How do people think differently? This has always been unusual. To search an answer, a scientist named J. P. Guilford started a famous study of creativity in the 1970s, known as the nine-dot puzzle (九点谜题). He asked the participants (参与者) to connect all nine dots using only four straight lines, without lifting their pencils from the page. All the participants looked for solutions within the square they imagined. Only 20 percent managed to break out of the square and continue their lines in the white space around the dots, while the rest of them were blinded by the boundaries (边界) of the square.
The results of Guilford’s study led him to a conclusion: creativity needs you to go outside the box. The idea was widely spread soon. Overnight, it seemed that creativity experts everywhere were teaching managers how to think outside the box. The idea was so popular that no one thought of checking the facts. No one, that is, before two different research teams— Clarke Burmham with Kenneth Davis, and Joseph Alba with Robert Weisberg—did another experiment.
To make sure that Guilford’s study is correct, both teams divided participants into two groups. The first group was given the same instructions as the participants in Guilford’s experiment. The second group was told to draw the lines outside the imagined box. Guess what? Only a little more than 20 percent solved the puzzle, which is no big difference from the result of Guilford’s experiment.
Let’s look a little more closely at the surprising result. Solving this problem requires people to think outside the box. However, direct and clear instructions to “think outside the box” do not help participants improve their performance. The widely spread idea that out-of-the-box thinking makes people more creative can, in some way, be dangerous. After all, with one simple but brilliant experiment, researchers had proved that the connection between thinking outside the box and creativity was a misunderstanding.
【小题1】The nine-dot puzzle study is mainly focused on ________.| A．how people do things in real life | B．what people see in the experiment |
| C．how people think in different ways | D．what knowledge people have learned |
| A．To discover the main idea of Guiford’s study. | B．To show different views against Guiford’s study. |
| C．To collect supporting details for Guiford’s study. | D．To double-check the correctness of Guiford’s study. |
| A．boundaries sometimes make people think less creatively |
| B．clear instructions influence how people solve problems |
| C．few people performed better with the clear instructions |
| D．the methods of nine-dot puzzle study need to be improved |
| A．Puzzle Solving: A Key To Creativity | B．Nine-Dot Puzzle: A Magic Test |
| C．Thinking Outside the Box: A Misleading Idea | D．Creative Thinking: An Unusual Topic |
Every day of the week has its own color. Here’s what colors days show.
Monday is like a white paper for you to picture anything you want. On Monday almost everyone chooses to close their mouth to be silent and wait for something. So it’s white.
Tuesday is light gray. As you might have already guessed, Tuesday is more interesting than the first day of the week. It means that the white paper starts getting some colors on it.
Wednesday is red because you’re in the middle to start an exciting weekend. You should meet friends and have fun together on the day. So this day is with colorful activities.
Thursday is dark gray. Thursday shows a condition of mind that suffers from the difficult tasks and expects Friday.
Brown is a color full of surprises. Friday is brown because this day is full of things that are interesting and exciting.
Green should be a favorite color. The same goes about Saturday because it’s people’s favorite day of the week. You’re free today and will be free tomorrow too. Green color helps people relax.
Sunday is orange. It’s bright. As the weekend comes to its end, people try to do everything, so this day fills with fun. Sunday evening is also the best time to have a deep talk with others.
【小题1】Which day shows the red color?| A．Tuesday. | B．Wednesday. | C．Thursday. | D．Friday. |
| A．受迫害 | B．使化解 | C．使冒险 | D．受折磨 |
| A．Monday is more interesting than Tuesday |
| B．Thursday is the most difficult day of all |
| C．Saturday is green, so it helps people’s eyes |
| D．Sunday afternoon is a better time to talk deeply |
| A．different colors and feelings | B．what you can do in a week |
| C．the colors of every day of a week | D．how colors affect feelings |
| A．In a book about life. | B．On a traveling website. |
| C．In a magazine about food. | D．In a morning newspaper. |
The number of buses, taxis and other transportations on Kenya’s roads is growing every day.
Now, the country’s first electric-powered motorbike is being made. The motorbike is designed（设计）to cut down on pollution. It’s much cheaper so that most of people can afford it.
Most motorbikes used in Kenya depend on gas as fuel（燃料）, but not this new motorbike. Its energy comes from sunlight.
Three university students developed the new motorbike. It receives the sun’s energy, stores it in batteries（蓄电池）and uses it to charge（充电）the electric motorbike.
Robert Achoge is one of the student inventors. “Our hope is that by the fifth year, we will be able to cover the whole Kenya with the electric motorbike in order to improve the environment and provide affordable transport.”
The students have set up a fueling station for the motorbikes in Nairobi. Riders can charge the motorbikes in the station. The small battery can run for 70 kilometers when they’re fully charged. Once the power is used up, the motorbike has to return to the fueling station while another charged battery is connected to the motorbike. The US African Development Foundation is providing some money for two solar-powered charging stations in the Kenyan port of Kisumu.
Each motorbike costs about $700. One motorbike rider says the new motorbike costs less to ride than motorbikes running on traditional fuel. “When talking about buying fuel, there is no need. It’s basically good for everyone. Even though you won’t carry quite a heavy load, you can go with it anywhere.”
A Nairobi dealership is selling the motorbikes. Businessman Kennedy Kusimba hopes they will become popular. “We also know they are more reliable, compared to the gas-powered motorbikes. They are more useful and they will last longer.”
【小题1】Why is the first electric-powered motorbike designed?| A．To cut down on pollution. | B．To provide more ways of transport. |
| C．To make most people richer. | D．To show the hard work of some students. |
| A．It depends on gas as fuel. | B．It can only be used when it is sunny. |
| C．It’s developed from the traditional bike. | D．It makes use of sunlight and turns it into electricity. |
| A．消耗 | B．储存 | C．燃烧 | D．节省 |
| A．Return the batteries to the station. | B．Have their motorbikes fully charged. |
| C．Get some money from the US. | D．Make their motorbikes run at a high speed. |
| A．The Bright Future of the New Motorbikes. | B．The Greatest Change on Transport in Kenya. |
| C．Student-Developed Motorbikes Put into Use in Kenya. | D．The Different Views on the New Motorbikes. |
Don’t be afraid---it’s not easy to be infected with the virus. Here is some advice to help you protect yourself when it comes.
Wash your hands. You need to wash your hands with soap and hot water before you eat, after you use the toilet , and after you touch animals, because your hands may carry viruses.
Cover your nose and mouth, when someone sneezes（打喷嚏）or coughs, flu viruses can travel as far as one meter through the air, so you’d better stand a proper distance while talking to someone who has a cold. And always cover your nose and mouth with a piece of paper when you sneeze or cough, and then clean your hands.
Wear a mask（口罩）. Some doctors say that masks can stop the flu as much as 80%, but if you don’t wash your hands often, it’s no use wearing a mask. And it’s necessary to wear a mask in the groups of people.
Do sports often. Exercise will help your body strong enough to
【小题1】How many ways to stop the virus are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
| A．抵抗 | B．传播 | C．感染 | D．治愈 |
| A．Some people who were infected with the H7N9 virus had a toothache. |
| B．You should cover your mouth and nose with a piece of paper when you sneeze or cough. |
| C．Some doctors say that washing your hands can stop the flu as much as 80%. |
| D．It’s easy to be infected with H7N9 virus, so you mustn’t go to the places with groups of people. |
| A．It tells us how to wash hands. |
| B．It tells us why we should use masks. |
| C．It tells us we should do more exercise to be strong. |
| D．It gives us some advice on how to protect ourselves when the H7N9 virus comes. |
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