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 (神經(jīng)細胞), 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 capacity 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.
小題1:What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
A.To tell us a specific story.
B.To introduce the topic of the passage.
C.To indicate how busy one usually is in the morning.
D.To show mornings are not suitable for creative work.
小題2:What does the author imply about newspapers?
A.They are normally full of bad news.
B.They are solution providers.
C.They are a source of inspiration.
D.They are more educational than websites.
小題3:By “tune into your wandering mind” (in Para.2), the author means “_______”.
A.wander into the wildB.listen to a beautiful tune
C.stop concentrating on anything D.switch to the traffic channel
小題4:The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______.
A.establish a routine for the futureB.summarize past experiences
C.advocate diverse ways of life D.offer practical suggestions

小題1:B
小題2:A
小題3:C
小題4:D
文章介紹了人在注意力不集中的情況下最有創(chuàng)造性,給出了我們一些讓自己更有創(chuàng)造性的建議。
小題1:B 段落大意題。第一段講述了一個忙碌的人早晨的情況,為了引出下文的話題,B正確。
小題2:A 細節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段4,5行you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters.說明在報紙上有很多負面的消息,這些消息會影響我們的情緒。故A正確。
小題3:C 推理題。根據(jù)本段第2行Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused.說明在注意力分散的時候,人是最有創(chuàng)造性的,會有很多創(chuàng)造性的想法出現(xiàn)。那么這句話意為:如果我們不給時間讓我們的思緒飄蕩,我們就會錯過解決問題的好方法。讓我們的思緒飄蕩即不要把注意力集中在某個事情上,故C正確。
小題4:D 段落大意題。文章最后一段給出了很多的建議,都是關于如何度過這樣的上午以讓我們的更有創(chuàng)造性。故D正確。
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A.an expression of happiness
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A.A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.
B.A place where other bird families are not accepted.
C.An area for which birds fight against each other.
D.An area which a bird considers to be its own
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A.Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.
B.Because their singing helps get rid of their fears.
C.Because they want to find outsiders around.
D.Because they want to invite more bird friends.
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