1 教育界和商界的专家们说，创造力是通向光明前程的关键。现在介绍一下学校和家长如何才能鼓励 孩子发展创造力这一至关重要的能力。
2 如果1925年迪克·德鲁听从了他老板的意见，也许我们现在就不会有遮蔽胶带这种用品了。现在我 们几乎离不开它。德鲁当时就职于明尼苏达矿业与制造公司，通常称为3M公司。在工作中，他研制了一种 粘胶，它的黏性很强，能使物体粘在一起。但是他的老板却不让他做进一步的研究。最后德鲁只好利用自 己的业余时间改进了这种胶带。这种胶带现在已被人们广泛使用。而他原来就职的3M公司也从这次的错误 中吸取了教训：现在3M公司鼓励员工抽出15%的工作时间专门用来开动脑筋，搞创新。
3 现在这种策略已被越来越多的公司所采用，而且全国各地的专家都认为对待孩子也应效仿这种做法，
无论是在家里，还是在学校。他们认为，如果我们教育孩子进行创造性思维，他们就能在将来的社会中更 好地发挥作用。
4 受益于创造性的不只限于音乐和艺术领域。能取得成功的学生和成年人都是那些会寻求各种办法解 决问题的人。
5 创造性并非与生俱来，也不一定就是高智商的特征。一个人智商高并不意味着他就能创造性地发挥 其聪明才智。创造性是指能利用已有的资源想出新点子，而这些点子又有助于解决某方面的问题。
6 遗憾的是，学校并没有鼓励学生发挥创造性。许多教育者十分看重考试分数，强调发展学生的阅读、
写作和数学能力，但却因追求正确的答案而牺牲了对创造性的培养。其结果是，孩子们能够反馈所学的知 识，但却不知道如何灵活地应用知识。比如，他们可能知道乘法表，但却不会用它来解决数学应用题。
7 不过，在有些学校，教育者们认识到这一问题的存在，并致力于研究能启发学生创造力的新的教学 方法。一些教师把基础知识和要求学生发挥想象力的活动结合起来。比如，教师们不再简单地问学生哥伦 布何时发现了新大陆，而会让学生思考如果哥伦布首先到达的不是加勒比海地区而是纽约，情况会如何。
要回答这一问题，学生必须应用自己掌握的关于哥伦布、纽约和加勒比海地区的知识。教师们认为即便学 生的回答听起来很可笑，也没关系，这也许是通向创造性的重要一步。专家们认为，在课堂上以及在家里，
必须允许孩子们有些荒唐的念头。家长和教师们则有责任和孩子们共同努力，把那些荒唐的念头变成切实 可行的想法。最好的办法是通过提问来鼓励孩子，同时对他们的想法和新点子表示赞赏。专家们说必须创 造一个可以自由发挥创造力的氛围——一个尊重和赞赏而不是鄙视或无视天马行空的想法的环境。
8 在家里，家长可以做一些鼓励孩子发挥创造力的事情。如果遇到适合的问题，家长可以就该问题征 求孩子的意见，让他们参与决策。家长可以帮助孩子了解不同的决策将会带来的不同后果。家长还应鼓励 孩子大声地谈论他们正在做的事情。思维能力和语言能力是紧密相关的。大声地谈论有助于提高语言能力 和思维能力。
53 Creativity 9 具有幽默感对于开发孩子的创造力也非常重要。当家长表现出幽默感时，孩子们就看到了最地道的 创造力。从本质上看，幽默跨越了常规界限，打破了固有模式。创造力往往也是如此。
10 给孩子一些选择的余地也很重要。应该尽可能早地允许孩子自己做决定，并认识其后果。做决定有 助于培养思维能力，即便仅仅是在午餐的两种食物之间做出选择。随着孩子慢慢长大，家长应让孩子自己 做主支配时间或金钱。但当他们做出错误的决定时，不要不加思索地给予过多的帮助。这种做法可能会使 孩子迷惑不解，但没关系。因为富有创造力的人的一个重要特征就是他们有很强的动力，能够从混乱中创 造秩序。
Exercises
Post-Reading
Reading Comprehension
1 1 Introduction (Para.1)
It is introduced that teachers and parents can encourage creativity in children.
2 An important strategy for parents and teachers to follow (Paras. 2-3) To encourage children to spend time thinking and developing new ideas.
3 The definition of creativity (Paras. 4-5)
Successful students and adults are those who can find a number of ways to approach problems, and who can use what they have to produce original ideas that are good for something.
4 A big problem in schools (Para. 6)
Children can obtain and give back information, but can’t figure out ways to apply what they know to new situations.
5 A new approach to teaching (Para. 7)
Combining the basics with activities where the students must use their imagination.
6 Things parents can do at home to encourage creativity (Paras. 8-10) A To involve children in decision-making.
B To help children to understand the consequences of various decisions.
C To encourage them to talk out loud about things they are doing.
D To show a sense of humor.
E To give children choices from their earliest age.
2 1 T 2 F 3 F 4 T 5 T 6 F 7 F 8 T 3 Sample
1 • I think it’s true. Creativity is never a personal quality inherited from one’s parents. Rather, it’s cultivated as one grows up. One’s accumulated life experiences help in this process, and so does the flexibility which parents allow. High intelligence by no means equals creativity.
People of high intelligence may have exceptionally good memorizing and understanding
54 Unit 4
abilities, but they don’t necessarily have good thinking skills. They may think in a conventional way.
• Sometimes I think creativity depends more on nature than on nurture. Most of us get the same education, yet we do not have the same level of creativity. I’d say some are really creativeandothersarenotcreativeatall.Howcanweaccountforthisphenomenon?By
nature, that is the answer.
2 • Children should be brought up in a pleasant and democratic atmosphere and be treated as equals in the family. Parents should allow their children a certain degree of freedom to explore what they like to instead of instructing them with a lot of don’ts. When they are in school, they should have the freedom to study or learn according to their own interests besides the basics of knowledge and skills. For example, if a child doesn’t like to play musical instruments, parents should never force the child to take the weekend music classes. In addition, children’s ideas should be respected, no matter how simple or ridiculous they seem to be. When parents keep paying attention to creating a pleasant and democratic atmosphere for their children, they should also encourage their children to cultivate their personal interests and hobbies. As we know, interest is the mother of creativity.
• Parents can do a lot to encourage children’s creativity. For instance, they can play games with their children, games that help develop children’s manual skills and facilitate their learning process. They should also protect children’s curiosity and talents to ask questions.
What’s more, children should be led to look at or think about things around them in different ways, free from the constraints of conventional thinking. Any progress in these aspects should be encouraged. Many parents like to see their children move on the “right”
track and protect them from making mistakes. As a result, test scores are highly valued and creativity may be neglected.
Vocabulary
1 1 A confused B confusion 2 A intelligence B intelligent 3 A humorous B humor 4 A strategy B strategic 5 A motivated B motivation 6 A combination B combined 7 A creation B creative 8 A pursuit B pursuing 9 A multiplication B multiply 10 A employ B employment 2 1 approaching 2 value 3 functions 4 approach 5 honor 6 function 7 honor 8 value 3 1 dismiss 2 consequences 3 promoting 4 applies 5 vital 6 scorned 7 conventional 8 original
4 1 consciously 2 determines 3 Imagination 4 aware 5 control 6 created 7 extension 8 technique 9 gain 10 Apply Translation
1 I think it is up to him to finish the work no matter how long it takes.
55 Creativity 2 We decided to sacrifice a trip for a new car, though it was really hard for us to make the decision.
3 He tried not to involve his wife in the management of the company, because in most cases the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
4 It is of vital importance to future generations that open spaces and parklands are protected and maintained to a high standard to keep the city increasingly attractive.
5 We have reached the agreement at the meeting that the key to this problem is better planning.
6 I propose pursuing this question further by considering critically the four theories well-known in this area.
7 The house was a completely original design—neither the interior nor the exterior was copies of any existing buildings of the kind.
8 Through all his life he has made efforts to promote the mutual understanding between the two countries.