Question

Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?

The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.

The trip you take to work doesn’t help, either. The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons (神经细胞), making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what’s going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done.

So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full ability for creative problem solving? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of the shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer. 

1.According to the author, we are more creative when we are _______.

A．focused

B．awake

C．Relaxed

D．busy

2.What does the author imply about newspapers?

A．They are solution providers.

B．They are normally full of bad news.

C．They are a source of inspiration.

D．They are more educational than websites.

3.By “tune into your wandering mind” (in Para. 2), the author means “_______”.

A．wander into the wild

B．listen to a beautiful tune

C．stop concentrating on anything

D．switch to the traffic channel

4.The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______.

A．summarize past experiences

B．offer practical suggestions

C．advocate diverse ways of life

D．establish a routine for the future

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.C

4.B

【解析】人在放松的情况下最有创造性，但是现在很多人的生活压力都很大，该如何让自己充满创造力？文章给了我们答案。

1.C 细节题。根据第2段2,3,4行Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed.可知C正确。人在放松的情况下最有创造性。

2.B 推理题。根据文章第一段you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters.可知在报纸上充斥着这样的一些不好的消息。

3.C 猜测词义题。根据上下文可知这里是指不给你时间让你的放松下来，你回错过很多。这里的放松也就是停止注意力集中在某个事物上，故C正确。

4.B 段落大意题。文章最后一段正是提出了解决问题的建议。