenextinline．

　　Theorderofbirthcanalsoaffectpersonalityachievementandcareerwithfirst-bornsbeingmoreacademicallysuccessfulandmorelikelytowinNobelprizes．Howevereldsetchildrenarelesslikelytoberadicalandpioneering．CharlesDarwinforexamplewasthefifthchildofsix．

　　Exactlywhythereshouldbesuchdifferencesisnotclearandthereareanumberoftheoriesonenvironmentalinfluencesonthechild．

　　Theso-calleddilution(稀释法)theorysuggeststhatasfamilyresourcesbothemotionalandphysicalaswellaseconomicarelimiteditfollowsthatasaresultasmorechildrencomealongthelevelsofparentalattentionandencouragementwilldrop．Anothertheoryisthattheintellectual(智力)environmentinthefamilyfavorsthefirst-bornwhohasatleastforsometimethebenefitofindividualcareandhelp．

　　Thetheorywhichenjoysthemostsupportisthattheextratimeandpatiencethattheearlier-bornsgetfromtheirparentscomparedwiththosearrivinglatergivesthemanadvantage．

　　1．Whatisthepassagemainlyabout?

　　A．IQscoreshavelittletodowiththeorderofbirth．

　　B．Intellectualfamiliesfavorthefirst-born

　　C．TheorderofbirthcanhaveaneffectonIQ

　　D．Theorderofbirthcanaffectpersonalityachievementandcarrer．

　　2．ByusingCharlesDarwinasanexampletheauthorwantstoprovethat

　　A．eldestchildrenarethesmartestinafamily

　　B．youngestchildrenwillusuallybecomeexperts

　　C．first-bornsaremorelikelytowinNobelprizes

　　D