“Intelligence” at best is an assumptive construct -- the meaning of the word has never been clear.
智力充其量只是一个假设性的概念，因为智力的含义从来就是模糊的。
There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term thanthere is on how to interpret or classify them.
人们对智力这个词所指的各种表现意见比较一致，而对这些表现的解释或分类则有不同的看法。
But it is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas readily, make distinctions, reason logically, and make use of verbal and mathematical symbols in solving problems.
但普遍认为，智力高的人是能指那些够迅速领会思想、区分事物、进行逻辑推理并运用文字和数字符号来解决问题的人。
An intelligence test is a rough measure of a child’s capacity for learning, particularly for learning the kinds of things required in school.
智力测验只是粗略衡量一个儿童学习的能力，尤其是学习学校所要求的各种知识的能力。
It does not measure character, social adjustment, physical endurance, manual skills, or artistic abilities. It is not supposed to -- it was not designed for such purposes.
智力测验并不测定人的个性、社会适应能力、身体耐力、手工技能或艺术才能。其设计初衷也并非为了测定这些方面。
To criticize it for such failure is roughly comparable to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity.
批评智力测试不反映上述情况，就犹如批评温度计不测风速一样。
The other thing we have to notice is that the assessment of the intelligence of any subject is essentially a comparative affair.
我们要注意的另一件事是，对任何测试对象的智力评估都是比较而言的。
Now since the assessment of intelligence is a comparative matter we must be sure that the scale with which we are comparing our subjects provides a “valid” or “fair” comparison.
既然对智力的评估是比较而言的，那么我们必须确保，在对我们的对象进行比较时，我们所使用的尺度能提供有效的或公平的比较。
It is here that some of the difficulties which interest us begin. Any test performed involves at least three factors: the intention to do one’s best, the knowledge required for understanding what you have to do, and the intellectual ability to do it.
正是基于这一点，产生了一些让我们关注的问题。进行任何测试至少要包含三个因素：尽力考好的意向，理解考试要求所需要的知识，以及做这件事情所需的智能。
The first two must be equalfor all who are being compared, if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made.
如果从智力方面进行任何比较的话，那么对所有的被比较者来说，前两个因素必须是一样的。
In school populations in our culture these assumptions can be made fair and reasonable, and the value of intelligence testing has been proved thoroughly.
在我们的文化培养的学生中，上述设想可以公平合理。这就完全证明了智力测试的价值。
Its value lies, of course, in its providing a satisfactory basis for prediction.
它的价值当然就在它对预测提供了令人满意的依据。
No one is in the least interested in the marks a little child gets on his test;
没有人会对一个儿童在测试中所取得的分数感兴趣。
what we are interested in is whether we can conclude from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require “general intelligence.”
我们感兴趣的是，我们能否从他测试的成绩中得出结论：与同龄人相比，这个儿童在完成我们认为需要“一般智力”的任务时，他会做的更好还是更差。
On the whole such a conclusion can be drawn with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the others with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed.
总的来说，得出这种结论是有一定把握的，但前提是必须两个假定成立：这个孩子对测试的态度和与他相比较的孩子对测试的态度相同；他没有因为缺乏别的孩子已掌握的有关知识而被扣分。
