How clever are you? How do we measure intelligence? Where did your intelligence come from? Scientists now believe that our genes strongly influence how our brain develops. We inherit our genes from our parents. 

    In other words, we inherit our intelligence from our parents. This does not mean that we cannot do anything to develop ourselves. Each of us must decide how to use our brains and how to develop our skills. 

    Scientists have studied sets of identical twins. They have found that certain areas of the brain are strongly influenced by our parents, and that these areas influence intelligence. Identical twins have almost identical brains. When they did tests,scientists found that identical twins had very similar scores in tests with numbers, words, shapes and memory. This was not true with non-identical twins, or brothers and sisters; they had great differences in their test scores. 

    However, our success as adults is not simply a matter of how clever we are. Our ability to work with other people is also important. In addition, our determination, confidence and our courage also play important parts. We may inherit our intelligence from our parents but we must decide how to live our own lives. We cannot blame our parents! 

    There is one area where our parents can help us. When we are children, they can provide us with a stimulating environment in which to live. This will help to develop our brains and develop our confidence. If parents encourage their children to listen to music, to play a musical instrument, to play with puzzles, to draw pictures and to read books, then their children are likely to become more intelligent. Remember that when you become a parent! 

    你有多聰明?我們如何測量智力?你的智力從何而來?當今的科學家認為基因對我們大腦的發展有很大的影響。父母遺傳給了我們基因，換句話說，父母，遺傳給了我們智力。這并不意味著我們對發展自我就無能為力。每個人都必須決定如何使用大腦，如何培養自己的技能。 

    科學家們研究了好幾對同卵雙胞胎。他們發現我們大腦的某些部位受父母的影響極大，而這些部位影響著智力。同卵雙胞胎具有幾乎完全相同的大腦。 

    當他們做測試時，科學家們發現同卵雙胞胎在數字、詞語、形狀和記憶等方面所得到的分數十分相似。這并不適用于非同卵雙胞胎或兄弟姐妹；他們在測試時，測試成績差別很大。

    然而，我們成年后的成功不僅僅在于有多聰明。我們與他人共事的能力也很重要。另外，決心、自信和勇氣也起著重要的作用。我們可能遺傳了父母的智力但要自己決定如何生活。我們絕不能去責怪父母! 

    父母可以在一個方面幫助我們。他們能在我們孩提時代營造一個激發智力的生活環境。這有助于大腦的發育、信心的增強。如果父母鼓勵孩子欣賞音樂、彈奏樂器、玩猜謎游戲、學習繪畫或閱讀書籍，那么孩子們可能會更加聰慧。當你成為家長時，千萬記住這一點!