As children face their final month of revision before the exam season starts, many parents are looking for the words to motivate their offspring．But could they be mistakenly praising the value of ability over effort, asks Matthew Syed．
Take a glance at these expressions of encouragement:
"You learned that so quickly, you're so smart!"
"Look at that drawing．Are you -the next Picasso or what?"
They appear as the kind of confidence-boosting statements that should be given to children or, indeed, anyone else．Such phrases are used in homes and classrooms every day, particularly with exams approaching．
Intelligence-based praise leads the receiver towards the fixed thought —it suggests to them that intelligence is of primary importance rather than the effort through which intelligence can be transformed．
Let's take a quick second look into the science of expertise, and ask a question．Where does excellence come from? For a long time, it was thought the answer to this depended, to a large degree, on genetic inheritance．Or, to put it another way, it is all about talent．
It turns out that this is mistaken．Dozens of studies have found that top performers—whether in maths, mi sic or whatever—learn no faster than those who reach lower levels of achievement—hour after hour, they improve at almost the same rates．
The difference is simply that high achievers practice for more hours．Further research has shown that when students seem to possess a particular gift, it is often because they have been given extra tuition at home by their parents．
This is not to deny that some kids start out better than others—it is merely to suggest that the starting point we have in life is not particularly relevant．
Why? Because, over time, with the right, kind of practice, we change so dramatically．It is not just the body that changes, but the brain．The question of talent versus effort would not matter terribly much if it as merely theoretical．But it is so much more than that．It influences the way we think, feel, and the way we engage with our world．
小题1:What is the best title of this passage?
A．The Words That Could Encourage Your Child
B．Intelligence Says All
C．High and Low Achievers
D．Start Early, Learn More小题2:Which statement is intelligence-based praise?
A．"You're so brilliant - you passed that exam without really studying!"
B．"With more efforts, you can achieve more!"
C．" You combine study with entertainment so well!"
D．"You study so hard even when you are so good at it!"小题3:The writer thinks the answer to the question of talent versus effort is _____．
A．simple
B．complicated
C．obvious
D．mysterious小题4:Why do some people have higher achievements?
A．Because they are born with great talent.
B．Because they start better than others.
C．Because they spend more of their spare time practicing what they have learnt.
D．Because they improve themselves at almost the same rates.
