16．Want More Innovation？Get More Diversity（多樣性）
Research by my colleague and I suggests that university administrators who do not work hard to attract and retain African-American teaching staff may well be missing out on an important benefit：Academic departments that are more diverse may produce more creative ideas and work．
A mathematical model has been developed to study the effects of diversity．And we discovered a simple truth：More diverse groups may do better because they are less conformist（墨守成規(guī)的）．
Picture it：You're brainstorming with your best friend of 30years．You grew up in the same neighborhood，went to the same school，and stood up for each other at your weddings．When a crazy idea crosses your mind，you immediately see all the reasons why he may dismiss it．On the other hand，you know what ideas he is receptive to-so why not start with those？
Now suppose you're brainstorming with someone who grew up with a different perspective and who has very different experiences from you．Would you be more willing to share your crazy idea with her？After all，you have no clue what ideas she is open to-so why not try it out？
Something like this may be going on in the academic workplace．We often don't realize it，but we constantly think about how people around us will react to us．In itself，this is not a bad thing．If we didn't put ourselves into other people's shoes，we'd experience even more disagreements and misunderstandings than we already do．
But our research suggests that a little unpredictability may not be a bad thing．In fact，a little more unpredictability may be what we need to make us all a little less conformist and a little more open to trying new things．
Extensive data suggest that more diverse teams outperform homogeneous（同質(zhì)的） teams when it is crucial to be innovative，which agrees with our mathematical model．
So if diverse groups outperform more homogeneous ones，why do university administrators not choose to hire more African-Americans？There are many possible reasons，but one is that people have a tendency to hire people like themselves．Interacting with people like ourselves allows us to stay within our comfort zones．It is certainly easier to find common ground with one's friend of 30years than with a stranger．Yet given the increasing emphasis on innovation and creativity in today's economy，it pays for universities to actively pursue a more racially and ethnically diverse teaching staff．So，stop hiring people who look like you．
（Note：Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS．）
78．Research by the writer and his colleague indicates that the more diverse academic apartments are，the more creative ideas and work they may produce．
79．According to the writer，showing ready comprehension of others'situation will contribute to（experiencing）fewer disagreements and misunderstandings．
80．As is suggested in the research，what can make us more open to diversity？A little more unpredictability．
81．Why is a university administrator more likely to hire people like him？（Because）it makes him stay in hisc omfort zone．
分析 本文通過分析為什么多樣性更有可能帶來創(chuàng)造性，建議大學(xué)行政人員應(yīng)該多招聘非洲裔美國教師．
解答 第78題 the more creative ideas and work they may produce 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．可以在第一段最后一句Academic departments that are more diverse may produce more creative ideas and work．找到答案，教學(xué)部門人員的多樣性會帶來學(xué)術(shù)觀點(diǎn)的創(chuàng)造性．可以提煉出答案，注意字?jǐn)?shù)的控制．
第79題 （experiencing） fewer disagreements and misunderstandings 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．題目問的是理解別人的情況會導(dǎo)致什么，可以在第四段最后一句找到答案，put oneself into other people's shoes和題目里的show ready comprehension of others'situation 同義．轉(zhuǎn)換難度比較大．
第80題 A little more unpredictability．細(xì)節(jié)概括題．先用open to diversity 進(jìn)行定位，答案在第六段最后一句，little more unpredictability may be what we need to make us all a little less conformist and a little more open to trying new things．更多的不可預(yù)見性會導(dǎo)致更能嘗試新事物．
第81題 （Because） it makes him stay in his comfort zone．/（Because） it's easier to find common ground．細(xì)節(jié)概括題．這題的答案在最后一段，It is certainly easier to find common ground with one's friend of 30years than with a stranger大學(xué)行政人員之所以更傾向聘用和他們相似的老師在于雙方有共同點(diǎn)，也更易相處．關(guān)鍵詞為comfort zone，common ground．
點(diǎn)評 本文是說明類閱讀表達(dá)，要求學(xué)生在閱讀理解的基礎(chǔ)上，根據(jù)短文后的題目，在文中找到相關(guān)的內(nèi)容，并用簡潔、準(zhǔn)確的句子，將理解的內(nèi)容，書面表達(dá)出來．做題時(shí)，注意表達(dá)的內(nèi)容不要超出規(guī)定的字?jǐn)?shù)．
