[It took just seven days for

Steve Armstrong to sharpen

up his brain to Mensa level]
“Turn your paper over .You may begin”
Q. Nasa receives three messages from a distant Planet.
The scientists discovers that “Necor Buldon Slock” means
“Danger Rocket Explosion”,”Edwan Mynor Necor” means
“Danger Spaceship Fire” and “Buldon Gimilzor Gondor”
means “Bad Gas Explosion”. What Does “Slock” mean? *(Ans-Rocket)

I’VE ALWAYS HATED EXAMS: the row of

seats, the sheaves of paper, the
sun shining outside. So why was I
racking my rains at a supervised
desk of my own will ? A one-word
answer:Mensa.
Founded by Lancelot Ware and
Roland Berrill, an academic and
an eccentric barrister who met by chance
in 1945,it’s an organization
open to anyone who can score in top two
per cent for standardized
IQ tests. When iwas rowing up in the
1980s, it had fascinated
Me. There was a rumour that Mensa
member all had access to a
Nuclear bunker that would keep them
safe in event of war. Then they’d
Emerge to rebuild the country.
Mensa currently has over 100,000
members worldwide, although many
More have an IQ High enough to join.
Recent research found that people with
High IQ score live longer, have better
health and, bizarrely, tend to be taller
Then those with lower scores.
“People with high IQ generally learn
faster and take fewer risks,”
explains Dr James Thompson, a senior
lecturer in psychology at University
College, London. “They even have
quicker reaction time, reducing the
Chances of accidents.”
Thompson divides the population into
seven IQ groups: the bottom five
Percent, with a high risk of not
functioning in society”; the next 20
percent,
“slow learners”; the middle 50 percent,
“hands-on type they learn better on
the job than in the classroom”; the next
20 percent, “potential leaders”.
Then there’s the top “successful” five
percent, including the top two percent;
“the best brains you’ll meet in everyday
life”; and the top one percent. “I’ve
met some of them”, says Thompson, and
they’re different thinkers altogether”.
But which one was I? And did I have it
in me to secure my place in the merit
list?

Thompson arranged for me to try an And logic, but fell apart Math’s and
intelligence test.I did OK on vocabulary spatial perception. My score overall
Was 130,top of the “normal” range, but
not enough. Come Doomsday, I’m
Going to fry.
If I wanted to get into Mensa, I’d
have to find some way to improve my
score.
I called Dr Mark Lythgoe, director of the
Biomedical imaging Centre at
University College London (UCL). A
neurophysiologist, with expertise in
blood flow to the brains, he believes you
can get smarter through mental
exercise. “When I started as a
neurophysiologist, it was widely
believed
that the brain was unchanging, like
bone,” he explains. “But a recent UCL
study showed that the London cab
drivers doing a tough training program
increased the neurons in the area of their
minds to do with memory---
basically their brain grew.”
Lythoe believes the brain can start
creating new neurons in as little as
A week through a combination of mental
exercises. He also insists that
Diet and exercise have a pert to play:
“Studies have shown that what we eat
I also discovered a drug called
modafinil, described as a “wakefulness
promoters.” At the University of
Cambridge, researcher Danielle Turner
uses a computerized intelligence test that
involves imagining moving
coloured balls from one configuration to
another in five moves. The more
moves volunteers need to hold in their
head, the more mistake they make, but
when she gives them a dose of modafinil
they find it easier. “You see
a dramatic improvement I performance,”
she says.
affects our brain structure just as much
as it affects our muscles and bones.”
When Mensa told me I could sit a test
in seven days’ time, Lythgoe helped
Me device a “Get smarter in a Week”
program. I had to do daily hour of
brain exercises, but he suggested I split
them into chunks rather than sit at a desk
for an hour--- on my way into work, for
instance, or at the gym.
On Saturday I had to brush my teeth
with the “Wrong” hand and take a
Shower with my eyes closed. On Sunday
I did a Sudoku puzzle and took
A brisk walk. On Monday, I had oily
fish for dinner and walked to work.
On Tuesday I had to select unfamiliar
words from dictionary and work
Them into conversations. On Wednesday
I was to go to yoga, Pilates or a
Meditation class and talk to someone I
don’t know. Thursday was easy:
Take a new route to work and watch
Countdown, a word and numbers
game on television. Friday, the day
before my exam, I had to avoid caffeine
and alcohol and memorize my shopping
list.
Modafinil is often prescribed by
doctors to treat narcolepsy. I obtained
Enough for 100-milligram dose per day,
everyday for a week.
Exam day arrived. The two
tests I was to take consisted of the
Cattell IIIB,
Being a classic mix of words, numbers
and logic, and Culture Fair, designed
for non-English speaker and thus heavy
on shapes. I’d been drinking
plenty of water, eating healthful food,
drinking less than three units of alcohol
a day. I felt ready.
First was the Culture Fair test. Many
of the questions were about
choosing the next shape in a sequence,
or defining the relationship between
shapes. Daunting, but I felt on top of it.
The Cattell IIIB, on the other hand,
was a stinker. The question grew harder
and I knew I’D messed up at least
one in every category. I scribbled
random answers and hope for the best
on more occasions than I would have
liked. I also thanked the modafinil for
my newfound concentration stamina.
The results took just over a week to
come through. My marks of 151 on the
Cattell IIIB scale and 133 on the Culture
Fair, constituted a top two percent score.
I’d made it!
Lythgoe was triumphant: “In a way
doing IQ test only proves how good
you are at doing IQ tests,” he said. “The
program we devised helped you
practice with numbers, increase your
memory and think more creatively.
When you went into that second test,
you were better prepared.
When I phoned Mensa to tell them I
was keen to join, I innocently enquired
As to the whereabouts of the nuclear
bunker. “Bunker?” asked a confused
Caroline Garbett, Mensa’s
communication manager, “We don’t
have any
Bunker .Or if we do,they haven’t told the
staff.” An illusion shattered.
 1.Improve your
memory
Learn by heart a “to-do”
list of ten or more jobs
for the day that
incorporates a route---
It could be your stroll to
work, say, or the walk to
the gym---and try to
mentally link each job
with one location:
buying a newspaper at
the shops, dropping off
dry-cleaning
On the main road,
calling home outside the
café, etc.
Then ask yourself the
following questions:
• What task
follows buying
the newspaper?
• What job
precedes phoning
home?
• The second job
on the listis?
• Where on the list
is the dry-
cleaner’s?
To take a Mensa test, contact your local branch at www.indianmensa.org.
There is a half-hour Mensa workout practice quiz of 30questions at www.mensa.org
The next day come up
with a new list and
increase the number of
items to 20.
2.Boost your
spatial awareness
Navigate your way
around the house
blindfold (best not done
alone!).
Then sit in a chair and
mentally walk round
your house, visualizing
Your every move. Or
put 12 objects on a tray,
memorize their location,
Look away, then get
someone to move a few
about. Guess which
Have moved.
3.Crunch more
numbers
Do these exercise
everyday: add up your
shopping in the queue
before you
Pay; divide up bills
when they come in;
estimate quantities of
things you
Pass; such as people in a
group or trees in a
garden. Keeping your
mind nimble
And always on the move
with numerical easers
will improve your
mathematical acuity.
4.Widen your
word power
Go for as many of these
as possible: play word
games with friends
And relatives: learn a
new word everyday and
use it often: make up
Anagrams of words;
spend a day playing
devil’s advocate in every
situation
You come across. These
will improve your
understanding of the true
meaning of
Words.
 BEND IT LIKE YOU-KNOW-WHO

Football star David Beckham’s quotes tell us a few things about him.

I definitely want [my son] Brooklyn christened, but I don’t know into what religion yet.

My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about seven.

Alex Ferguson is the best manager I’ve ever had at this level. Well, he’s the only
manager I’ve actually had at this level. But he’s the best manager I’ve ever had.

Readers digest, Jan 2008