“Creativity is the key to a brighter future,” say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children.

If Dick had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance: a new type of tape. Dick worked for the Minnesota Mining Company. At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to think more about the idea. Finally, using his own time, Dick improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake. Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas.

Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character of high intelligence. The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something.

Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity. With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can’t recognize ways to use it in new situation. They may know the rules correctly but they are unable to use them to Work out practical problems.

It is important to give children choices. From the earlier age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results. Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money. This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble.

What did the company where Dick once worked learn from its mistake?

  A. They encouraged people to work a longer time.

  B. They discouraged people to think freely.

  C. They asked people to spend all their work time developing new ideas.

  D. They encouraged people to spend some of their work time considering and improving new ideas.

Creativity is something __

   A. that people are born with

   B. that depends on intelligence

   C. that is a way of using what one has learnt to work out new problems

   D. that is not important at all

Why don’t schools try to encourage creativity?

   A. They don’t understand the importance of education.

   B. They don’t want their students to make mistakes.

   C. They pay too much attention to exam marks, language and mathematical skills.

   D. They think it more important to remember some information.

What should the parents do when their children decide how to spend their money?

   A. Try to help them as much as possible. B. Take no notice of whatever they do.

   C. Leave them as they are.   D. Help them if their decision is wrong, but not too much..

Believing that everyone can make _____ world _____ better place on a daily basis, Tom plays his part in helping others.

A. /, a                          B. the, /                        C. the, a                       D. the, the

The shop assistant promised me that the material ____, and what she said ___ to be true .

would be dried easily ; was proved  B. will be dried easily ; was proved

C. dried easily ; proved               D. dried easy ; proved

The audience were ______ by his _______ performance on the stage.

A. amazed; amazed         B. amazed; amazing

C. amazing; amazed        D. amazing; amazing

The little boy          many questions at me, leaving me embarrassed.

   A. cut   B. made   C. fired   D. loaded

American farmers are raising five percent more goats for meat these days．

  Goat meat is high in protein(蛋白质)and lower in unhealthy fat than many other meats．Even so，the industry is small compared to chicken，beef and pork. But immigration has brought more of a taste for goat to America from all over the world.

  Experts from the University of Illinois offer some questions for people to consider if they are thinking about raising goats．

  First of all，do you understand that there always has to be someone to care for the goats?

  ◆How much land do you have available? And how good is it? Poor ground may support two to four goats on half a hectare．Better grassland can support six to eight. If goats and cattle share the land，two goats can be added for each cow. The goats will eat weeds and other plants that cattle do not like．

  ◆Do you have buildings for the number of female goats you plan to keep during winter? An open，cold，dry barn is better than a closed，warm barn where the air is wet．

  ◆Do you have the equipment to clean barns（畜棚） and to harvest hay（草料） to feed your goats? Or will you get someone else to do it，or buy the hay?

  The experts say a profitable business in goat meat may take three to five years to establish．And, of course, there are no guarantees .

On which section of a newspaper will this passage appear?

A．International Affairs           B．Entertainment

C．Agriculture          D．Culture

Which of the following is NOT a factor in making goat meat more popular?

A．Goat meat is healthy food.

B．Immigrants bring different tastes.

C．The industry still leaves room for profit.

D．Raising goats is challenging.

If someone has two hectares of good grass land, what is the maximum number of cows and goats he can raise?

A．32 cows and 64 goats．        B．32 cows and 32 goats．

C．16 cows and 32 goats．       D．8 cows and 16 goats．

What is the experts’ opinion about the goat-raising business?

A．You can make sure money．

B．You had better be cautious and patient．

C．Goats are hardly possible to raise．

D．Goat meat still needs to be recognized．

The child complained that the old man made no answer when            where he lived．

A. asking          B. being asked    C. having asked    D. asked

______worried the child most was _____ to visit his mother in the hospital.

 A. What; his not allowing       B. What ; his not being allowed

C. Which; his being not allowed  D. That; not having been allowed

It’s quite common in Britain to say “Thank you” to the drivers __        people

get off the bus.

A. after       B. since      C. until          D. when

The fact has worried many scientists       the earth is becoming warmer and wormer．

      A．what                   B．that                     C．though                   D．which