Question

【题目】WISH YOU WERE MORE CREATIVE?

I want to ask you a favor. I have a pair of pants. Tell me: How many different ways can I put a pair of pants to use? Now imagine you're an architect. Same question. Now imagine you're Bill Gates. A scuba diver. A medieval knight. You still have the pants. What alternative uses come to mind?

What you just practiced--the conscious act of "wearing" another self--is an exercise that, according to psychiatrist SriniPillay, MD, is essential to being creative.

One great irony (讽刺) about our collective addiction to creativity is that we tend to frame it in uncreative ways. That is to say, most of us marry creativity to our concept of self: Either we’re “creative” or we aren't, without much of a middle ground. "I'm just not a creative person!” a discouraged student might say in art class, while another might blame her talent at painting for her difficulties in math, making a comment "I'm very right-brained."

Dr.Pillay, an assistant professor at Harvard University, has spent years overturning these ideas. He believes that the key to unlocking your creative potential is to challenge the stereotyped (陈词滥调的) advice that urges you to “believe in yourself.” In fact, you should do the opposite: Believe you are someone else.

He points to a study showing the impact of stereotype on one's behavior. The authors, psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar, divided their college student subjects into two groups, instructing one group to think of themselves as "eccentric poets" and the other to imagine they were "rigid librarians". The researchers then presented them all with ordinary objects, including a fork, a carrot, and a pair of pants, and asked them to come up with as many different uses as possible for each one. The former group came up with the widest range of ideas, whereas the latter had the fewest.

These results suggest that creativity is not an individual characteristic but a “product of context and perspective”. Everyone can be creative, as long as he or she feels like a creative person.

Dr. Pillay's work takes this a step further: He argues that simply identifying yourself as creative is less powerful than taking the brave, creative step of imagining you are somebody else. This exercise, which he calls psychological Halloweenism, refers to the conscious action of “wearing” another self. An actor may employ this technique to get into character, but anyone can use it. According to Dr. Pillay, it works because it is an act of conscious unfocus, a collection of brain regions that spring into action when you're not focused on a specific task or thought. Most people spend nearly half of their days in a state of "unfocus." This doesn't make us lazy; it makes us human.

Imagining yourself in a new situation, or an entirely new identity, never felt so productive. You’re making yourself more creative, and you're giving yourself permission to do something you'd otherwise feel guilty about.

【1】What’s the function of the questions in paragraph 1?

A.To lead in the topic.B.To make a comparison.

C.To state an opinion.D.To ask a favor.

【2】The study led by Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar proves_____

A.creativity is an individual characteristic

B.librarians are more creative than poets

C.ordinary objects can improve creativity

D.your creativity is determined by yourself

【3】According to Dr. Pillay, Halloweenism works because ______.

A.it is an act of unconscious focus

B.certain brain areas begin to act together

C.people are in a state of laziness

D.all actors employ this technique

【4】If you want to be more creative, you are supposed to _______.

A.focus on a specific taskB.believe in your own talent

C.pretend to be someone elseD.turn to be right-brained

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】B

【4】C

【解析】

本文为议论文。文章论述了如何让自己更有创造力，给读者展示了一种心理学理念——心理角色扮演：遇见更有创造力的自己。

【1】推理判断题。根据第一段可知作者问读者一条裤子可以有多少种不同的用法?并让读者假设自己是一名建筑师，比尔盖茨，带水肺的潜水员，一个中世纪的骑士等等思考同样的问题。根据第二段What you just practiced--the conscious act of "wearing" another self--is an exercise that…is essential to being creative.可知作者接着说刚才你所练习的——有意识地“穿戴”另一个自我的行为——是一种对保持创造力至关重要的练习。这说明作者在第一段问这些问题就是为了引出下文中的“创造力”话题， 故选A项。

【2】细节理解题。根据第六段These results suggest that creativity is not an individual characteristic but a “product of context and perspective”. Everyone can be creative, as long as he or she feels like a creative person.可知Denis Dumas 和Kevin Dunbar的研究结果表明创造力不是个体特征，而是“环境和视角的产物”。每个人都可以有创造力，只要他或她觉得自己是一个有创造力的人。也就是说一个人的创造力是取决于自己的。故选D项。

【3】推理判断题。根据第七段中的According to Dr. Pillay, it works because it is an act of conscious unfocus, a collection of brain regions that spring into action when you're not focused on a specific task or thought.可知据皮莱博士说，心理万圣节之所以有效，是因为它是一种有意识的分散注意力的行为，当你不专注于某一特定任务或思想时，大脑中一系列区域就起作用。这说明心理万圣节有效是因为大脑的某些区域大脑协同工作，故选B项。

【4】推理判断题。根据第四段中的He believes that the key to unlocking your creative potential is to challenge the stereotyped (陈词滥调的) advice that urges you to “believe in yourself.” In fact, you should do the opposite: Believe you are someone else.可知想象自己处在一个新的环境中，或者是一个全新的身份，你会感到从未有过的高效，你让自己更有创造力。由此推断所以要变得有创造力的话，要想象自己有一个全新的身份，也就是把自己想象成另外一个人。故选C项。