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!