The Purpose of Boredom Being bored can encourage people's creativity-partly to escape the horrible,frustrated.And meaningless feeling of boredom-recent studies find.It could even be true at work.

Psychologists at the University of Central Lancashire had participants copy numbers out of the telephone book for 15 minutes,while others went straight into a standard creativity task.

Both groups were asked to come up with as many different uses as they could for a plastic cup.The group that felt more bored came up with more uses.

Dr.Sandi Mann,one of the study's authors said." Boredom at work has always been seen as something to he removed.hut perhaps we should be welcoming it in order to encourage our creativity.What we want LO do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are.Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work-or do they go home and write novels?"

In a later study,Dr.Sandi Mann found that creativity was reduced when people were still bored but didn't have the chance to daydream.

While we tend to think of boredom as something;that certainly leads to trouble-drinking,gambling.and antisocial behavior,this research suggests different possibilities.

More than anything,the feeling of boredom is a 8trong signal that we are stuck in some kind of rut and we need to seek out new goals.In the study above,this research led participants to new ideas.

Usually people will do anything to avoid being bored.as it's such an aversive experience.But creative people,like writers,sometimes talk about seeking out boredom.

Here is the comedy writer Graham Linehan talking about boredom Lo The Cuardian."I have to use all these programs that cut off the Internet,force me to be bored,because being bored is an essential part of writing,and the Internet has made it very hard to be bored.The creative process requires a period of boredom ,of being stuck.That's actually a very uncomfortable period that a lot of people mistake for writer's block,but it's actually just part of a long process."

So,when you start to feel bored ,instead of g7ancing at your smartphone.,try being bored for a bit.Who knows what creative thought might come of it?

1.From the study of Dr.Sandi Mann,we can learn that________.

A. boring tasks make people creative

B. daydreaming may increase creativity

C. plastic cups can be used very creatively

D. copying numbers might be very interesting

2.The underlined word "aversive" in Paragraph 8 probably means________

A. common B. unpleasant

C. unusual D. personal

3.According to Craham Linehan________.

A. glancing at a smartphone is a solution.

B. he is forced to feel bored by the Internet

C. the boredom period is a block for writers

D. being stuck for a period benefits him a lot

4.What is the author's attitude towards boredom?

A. Critical B. Cautious

C. Positive D. Unclear

In the past, if a person wanted to see the national treasures of a country, one had to go there in person.Therefore, very few people were able to enjoy some of history’s most important and interesting artifacts (手工艺品).This has changed with an increase in the number of traveling museum exhibitions.

King Tutankhamen Artifacts

A traveling exhibition of artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamen, popularly known as “King Tut”, toured the United States from November 1976 to April 1979.The 55 objects were shown in six cities and were seen by around eight million museum-goers.The second touring exhibit was started in 2007, this s antime with 130 artifactd stops in London and three different American cities.However some objects, like the king’s golden face mask, are too valuable or too delicate to be transported long distances, so “replicas” (exact copies of something) are on show.

Japanese Color Woodblock Prints

The Art Museum at University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia, has an extraordinary collection of Japanese color woodblock prints (木刻版画).These prints document the period from about 1850 to 1900, a time when Japan was opening itself to Western influences.Before this point, Japan was a closed society that had little communication with the world outside of its borders.These works of art beautifully show the feeling of change and the trend toward modernization.The museum has put together a traveling exhibition of 60 of these prints, which can be borrowed and exhibited worldwide for periods of eight weeks or more.

Face-to-face with “Lucy”

One of the world’s most famous archaeological (考古学的) finds in history are the 3.2 million-year-old bones of a 106-centimeter-tall female found in the Ethiopian desert in 1974.Lucy, a name given to her by the discovery team, is a “hominid”, or a creature that scientists believe is the earliest ancestor of modern human beings.Rarely is an artifact this valuable allowed to travel widely, but Lucy has been taken to several museums in the U.S.while a detailed replica remains at the Ethiopian Natural History Museum.

1.What do we learn about King Tutankhamen’s artifacts?

A. The artifacts were shown in London first.

B. The artifacts were on show in the United States once.

C. The second touring exhibit showed more artifacts than the first one.

D. The king’s golden face mask was also shown in the traveling exhibitions.

2.What do the Japanese woodblock prints show about the society from 1850 to 1900?

A. Japan had little communication with other countries.

B. The whole country refused changes in the society.

C. Japan was opening itself up to Western ideas.

D. Japan achieved modernization.

3.Who is Lucy according to the passage?

A. An archaeologist.

B. The ancestor of modern human beings.

C. A 106-centimeter-tall female who died in 1974.

D. The first woman who visited the Ethiopian desert.

It is not easy to find true friends.Even if you’ve connected with someone,how do you really know he is a true friend?And often you will find that someone who you thought you could trust may have let you down.There are ways you can know if a friendship is true and how you can hold onto that friend.

Generally speaking,a true friend is someone who will be there for you no matter what happens.They will stand by you through bad and good times.They will accept you for who you are without trying to change you,and they will be there to help you grow in new ways.

A true friend will keep you secrets for you trust him.They will be honest and be someone you can depend on.They will listen and be someone you can talk things over with,even if they may not have advice to share with you.

However,friendship is a two-way street.To find true friends and keep them,you must in turn be the same as well.Be there for them in their hard times and share the good times with them.Be someone your friends can depend on as well and offer them the same thing they give to you.A friendship will fall apart fast if only one person is giving and putting all the effort.If you are the only one making an effort,be honest and it works.

Actually,there will be barriers in the road but that is the test of true friendship.If it can survive those barriers,it will be stronger and better than ever.Just as St Thomas Aquinas put it,“There is nothing on this earth more prized than friendship.”

Determined to make school more related to the workplace, Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon, developed a school-to-work program. In their first year, students are offered some job pathways in natural resources, human services, health care, business, arts and communication. The following year, each student chooses one of the pathways and examines it in depth, spending three hours a week watching someone on the job. Such a program is also in practice in some other states.

The school-to-work program is built around a partnership. For example, Eastman Kodak, a major employer in Colorado, introduces students to business by helping them construct a model city using small pieces of wood. “The children use the models to decide on the best place to set up schools,” says Lucille Mantelli, director for Eastman Kodak in Colorado. Kodak introduces math by teaching fifth graders to use their pocket money properly. They also provide one-on-one job watching experiences and offer chances of practice for high school juniors and seniors. “Students come to the workplace two or three hours a week,” explains Mantelli. “They do the job for us. We pay them and they get school credits (学分). We also give them our views on their performance and developmental opportunities.”

In these partnerships, everybody wins. The students tend to take more difficult courses than students in schools that don’t offer such programs. Business benefits by having a better prepared workforce needed in future years. “It’s a way for us to work with the school systems to develop the type of workforce we’ll need in future years,” Mantelli continued. “We need employees who understand the basics of reading and writing. We need them to be good at math and to be comfortable working on a team.”

“Our theory is that they can learn as much outside the classroom as in. All students have the ability to change the world, not just to live in it. To do that, they have to know how to solve problems and use critical thinking skills. We need to encourage them to dream about jobs that go beyond what they see today,” concludes a school-to-work program organizer.

1.Using the example of Eastman Kodak in Colorado, the writer shows us ____.

A. what role the business plays in the program

B. why the students get paid for their jobs

C. where the students have their math class

D. what the school decides to do

2.The main purpose of the school-to-work program is to _____.

A. make what students learn in school related to the workplace

B. introduce new job opportunities to schools

C. improve relations between students and teachers

D. offer students more difficult courses

3.According to the text, Lucille Mantelli is ____.

A. a math teacher

B. a company manager

C. a school designer

D. a program organizer

根据短文内容,从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

When your pet is sick, you know it needs medication. But pets, like babies, don't know the pill you want them to take will help them. 1. Here are some tips to help get your pet to take liquid medicine.

2. If the answer is yes, then your easiest path is to mix it with canned food. First give your hungry pet a small amount of canned food without the medication. It's important that the pet nibbles (一点一点地吃) at the food and sees that there's nothing wrong.

Next, while the pet is still hungry, mix the medication in a small amount of food and present it. Repeat as necessary to get the entire dose (剂量)down. 3. If the pet decides not to finish the meal, the dose will be wasted.

If the chemist says the medication cannot be taken with food, you need a syringe (注射器) or a dropper (滴管) to get the liquid down your pet's throat.

4. Keep a cheerful tone in your voice so the pet doesn't sense your stress or hesitation. Position your pet where it cannot run away, perhaps having a dog sit with his back against a wall or chair ---- or a cat on your lap.

5. Use your other hand to insert the syringe or dropper between the cheek and back teeth. Slowly squeeze the medication so the pet won't choke. Try to keep your pet's mouth closed for about 30 seconds until you see it has swallowed. If your pet is being obstinate (倔强的) , stroke (抚摸) its throat gently or blow on the face.

Be sure you end the process with praise and perhaps a treat so your pet will not associate medication with a bad experience.

A. Before you call your pet in, be sure to have the medication and any other materials you’ll need ready.

B. Once the pet is in position, use one hand to gently open the pet's mouth from above, tilting(倾斜) back the head slightly.

C. Ask the vet(兽医) if the liquid medication can be given with food.

D. You should know the reason why the pet refuses to take medicine.

E. Never mix the medication with the full meal.

F. They just know it smells funny and they don't want it.

G. Don’t force your pet to swallow all the medicine

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