E
The Purpose of Boredom
Being bored can encourage people’s creativity — partly to escape the horrible, frustrated, and meaningless feeling of boredom — recent studies find. It could even be true at work.
Psychologists at the University of Central Lancashire had participants (参与者) copy numbers out of the telephone book for 15 minutes, while others went straight into a standard creativity task.
Both groups were asked to come up with as many different uses as they could for a plastic cup. The group that felt more bored came up with more uses.
Dr. Sandi Mann, one of the study’s authors said, “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be removed, but perhaps we should be welcoming it in order to encourage 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?”
In a later study, Dr. Sandi Mann found that creativity was reduced when people were still bored but didn’t have the chance to daydream.
While we tend to think of boredom as something that certainly leads to trouble — drinking, gambling, and antisocial behavior, this research suggests different possibilities.
More than anything, the feeling of boredom is a strong signal that we are stuck in some kind of rut (惯例) and we need to seek out new goals. In the study above, this research led participants to new ideas.
Usually people will do anything to avoid being bored, as it’s such an aversive experience. But creative people, like writers, sometimes talk about seeking out boredom.
Here is the comedy writer Graham Linehan talking about boredom to The Guardian. “I have to use all these programs that cut off the Internet, force me to be bored, because being bored is an essential part of writing, and the Internet has made it very hard to be bored. The creative process requires a period of boredom, of being stuck. That’s actually a very uncomfortable period that a lot of people mistake for writer’s block, but it’s actually just part of a long process.”
So, when you start to feel bored, instead of glancing at your smart phone, try being bored for a bit. Who knows what creative thought might come of it?
47. From the study of Dr. Sandi Mann, we can learn that ______.
A. boring tasks make people creative
B. daydreaming may increase creativity
C. plastic cups can be used very creatively
D. copying numbers might be very interesting
48. The underlined word “aversive” in Paragraph 8 probably means ______.
A. common  B. unpleasant  C . unusual  D. personal
49. According to Graham Linehan, ______.
A. glancing at a smart phone is a solution
B. he is forced to feel bored by the Internet
C. the boredom period is a block for writers
D. being stuck for a period benefits him a lot
50. What is the author’s attitude towards boredom?
A. Critical.  B. Cautious.  C. Positive.  D. Unclear.
第二节  根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
W: Hi, darling. How are things in Brazil?
M:   51   I am now calling from my hotel in Fortaleza. The scenery is amazing.
W:   52  
M: I am working on the design for the shopping centre. What are you doing now?
W:   53  
M: And what are the children doing?
W:   54   No, Tommy is playing on his computer, and Anna is talking with her friends, I think.
M: Good.   55   Maybe we can plan something interesting.
W: That’s wonderful!

A. I’m fine.
B. Pretty good.
C. They are watching TV. 
D. Please come back soon.
E. Oh, I am working in the garden.
F. What are you doing in Fortaleza?
G. I am thinking of going back this weekend.
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