Despite being fairly large and having an extremely broad range, the spotted

salamander is actually pretty hard to, well, spot.

        They can reach 9 inches (23 centimeters) in length and are prevalent in mature

deciduous forests from eastern Canada throughout the eastern and mid-western United

States. But these secretive salamanders spend almost their entire lives hiding under rocks

or logs or in the burrows of other forest animals.

       They will populate upland forests and mountainous regions, but are most common

in moist, low-lying forests near floodplains.

        They emerge from their subterranean hiding spots only at night to feed and during

spring mating. They will actually travel long distances over land after a heavy rain to

mate and lay their eggs in vernal pools and ponds.

        Visually striking, these stout salamanders are bluish-black with two irregular rows

of yellow or orange spots extending from head to tail. Like many other salamanders, they

secrete a noxious, milky toxin from glands on their backs and tails to dissuade predators.

Their diet includes insects, worms, slugs, spiders, and millipedes.

         Spotted salamanders' numbers are generally stable throughout their range, but they

are very sensitive to changes in their ecology, and rising water acidity in certain habitats

is negatively affecting their population. The pet trade and habitat loss also take a toll.

III. Reading Comprehension

Dreams and prophesies aside, one of the greatest mysteries surrounding the Sphinx today is one with more practical implications: How much longer will this great statue survive? Much of it was already worn away ages ago, including the nose, parts of the cobra on the forehead, and the long beard that once extended from the chin. Currently, not only the natural elements, but also pollution from the nearby city of Cairo is taking the toll. In addition, past efforts to restore the statue have sometimes, ironically, done more harm than good. For example, faulty reconstruction methods using concrete instead of limestone caused changes in the proportions of the statue. More recent preservation plans are much more sophisticated, although sometimes still experimental. However, even if the Great Sphinx were to collapse tomorrow, even if it should eventually crumble or become covered again with the sands of time, the end of its physical presence would certainly not mean an end to the many mysteries that have surrounded it for so long. Indeed, the "enigma" of the Great Sphinx is likely to remain with us for many centuries to come.

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Do you think you’re smarter than your parents and grandparents? According to James Flynn, a professor at a university in New Zealand, you are! Over the course of the last century, people who have taken IQ tests have gotten increasingly better scores — on average, three points better for every decade that has passed. This improvement is known as “the Flynn effect,” and scientists want to know what is behind it. 

IQ tests and other, similar tests are designed to measure general intelligence rather than knowledge. Flynn knew that intelligence is partly inherited from our parents and partly the result of our environment and experiences, but the improvement in test scores was happening too quickly to be explained by heredity. So what was happening in the 20th century that was helping people achieve higher scores on intelligence tests? 

Scientists have proposed several explanations for the Flynn effect. Some suggest that the improved test scores simply reflect an increased exposure to tests in general. Because we take so many tests, we learn test-taking techniques that help us perform better on any test. Others have pointed to better nutrition since it results in babies being born larger, healthier, and with more brain development than in the past. Another possible explanation is a change in educational styles, with teachers encouraging children to learn by discovering things for themselves rather than just memorizing information. This could prepare people to do the kind of problem solving that intelligence tests require. 

Flynn limited the possible explanations when he looked carefully at the test data and discovered that the improvement in scores was only on certain parts of the IQ test. Test-takers didn’t do better on the arithmetic or vocabulary sections of the test; they did better on sections that required a special kind of reasoning and problem solving. For example, one part of the test shows a set of abstract shapes, and test-takers must look for patterns and connections between them and decide which shape should be added to the set. According to Flynn, this visual intelligence improves as the amount of technology in our lives increases. Every time you play a computer game or figure out how to program a new cell phone, you are exercising exactly the kind of thinking and problem solving that helps you do well on one kind of intelligence test. So are you really smarter than your parents? In one very specific way, you may be.