Civilisation is making humanity less intelligent

The simplicity of modern life is making us more stupid, according to a scientific theory which claims humanity may have reached its intellectual and emotional peak as early as 4,000 BC.

Intelligence and the capacity for abstract thought evolved in our prehistoric ancestors living in Africa between 50,000 and 500,000 years ago, who relied on their wits to build shelters and hunt prey.

But in more civilised times where we no longer need to fight to survive, the selection process which favoured the smartest of our ancestors and weeded out the dullards is no longer in force.

Harmful mutations in our genes which reduce our "higher thinking" ability are therefore passed on through generations and allowed to accumulate, leading to a gradual dwindling of our intelligence as a species, a new study claims.

Prof Gerald Crabtree, a developmental biologist at Stanford University, explained in the Trends in Genetics journal that a mutation in any one of 2,000 to 5,000 particular genes could lower our intellectual and emotional ability. 

Our development of intelligence genes "probably occurred in a world where every individual was exposed to nature's raw selective mechanisms on a daily basis," he said, but the same pressures do not apply today.

QUESTION 1 (2 points) Indicate whether these sentences are TRUE or FALSE. Justify your answers with evidence from the text. 

1. Some theories maintain that the most intelligent humans lived about 4.000 B.C.
2. Our Ancestors needed their intelligence to survive.
3. In our modern society, the natural selection provides humans their intelligence.
4. Humans are less clever because of a mutation in their genes.

QUESTION 2 ( 2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words. 

1. Why are humans less intelligent?
2. Why were our ancestors clever?

QUESTION 3 (1,5 points) Find a word or phrase in the text that means the same as:

1. The point of a highest activity or achievement. (paragraph 1)
2. Developed gradually (paragraph 2)
3. Eradicated (paragraph 3) 

QUESTION 4 (1,5 points) Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning.

1. Civilisation is making humanity less intelligent, study claims.

It is...

2. Humans are not very clever because they don’t have to fight to survive.

If...

3. Our prehistoric ancestors had to hunt pray. They lived in Africa many years ago.

Use a relative sentence 

QUESTION 5 ( 3 POINTS) Write a short essay (120 – 150 words) on the following topic.

      Life in the past was better. Do you agree?