Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting creatures,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative meaning.

    So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel (平行的)paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks.

    Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the more creative we become.

    But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.

    “The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide’, just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider’.” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

    “All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware,” she says. Researchers in the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally(程序上的), collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.

    The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will … and Ms. Markova’s business partner. “That’s a lie that we have preserved, and it fosters(培养)commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.” This is where developing new habits comes in.

Brain researchers have discovered that      .

A. the forming of new habits can be guided      B. the development of habits can be predicted

C. the regulation of old habits can be transformed

D. the track of new habits can be created unconsciously

The underlined word “ruts” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to       .

A. zones            B. connections      C. situations           D. tracks

Which of the following statements most probably agrees with Dawna Markova’s view?

A. Decision makes no sense in choices.       B. Curiosity makes creative minds active.

C. Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.  D. Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.

The purpose of the author writing this article is to persuade us       .

A. to give up our traditional habits deliberately    B. to create and develop new habits consciously

C. to resist the application of standardized testing  D. to believe that old habits conflict with new habits

Ice cream can’t cure cancer or bring back a lost love, but it can make one feel better for a while.

A bout 18 months ago, my father was in hospital recovering from a major lung operation. My mother had recently  36  , and my father had taken the loss of his partner of 55 years very hard and had lost interest in   37  . Trying to get him to  38  each day was quite a chore as he didn’t want anything. The one thing,  39  , that he would ask us to bring him was ice-cream.

One evening, to our   40  , he refused to eat the ice-cream,  41   I placed it in a staffroom freezer. A little while later, my son decided he wanted it, so I   42   it for him.  

As I passed another ward(病房), a   43  asked, “Are there more where that came from?” When I explained the   44  , she apologized. She then said that she had cancer and could eat very little,  45    the occasional ??ice-cream.

The next evening, I decided to buy two ice-creams. On the way to Dad’s room, I stopped in at the   46   woman’s room, and   47   her the ice-cream I’d bought for her. She was   48  stunned that I had thought of her, and   49   the gift with tears in her eyes. I spoke with her for a few minutes,  50   what was happening in my family and listened to her   51   story of pain and suffering. It was apparent that she did not   52   many visitors, and the ice-cream and our short chat meant a great deal to her.

I   53   the gesture a few days later, and this time was  54  with a huge hug.

I never even thought to ask her name, and never saw her again, but it made me realize that an act of   55   can be more rewarding when you give it, rather than receive it.

A.passed away        B.gone out   C.come back           D.calmed down

A.work             B.life        C.studies          D.games

A.speak              B.laugh       C.drink          D.eat

A.though            B.however   C.instead              D.therefore

A.joy               B.satisfactionC.surprise        D.relief

A.if                 B.unless       C.so            D.because

A.borrowed         B.bought      C.made           D.fetched

A.woman          B.granny      C.girl             D.child

A.question           B.situation   C.process         D.decision

A.better than.       B.more than C.rather than      D.other than

A.pretty '            B.honest      C.sick           D.shy

A.offered            B.told .     C.sold            D.charged

A.hardly            B.finally      C.gradually        D.totally

A.accepted         B.stored       C.exchanged      D.gave

A.remembering       B.denying    C.explaining       D.forgetting

A.ordinary '          B.similar      C.interesting       D.i'great

A.have              B.like       C.expect          D.J attract

A.reported           B.expressed  C.noticed         D.^repeated

A.covered           B.connected C.rewarded        D.filled

A.politeness          B.kindness   C.selflessness       D.willingness

    One day in the early March of 1993, Pauline and Tom Nichter and their 11-year-old son, Jason, were shopping for a toy in Buena Park, CA. Suddenly, Pauline saw a wallet lying on the floor. When she looked inside, she found $200. The family, homeless and without work, knew that could change their lives. But they took the wallet to the nearby police station and turned it in. The wallet was found to have some other pockets, and more money in them—over $2,000! The police called the man who lost the wallet to pick it up. The man thanked the Nichters and shook their hands, but did not reward them. Luckily for the family, a TV news reporter filmed the story. People from all over the world heard the story and sent them letters, money, and even offered them jobs. A businessman even let them live in his house for free for six months. So far, the family has received over $100,000. Now the Nichters’ future is bright.

The best title for the passage would be “________”.

  A. Money Is Everything         B. A Lost Wallet and a Family

C. A Kind Businessman         D. A Lost Wallet and the Police

Who found more money in the wallet?

  A. The police              B. Jason  

  C. Someone else in the shop  D. The man who lost the wallet

The underlined words “reward them” mean “________”.

  A. speak to the Nichters B. give something to the Nichters in return

C. pay the police      D. meet the news reporters

People from all over the world help the Nichters do lots of things except _______

  A.offere them jobs     B.sent them letters

  C.sent them money    D.offere them clothes

Which of the following is TRUE about the Nichters?

  A. They got lots of money from a reporter 

B. They made friends with the wallet loser

C. They posted letters to people all over the world 

D. They became known to many people

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网