【题目】WISH YOU WERE MORE CREATIVE?

I want to ask you a favor. I have a pair of pants. Tell me: How many different ways can I put a pair of pants to use? Now imagine you're an architect. Same question. Now imagine you're Bill Gates. A scuba diver. A medieval knight. You still have the pants. What alternative uses come to mind?

What you just practiced--the conscious act of "wearing" another self--is an exercise that, according to psychiatrist SriniPillay, MD, is essential to being creative.

One great irony (讽刺) about our collective addiction to creativity is that we tend to frame it in uncreative ways. That is to say, most of us marry creativity to our concept of self: Either we’re “creative” or we aren't, without much of a middle ground. "I'm just not a creative person!” a discouraged student might say in art class, while another might blame her talent at painting for her difficulties in math, making a comment "I'm very right-brained."

Dr.Pillay, an assistant professor at Harvard University, has spent years overturning these ideas. He believes that the key to unlocking your creative potential is to challenge the stereotyped (陈词滥调的) advice that urges you to “believe in yourself.” In fact, you should do the opposite: Believe you are someone else.

He points to a study showing the impact of stereotype on one's behavior. The authors, psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar, divided their college student subjects into two groups, instructing one group to think of themselves as "eccentric poets" and the other to imagine they were "rigid librarians". The researchers then presented them all with ordinary objects, including a fork, a carrot, and a pair of pants, and asked them to come up with as many different uses as possible for each one. The former group came up with the widest range of ideas, whereas the latter had the fewest.

These results suggest that creativity is not an individual characteristic but a “product of context and perspective”. Everyone can be creative, as long as he or she feels like a creative person.

Dr. Pillay's work takes this a step further: He argues that simply identifying yourself as creative is less powerful than taking the brave, creative step of imagining you are somebody else. This exercise, which he calls psychological Halloweenism, refers to the conscious action of “wearing” another self. An actor may employ this technique to get into character, but anyone can use it. According to Dr. Pillay, it works because it is an act of conscious unfocus, a collection of brain regions that spring into action when you're not focused on a specific task or thought. Most people spend nearly half of their days in a state of "unfocus." This doesn't make us lazy; it makes us human.

Imagining yourself in a new situation, or an entirely new identity, never felt so productive. You’re making yourself more creative, and you're giving yourself permission to do something you'd otherwise feel guilty about.

1What’s the function of the questions in paragraph 1?

A.To lead in the topic.B.To make a comparison.

C.To state an opinion.D.To ask a favor.

2The study led by Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar proves_____

A.creativity is an individual characteristic

B.librarians are more creative than poets

C.ordinary objects can improve creativity

D.your creativity is determined by yourself

3According to Dr. Pillay, Halloweenism works because ______.

A.it is an act of unconscious focus

B.certain brain areas begin to act together

C.people are in a state of laziness

D.all actors employ this technique

4If you want to be more creative, you are supposed to _______.

A.focus on a specific taskB.believe in your own talent

C.pretend to be someone elseD.turn to be right-brained

【题目】The Surprisingly Easy Trick That Can Help You Use Your Phone a Little Bit Less

The first thing I do in the mornings is look at my phone. That’s mainly because my phone is my alarm clock, but once my eyes are open and that screen is lit up in my hands, it’s an awfully short trip to checking emails and perusing headlines.1My emails that early in the morning are mainly junk, and the headlines won’t change much before I’ve brushed my teeth and poured a cup of coffee, right?

My wife says I’m addicted to my phone.2I’m not terribly active on social media, but I do enjoy me some idle scrollingenjoy playing the mobile phone. And, wow, do these tech companies know how to keep those thumbs constantly swiping up.

3 While I think we’re pretty good about limiting her screen time, it would seem that technology has had its hooks in me from the start. So, I decided to try loosening my phone’s grasp on my attention by switching the screen to black and white.

Changing the display to black and white is very easy. In your iPhone’s settings, choose General, then Accessibility. Next choose Display Accommodations, then Color Filters. Tap the toggle on and a list of filters appears.4

But no one wants to go through all this every time they want to turn color back on to check out an Instagram story. Clearly, you don’t always want your screen to be black and white. After all, there will unavoidably be photos to view and videos to share.5In the Accessibility menu, tap Accessibility Shortcut and choose Color Filters. Now, pressing the home button three times will switch your display to color, and then back with another three.

A. There’s no reason for me to be doing this.

B. We’ve got a three-year-old child.

C. Choose Grayscale and you’re all set.

D. It can help you use your phone a little bit less

E. I disagree, but I can definitely stand to spend less time looking at it.

F. Here comes a surprisingly easy trick.

G. That is what makes setting a shortcut necessary.

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