Question

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 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 he removed．hut perhaps we should be welcoming it in order to encourage our creativity．What we want LO 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 8trong signal that we are stuck in some kind of rut 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 Lo The Cuardian．"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 g7ancing at your smartphone．，try being bored for a bit．Who knows what creative thought might come of it？

1.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

2.The underlined word "aversive" in Paragraph 8 probably means________

A． common  B． unpleasant

C． unusual   D． personal

3.According to Craham Linehan________．

A． glancing at a smartphone 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

4.What is the author's attitude towards boredom？

A． Critical   B． Cautious

C． Positive   D． Unclear

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

1.1】细节理解题。由第五段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可知正确选项为B。

2.2】词义猜测题。通常人们会做些事情来避免无聊，因为无聊是一个让人不愉快的经历。common 普通的；Unpleasant不愉快的；Unusual不常见的；personal个人的。正确选项为B。

3.3】细节理解题。由倒数第二段可知正确选项为D。

4.4】态度观点题。由第一段和最后一段内容可知，作者的态度是积极的，肯定的。故选C。