英语听力精选进阶版 6418（在线收听）

Were you constantly bored as a child? Maybe that helped you to develop your innate ability to be creative.

Boredom can be a good thing for children, according to Dr Teresa Belton, researcher at the University of East Anglia's School of Education and Lifelong Learning. After interviewing authors, artists and scientists in Britain, she's reached the conclusion that cultural expectations that children should be constantly active could hamper the development of their imagination.

British comedienne and writer Meera Syal grew up in a small mining village with few distractions. The researcher said: "Lack of things to do spurred her to talk to people she wouldn't otherwise have engaged with and try activities she wouldn't, under other circumstances, have experienced, such as talking to elderly neighbours and learning to bake cakes."

Belton added: "Boredom made her write. Meera Syal kept a diary from a young age, filling it with observations, short stories, poems, and diatribe."

The academic didn't ignore the old saying the devil finds work for idle hands, though. Belton pointed out that young people who don't have the interior resources to deal with boredom creatively may end up smashing up bus shelters or taking cars out for a joyride.

How about watching TV and videos on the computer? The academic believes that nothing replaces standing and staring at things and observing your surroundings.

It's the sort of thing that stimulates the imagination, she said, while the screen "tends to short circuit that process and the development of creative capacity".

Dr Belton concluded: "For the sake of creativity, perhaps we need to slow down and stay offline from time to time."

Quiz 测验

1. What didn't Meera Syal's village have much of?

Distractions.

2. What did the writer keep from a young age?

A diary.

3. Is this statement true or false? According to Dr Belton, watching TV stimulates the imagination.

False. The academic says that it interrupts the development of creativity that only standing and staring at the surroundings can encourage.

4. What is Dr Belton's advice for youngsters who like computers?

Stay offline from time to time.

5. Which word in the article means something you are born with?

Innate.

Glossary 词汇表

innate 天生的

expectation 期待

to hamper 妨碍

the imagination 想象力

distractions 使人分心的事物

to spur 去激发

to engage 使从事、忙于

circumstances 环境

a diatribe 酷评

an academic 学术界人士

the devil finds work for idle hands 游手好闲，造恶之源

interior resources 内在方法

to smash up 去砸烂

a bus shelter 公车候车亭

a joyride （用偷来的车）开快车兜风

to stare 凝视，张大眼睛看

the surroundings 周围景物事物

to short circuit 去短路

for the sake of 为了...的缘故或目的

offline 线下