单选题 When studying human talent, the temptation is usually to concentrate on the upper reaches. Understandably so. We all admire the Einsteins and Mozarts of this world and 25 to imitate them.
In comparison, studying the opposite end of the spectrum might seem pointless, patronizing (摆出高人一等的派头) or downright tasteless. Lack of intelligence is shameful enough without treating people like lab rats.
Yet it often takes a different viewpoint to find new insights into an old problem. Stupidity is too important and interesting to ignore. The science of stupidity is producing results that 26 our concepts of intelligence and that should be humbling for many of the smart people who run the world.
It turns out that a tendency for entertaining 27 , foolish or illogical ideas is not necessarily the result of a low IQ. This measure of intelligence is largely 28 of rationality. Just because you score on the high end of one scale doesn't mean that you won't fall at the bottom of the other,
Importantly, no one is 29 to the biases that lead to stupid decisions. Yet our respect for IQ and education means that it is easy to rest on the laurels (荣誉) of our qualifications and assume that we are, by definition, not stupid.
That can be 30 on a personal level: Regardless of IQ, people who score badly on rationality tests are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies or fall into serious debt.
Large scale stupidity is even more damaging. Business cultures that 31 encourage it, for example, may have contributed to the economic crisis. Indeed, the effects may have been so damaging precisely because banks assumed that intelligent people act logically while at the same time rewarding rash behavior based on intuition rather than 32 . As one researcher puts it. 'The more intelligent someone is, the more disastrous the results of their stupidity.' The same surely applies to politicians: The tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq serves as a 33 that clever people can do monumentally stupid things.
If we want to avoid making similar mistakes in the future, everybody—especially the most intelligent and powerful—would do well to humbly 34 their own weaknesses. To quote Oscar Wilde: 'There is no sin except stupidity.'
A. acknowledge
B. aspire
C. challenge
D. commemorate
E. damaging
F. deliberation
G. immune
H. inadvertently
I. independent
J. negligible
K. nomination
L. perpetually
M. rash
N. recipient
O. reminder

问答题

【正确答案】B

【答案解析】动词辨析题。分析句子结构可知，空格处应填一个动词与admire并列，且能与to搭配。由空格前的admire可知，人们都羡慕爱因斯坦和莫扎特这样高才智的人，空格后的to imitate them“效仿他们”应该是人们都渴望做的事情，B．aspire“渴望”与句意相吻合，故为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】C

【答案解析】动词辨析题。分析句子结构可知，空格处应填一个动词作that引导的定语从句的谓语，且能与concepts构成动宾搭配。结合后一个that引导的定语从句的句意，令许多管理这个世界的聪明人感到汗颜，可推知关于愚笨的科学研究成果将冲击我们以前对智力的认知，C．challenge“质疑”符合句意，故为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】M

【答案解析】形容词辨析题。根据空格后的foolish or illogical ideas可推断此处缺少形容词作定语，且该形容词在意思上要与foolish“愚蠢的”和illogical“不合理的”相近，M．rash“轻率的”符合句意，故为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】I

【答案解析】形容词辨析题。根据空格前的is largely可知，该空缺少形容词作表语。结合上一句句意“结果是，容易产生轻率、愚蠢和不合理的想法的倾向并不一定是由于IQ低”以及下一句句意“你在一个测量标准上得分高，并不意味着你在另一个测量标准上不落后”可推知，这种测量智力的方式在很大程度上与理性无关。independent of意为“与……无关的”，符合句意，故I．independent“不相关的”为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】G

【答案解析】形容词辨析题。分析句子结构可知，该空缺少形容词作表语，且该形容词能与to搭配。此处句意为：没有人能够______个人偏见，这些个人偏见导致了愚蠢的决定。G．immune“常用于be immune to sth.结构，意为“不受……影响的”，符合此处句意，故G．immune“不受影响的”为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】E

【答案解析】形容词辨析题。分析句子结构，可推断此处缺少形容词作表语。句首的That指代的是上一段第二句中的our respect for IQ and education“我们对IQ和教育的重视”，结合冒号后面部分的句意“不管IQ是多少，那些在理性测试上得分较低的人们意外怀孕或者陷入严重债务危机的几率会更高”可知，这种对IQ的重视从个人层面上来说是有害的，故E．damaging“造成损害的”为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】H

【答案解析】副词辨析题。根据空格后的动词encourage可推断此处缺少副词。本句句意为：比如，商业文化也许______鼓励了其发展，进而可能会导致经济危机。本句的谓语部分may have contributed…是对已经发生情况的不确切的推测，H．inadvertently“不经意地”可以与该谓语部分相呼应，故为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】F

【答案解析】名词辨析题。根据空格前的intuition rather than可知，该空缺少名词。rather than提示空格所填词应与intuition意思相反，故F．deliberation“细想”为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】O

【答案解析】名词辨析题。由空格前的a和空格后的that可知，该空缺少名词。本句句意为：入侵伊拉克十周年给我们提供了一个______，聪明人也会做出极具破坏力的蠢事。O．reminder“起提醒作用的东西”符合句意，故为答案。

问答题

【正确答案】A

【答案解析】动词辨析题。由空格前的to humbly可知，该空缺少动词。本句句意为：我们每一个人——尤其是那些最聪明、最有权势的人——只要谦虚地______自己的弱点，就能够做得很好。A．acknowledge“承认”符合句意，故为答案。