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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 使变冷；使扫兴
n. coldness 寒冷，寒气
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，称赞
remark
vi. express a short, relaxed comment 评论
n. comment, usu. not official 谈论，评论
decade
n. a period of ten years 十年
enquiry (inquiry)
n. close examination of a matter in a search for information or truth 调查，探究
convince
vt. bring by the use of arguing or facts to a firm belief or a course of action 使确信，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，容积
▲impulse
n. a sudden wish or urge 冲动，刺激
potential
n. qualities that exist and can be developed 潜力，潜能
a. that may happen or become so, although not actually existing at present 潜在的
potentially
ad. possibly 可能地
reservoir
n. 1. 水库，蓄水池
2. a large or extra supply; a nest egg or quantity held back ［喻］（知识、精力等的）贮藏；蓄积
concrete
a. of or relating to a material thing or group of things rather than to an idea 具体的
capture
v. 1. seize; take violently or with force 捕获
2. seize; occupy 夺得；占领
◆fleeting
a. passing quickly; not lasting long 飞逝的，转瞬即逝的
rabbit
n. 兔子
carriage
n. a wheeled vehicle, especially a four-wheeled horse-drawn passenger vehicle, often of beautiful design 四轮马车
scarcely
ad. 1. only just 刚刚……就
2. almost not 几乎没有
fortunately
ad. by good chance; luckily 幸运地
evaluate
v. examine and judge carefully 评价，估计
painter
n. a person who paints 画家
sofa
n. a comfortable seat with raised arms and a back and wide enough for usually 2 or 3 people 沙发
sketch
vt. make a quick or simple drawing or painting 勾画，绘草图
fertile
a. 1. (of a person's mind) inventive; full of new ideas（思想、创意）丰富的
2. (of land) which produces or can produce good crops 富饶的
advantage
n. a relatively good or lucky position; exceptional means 优势；有利条件
▲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 多产的
associate
n. a partner or colleague 合作人，同事
inventor
n. a person who invents something 发明者，发明家
claim
v. state to be true, especially when open to question 声言；自称
engineering
n. the science or profession of an engineer 工程（学）
string
n. a strong, thick thread; anything like this, especially used for tying things up 细绳
◆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 钳子
motion
n. the act or process of changing position or place 运动
▲pendulum
n. a weight hanging from a fixed point so as to swing freely 钟摆
swing
vi. move back and forth or round and round, from a fixed point once or regularly 摇摆
context
n. 1. the general conditions in which an event, action, etc. takes place （事情发生的）环境，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 调动，迁移
principle
n. a basic truth, law, or theory 原则，原理
elsewhere
ad. in or to a different or another place 在别处，到别处
enhance
vt. make greater, as in value, beauty, or standing; increase 提高，增强
vitamin
n. natural organic matter used for health or healing 维生素
therapy
n. the treatment of illness 治疗；理疗
▲fascinate
v. hold a strong interest or appeal (for) 使着迷
endless
a. being or seeming to be without an end or a limit 无止境的，无穷的
PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS
right away
at once; without delay 立刻
act upon
act according to 依照……行动
come one's way
occur so that one has it or gets it 发生在某人身上，可以被某人利用
fall asleep
go into the state of sleeping 睡着
take advantage of
make use of 利用
at once
at the same time; all at one time 同时
set sth. in motion
cause sth. to start moving 使……运转起来
back and forth
move back and go ahead or forward 来回，前后
take up
begin to spend time learning or doing (something) 开始，着手做
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
爱迪生（1847-1931），美国发明家
Picasso
毕加索（1881-1973），西班牙画家，20世纪最多产和最有影响的画家之一
Shakespeare
莎士比亚（1564-1616），英国戏剧家和诗人
Ludwig van Beethoven
路德维格·范·贝多芬（1770-1827），德国作曲家
Salvador Dali
萨尔瓦多·达利（1904-1989），西班牙超现实主义画家
Edwin Land
埃德温·兰德（1909-1991），美国发明家，宝丽来的发明者
Polaroid
n. a trademark used for a camera and film that produce instant photographs 宝丽来相机
Santa Fe
圣菲，美国新墨西哥州首府，位于该州中北部，阿尔伯克基东北方
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