新視野大學英語讀寫教程第一冊unit8-b Ways of Increasing Creativity

Section B

Ways of Increasing Creativity

My guests had arrived, but once again, I'd forgotten to put the wine in the fridge. "Don't worry, " a friend said, "I can chill it for you right away. "
Five minutes later she emerged from the kitchen with the wine perfectly cooled. Asked to reveal her secret, she said, "I poured it in a plastic bag and dipped it in ice water. "
My guests applauded. "How wonderful if we could all be that clever, " one remarked.
A decade of enquiry has convinced me we can. What separates the average person from Edison, Picasso or even Shakespeare isn't creative capacity. It's the ability to use that capacity by encouraging creative impulses and then acting upon them. Most of us seldom achieve our creative potential but the reservoir of ideas hiding within every one of us can be unlocked.
The following techniques suggest concrete ways of increasing creativity:
Capture the fleeting . A good idea is like a rabbit. It runs by so fast, sometimes you see only its ears or tail. To capture it, you must be ready. Creative people are always ready to act — possibly the only difference between us and them.
In a letter to a friend in 1821, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote about thinking of a beautiful tune while half asleep in a carriage: "But scarcely did 1 awake when away flew the tune and I could not recall any part of it." Fortunately, for Beethoven and for us, the next day in the same carriage, the tune returned to him and he captured it in writing.
When a good idea comes your way, write it down — on your arm if necessary. Not every idea will have value but capture it first and evaluate later.
Daydream, Painter Salvador Dali used to lie on a sofa, holding a spoon. As he began to fall asleep, Dali would drop the spoon onto a plate on the floor. Shocked awake by the sound, he would immediately sketch the images seen in his mind in that fertile world of semi-sleep.
Everyone experiences this strange state and can take advantage of it. Try Dali's trick, or just allow yourself to daydream. Often, the "three bs" — bed, bath and bus — are productive. Anywhere you can be with your thoughts undisturbed, you'll find ideas emerge freely.
Seek challenges. Try inviting friends and business associates from different areas of your life to a party. Bringing people of different ages and social status together may help you think in new ways.
Edwin Land, one of America's most productive inventors, claimed the idea leading to his invention of the Polaroid camera came from his three-year-old daughter. On a visit to Santa Fe in 1943, she asked why she couldn't see the picture he had just taken. During the next hour, as Land walked around Santa Fe, all he had learned about chemistry came together: "The camera and the film became clear to me. In my mind they were so real that I spent several hours describing them. "
Expand your world. Many discoveries in science, engineering and the arts mix ideas from different fields. Consider " The Two-String Problem. " Two widely separated strings hang from a ceiling. Even though you can't reach both at once, is it possible to tie their ends together, using only a pair of pliers ?
One college student tied the pliers to one string and set it in motion like a pendulum. As it swung back and forth, he walked quickly to the other string and drew it as far forward as it would reach. Then he caught the swinging string when it passed near him and tied the two ends.
Asked how he succeeded, the student explained he had just come from a physics class on pendulum motion. What he had learned in one context transferred to a completely different one.
This principle works elsewhere as well. To enhance your creativity, learn some-thing new. If you're a banker, take up tap dancing; if you're a nurse, try a course in vitamin therapy. Read a book on a new subject. Change your daily newspaper. The new will combine with the old in novel and potentially fascinating ways. Becoming more creative means paying attention to that endless flow of ideas you produce, and learning to capture and act upon the new that's within you.

Words: 726
NEW WORDS

chill
v. make cold; cool 使變冷；使掃興
n. coldness 寒冷，寒氣

plastic
a. 塑料的
n. 1. (often pl.) 塑料，塑料制品
2. 信用卡

dip
v. lower or drop (something) into a liquid 蘸；浸

▲applaud
v. express good opinion or favour, especially by clapping the hands 拍手喝彩，稱贊

remark
vi. express a short, relaxed comment 評論
n. comment, usu. not official 談論，評論

decade
n. a period of ten years 十年

enquiry (inquiry)
n. close examination of a matter in a search for information or truth 調(diào)查，探究

convince
vt. bring by the use of arguing or facts to a firm belief or a course of action 使確信，使信服

capacity
n. 1. the ability to produce, experience, understand or learn sth. 才能， 能力
2. the ability to hold or contain sth. 容量，容積

▲impulse
n. a sudden wish or urge 沖動，刺激

potential
n. qualities that exist and can be developed 潛力，潛能
a. that may happen or become so, although not actually existing at present 潛在的

potentially
ad. possibly 可能地

reservoir
n. 1. 水庫，蓄水池
2. a large or extra supply; a nest egg or quantity held back ［喻］（知識、精力等的）貯藏；蓄積

concrete
a. of or relating to a material thing or group of things rather than to an idea 具體的

capture
v. 1. seize; take violently or with force 捕獲
2. seize; occupy 奪得；占領(lǐng)

◆fleeting
a. passing quickly; not lasting long 飛逝的，轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的

rabbit
n. 兔子

carriage
n. a wheeled vehicle, especially a four-wheeled horse-drawn passenger vehicle, often of beautiful design 四輪馬車

scarcely
ad. 1. only just 剛剛……就
2. almost not 幾乎沒有

fortunately
ad. by good chance; luckily 幸運地

evaluate
v. examine and judge carefully 評價，估計

painter
n. a person who paints 畫家

sofa
n. a comfortable seat with raised arms and a back and wide enough for usually 2 or 3 people 沙發(fā)

sketch
vt. make a quick or simple drawing or painting 勾畫，繪草圖

fertile
a. 1. (of a person's mind) inventive; full of new ideas（思想、創(chuàng)意）豐富的
2. (of land) which produces or can produce good crops 富饒的

advantage
n. a relatively good or lucky position; exceptional means 優(yōu)勢；有利條件

▲productive
a. 1. achieving a lot 有收益的，富有成效的
2. producing or able to produce goods or crops, esp. in large quantities 多產(chǎn)的

associate
n. a partner or colleague 合作人，同事

inventor
n. a person who invents something 發(fā)明者，發(fā)明家

claim
v. state to be true, especially when open to question 聲言；自稱

engineering
n. the science or profession of an engineer 工程（學）

string
n. a strong, thick thread; anything like this, especially used for tying things up 細繩

◆pliers
n. a type of small tool made of 2 crossed pieces of metal with long flat jaws at one end, used to hold small things or to bend and cut wire 鉗子

motion
n. the act or process of changing position or place 運動

▲pendulum
n. a weight hanging from a fixed point so as to swing freely 鐘擺

swing
vi. move back and forth or round and round, from a fixed point once or regularly 搖擺

context
n. 1. the general conditions in which an event, action, etc. takes place （事情發(fā)生的）環(huán)境，背景
2. words that come before and after a word, phrase, statement, etc. helping to show what its meaning is 上下文

transfer
v. move from one place or job to another 調(diào)動，遷移

principle
n. a basic truth, law, or theory 原則，原理

elsewhere
ad. in or to a different or another place 在別處，到別處

enhance
vt. make greater, as in value, beauty, or standing; increase 提高，增強

vitamin
n. natural organic matter used for health or healing 維生素

therapy
n. the treatment of illness 治療；理療

▲fascinate
v. hold a strong interest or appeal (for) 使著迷

endless
a. being or seeming to be without an end or a limit 無止境的，無窮的

PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

right away
at once; without delay 立刻

act upon
act according to 依照……行動

come one's way
occur so that one has it or gets it 發(fā)生在某人身上，可以被某人利用

fall asleep
go into the state of sleeping 睡著

take advantage of
make use of 利用

at once
at the same time; all at one time 同時

set sth. in motion
cause sth. to start moving 使……運轉(zhuǎn)起來

back and forth
move back and go ahead or forward 來回，前后

take up
begin to spend time learning or doing (something) 開始，著手做

tap dancing
a style of dancing in which the dancers wear special shoes with pieces of metal on the hells and toes. The shoes make clicking noises as the dancers move their feet 踢踏舞
PROPER NAMES

Edison
愛迪生（1847-1931），美國發(fā)明家

Picasso
畢加索（1881-1973），西班牙畫家，20世紀最多產(chǎn)和最有影響的畫家之一

Shakespeare
莎士比亞（1564-1616），英國戲劇家和詩人

Ludwig van Beethoven
路德維格·范·貝多芬（1770-1827），德國作曲家

Salvador Dali
薩爾瓦多·達利（1904-1989），西班牙超現(xiàn)實主義畫家

Edwin Land
埃德溫·蘭德（1909-1991），美國發(fā)明家，寶麗來的發(fā)明者

Polaroid
n. a trademark used for a camera and film that produce instant photographs 寶麗來相機

Santa Fe
圣菲，美國新墨西哥州首府，位于該州中北部，阿爾伯克基東北方