Boredom and Creativity
Most of us think of being bored at work as a negative experience, but a new study suggests it can have positive results including an increase in creativity because it gives us time to daydream.
That is the finding of Dr. Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire. Dr. Mann conducted two studies. In the first experiment, 40 people were asked to carry out a boring task. They were told to copy numbers out of a telephone directory for 15 minutes. After that they were asked to complete another task. A pair of cups were given to each of them. Everyone tried to come up with different uses of the cups, and was given a chance to display their creativity. Meanwhile, another group of 40 people were just asked to come up with uses for the cups without doing any boring tasks before. It turned out that the 40 people who had first copied out the telephone numbers were more creative than the control group(对照组).
To see if daydreaming was a factor in this effect, a second boring task was introduced that allowed even more daydreaming than the boring writing task. This second study saw 30 people copying out the numbers as before, but also included a second group of 30 reading rather than writing them.
Again the researchers found that the people in the control group were least creative, but the people who had just read the names were more creative than those who had to write them out. This suggests that more passive boring activities, like reading or perhaps attending meetings, can lead to more creativity. Compared with reading, writing reduced the scope（范围） for daydreaming. As a result, it reduces the effects of boredom on creativity.
Dr. Mann says: “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be avoided, but perhaps we should accept it in order to promote our creativity. What we want to 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?” Who proved to be the most creative in the two studies?
| A．The people who attended meetings. |
| B．The people who did the reading task. |
| C．The people who invented uses for cups. |
| D．The people who copied telephone numbers. |
The studies conducted by Dr. Mann indicate that creativity results from _______.
| A．creative tasks |
| B．controlled activities |
| C．the range of daydreaming |
| D．reading and writing ability |
What is Dr. Mann’s attitude towards boredom at work?
| A．Positive. |
| B．Skeptical. |
| C．Subjective. |
| D．Disapproving. |
What will Dr. Mann probably continue to research in their study?
| A．The real causes of creativity. |
| B．The actual use of boredom. |
| C．The practical reasons of boredom. |
| D．The writing ability improved by boredom. |
March 22, 2011---Most restaurants in the United States offer their customers a glass of tap water at no charge with their meal, but this week many restaurants are asking dinners to pay a dollar, or more, for a glass of water. Cards on their tables explain that this small amount helps bring clean water to children around the world. It’s called the UNICEF Tap Project.
“UNICEF’s Tap Project is really all about bringing attention to the fact that over 900 million people around the globe do not have access to good, clean, healthy drinking water,” says Cary Stem, who heads the US Fund for UNICEF. She adds that water-borne illness is the second-highest cause of preventable childhood death in the world.
“Each and every day approximately 4,100 children die just because they don’t have that access - 4,100 every single day.”
The public service campaign encourages people to help change that statistic with a simple, affordable action: paying a dollar to get a glass of tap water at a restaurant.
“One dollar buys enough good, clean water for a child for 40 days,” Stem says.
“The tap project has expanded since it began five years ago with 300 restaurants in New York City. This year, Stem says, about 3,000 restaurants across the country are participating in the campaign. We raised about $2.5 million over the last five years of this campaign,” says Stem. “Last year, we raised over $1 million for the first time. This year we’re hoping to top that.”
Stem credits the continued success of the campaign to an army of volunteers who support the tap project and raise money in their communities.
The UNICEF Tap Project is promoting its efforts with a simple motto: when you take water, give water. Currently, UNICEF works in more than 100 countries around the world to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities.
Stem hopes that, by participating in the project, more Americans will realize that what they often take for granted is a precious and scarce resource in many other parts of the world.Restaurants began to charge for tap water to _______.
| A．increase their profit |
| B．urge customers to save water |
| C．raise people’s awareness of the world water problem |
| D．collect money for those without access to safe water |
We can learn from the text that the Tap Project ________.
| A．began in New York City |
| B．was started by volunteers |
| C．is hoping to collect $2.5 million this year |
| D．provides help for 1,000 countries in the world |
It can be learned that _______.
| A．the Tap Project began in 2006 |
| B．America suffers a serious problem |
| C．4,100 children die of water pollution every year |
| D．water-borne illnesses are the biggest killer of children |
How does Cary Stem feel about the work of the Tap Project?
| A．Concerned | B．Hopeful | C．Disappointed | D．Angry |
Mid-IB at a glance
The summer vacation is the time to consolidate（巩固）your learning and prepare for the year ahead. In July and August Oxford Study Courses will once again hold its Mid-IB Summer School for students half way through their IB Diploma（国际预科证书）.
We’ll be back giving another generation of IB students a unique opportunity to sample a way of life enjoyed by students at famous universities.
Students who have completed the first year of their IB Diploma can join us and we can help them prepare for their important second year.
Students can choose how many subjects they study. Each subject is studied for one week. You can attend up to 5 weeks.
The Mid-IB Summer School is held at Cambridge University in the UK （between June 20th and August 1 st） and at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology （MIT）in Boston, USA （between July 6th and July 25th）.
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Student comments
◆ “The classes have shown me new approaches to learning. I have also learned how to approach exam questions and now feel confident in doing so.”
◆ “It was cool creating tight and close relationships with other students from around the world, realizing we all had a connection to each other.”
◆ “I really enjoyed the level of independence, although I felt like people were watching out for us. I also felt like an Oxford student!”
◆ “I have enjoyed the learning style and the course work has been extremely beneficial（有益处的）academically.”
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Enjoy the summer
Our Summer School gives you an action-packed social scene with visits to the fun places in the area, organized sports and social events, and advice on how to enjoy your free time in these amazing cities with your new friends. Welcome to contact us at ose@ose-ib.com or on +44（0）1865 521802!The Mid-IB Summer School is intended for the students who ________.
| A．have finished their first year of college |
| B．intend to apply for Oxford University |
| C．don’t know how to spend their summer vacation |
| D．have completed the first year of their IB Diploma |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．Students will visit many fun places around the world. |
| B．A student can at most choose 5 subjects. |
| C．Only students from England and America have access to the school. |
| D．Students can obtain their IB Diploma when they finish their studies. |
Which of the following about the Mid-IB Summer School is true?
| A．It begins in July. |
| B．It provides only academic courses. |
| C．It is held in three universities. |
| D．Students attending will study for 5 weeks. |
The text is most probably a（n）_________.
| A．news story | B．speech | C．travel guide | D．advertisement |
When you don’t have anything planned for the day or it’s rainy outside and your children are stuck in the house, why not sit around and tell them riddles? Telling riddles will make your family laugh and sometimes even scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the answer is.
Riddles have been a pastime for centuries. Not only have riddles been something for passing the time, but they have also been used to pass on secret information during the Second World War. Even the ancient Greeks used riddles. They would tell riddles at parties and whoever was the first to get them right would receive prize.
Most riddles use words that have double meanings or share the same sound like “hear” and “here”. So in order to get the riddle, you will have to do some creative thinking and think of all the possibilities of different words. The difficulty of figuring out the riddle is based on the riddle itself. The riddle has to provide you with enough clues to come to the right answer, but that doesn’t mean that the clues have to be easy.
If you are looking to tell riddles but don’t know any, you can look online and you will find a large number of sites that will have hundreds of different riddles to choose from. If you would like to look somewhere else then you could look at your local bookstore, where you will be able to find many different books with thousands of riddles to choose from. You can even find websites and books that will tell you how to write your own riddles.
After you have found some resources that have different riddles, you will need to read through them to find the right ones for you and your family: You will also need to make sure that your kids will have a chance to figure out the answers. So take your time and choose the right family riddles to tell.What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?
| A．To recommend an interesting family activity. |
| B．To stress the importance of family activities. |
| C．To encourage children to read more books. |
| D．To introduce the history of riddles. |
From the text we know that riddles _______.
| A．do not have enough clues | B．have a very long history |
| C．were used in World War One | D．were first used in ancient Rome |
In Paragraph 3, the author mainly ________.
| A．discusses how riddles are created |
| B．explains why fiddles are interesting |
| C．tells people how to solve riddles |
| D．shows the benefits of telling riddles |
To collect riddles, the author suggests ________.
| A．one way | B．two ways | C．three ways | D．four ways |
It can be hard to meet people from another culture. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal（信号）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize （强调）the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in “small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries--like the UK or France—people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment（多元文化环境）will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to ________.
| A．keep each other company | B．share the same Culture |
| C．get to know each other | D．develop closer relations |
The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _________.
| A．even talk and silence can be culturally different |
| B．too many words are of no use |
| C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature |
| D．the English prefer to make long speeches |
According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?
| A．By sharing different ways of life. |
| B．By recognizing different values. |
| C．By accepting different habits. |
| D．By speaking each other’s languages. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Multicultural Environment. | B．How to Understand Each Other. |
| C．Cross-Cultural Differences. | D．How to Build Up a Relationship. |
Do you long for lasting camp memories? Sure we can guarantee it.
Shadow Ridge Summer Camps offer so many exciting things for campers to do. Unlike other camp programs that include horses as a small part of their program, at Shadow Ridge horses ARE the program ! We are 100% horse from stable（马厩）management, nature walks, and track rides to bedroom furnishings.
Horses help us achieve many of our aims. Girls can learn to develop responsibility, self-confidence and personal connections in their lives while having fun. Using horses as a wonderful tool for education, our camps offer an interesting place for growth and learning:
Imagine each girl having her very own horse to spend time with and a best friend to love and take care of. Each camper is responsible for a horse for the week. Our riding program provides a lot of riding and lesson time. Campers will learn how to take care of the horse and the tack（马具）, as well as how to ride. Days are filled with horse-related activities to strengthen the connection between each girl and horse, as the girls learn to work safely around the horses.
At Shadow Ridge we try to create a loving, caring family atmosphere for our campers. We have “The Bunkhouse”（4 girls）, the “Wranglers Roost”（4 girls）, and “The Hideout”（2 girls）in our comfortable 177-year-old farm house. All meals are home cooked, offering delicious and healthy food for the hungry rider.
Our excellent activities create personalized memories of your child’s vacation. Each child will receive a camp T-shirt and a photo album （usually 300-500 pictures） of their stay at camp.
Our camps are offered during June, July and August 2013, for small groups of girls aged13-16 years, not only from Canada but also other parts of the world.
We will send you full program descriptions at your request.What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To attract people to the camps. |
| B．To talk about camping experiences. |
| C．To describe the programs of the camps. |
| D．To explain the aims of the camps. |
What do we know about the camp programs at Shadow Ridge?
| A．Campers are required to wear camp T-shirts. |
| B．Horses play a central role in the activities. |
| C．Campers learn to cook food for themselves. |
| D．Horse lessons are offered all the year round. |
The programs at Shadow Ridge mainly aim to help people ________.
| A．understand horses better | B．enjoy a family atmosphere |
| C．have fun above other things | D．achieve an educational purpose |
The passage is written mainly for ________.
| A．horse riders | B．teenage girls |
| C．Canadian parents | D．international travelers |
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