英语四级(CET4)阅读理解练习题:创造力的根源_大学英语阅读

英语四级(CET4)阅读理解练习题:创造力的根源

　　This is why young people tend to be the most innovative thinkers in nearly any field, from physics to music. The ignorance of youth comes with creative advantages, writes Mr Lehrer (who is disarmingly fresh-faced himself), as the young are less jaded by custom and experience. Still, he reassures readers that anyone can stay creative as long as he works to maintain the perspective of the outsider. This can be done by considering new problems at work (3M regularly rotates its engineers from division to division), travelling to new countries or simply spending more time staring at things we dont fully understand. This is why cities are such potent sites of productivity, as they expose people to unexpected experiences and force the exchange of ideas.

　　This is an inspiring and engaging book that reveals creativity as less a sign of rare genius than a natural human potential. Mr Lehrer points to William Shakespeare, for example, as someone who was largely a man of his time; the culture of Elizabethan London nurtured quite a few poetsmuch like ancient Athens gave rise to a glut of thinkers and Renaissance Florence inspired many fine artists. Shakespeare knew his way with a pen, but he also lived in a culture that put a premium on ideas, spread education, introduced new patents for inventions and did not always rigorously enforce censorship laws.

　　Mr Lehrer concludes with a call for better policy to increase our collective creativity. He suggests allowing more immigration, inviting more risk and enabling more cultural borrowing and adaptation (by stemming the flood of vague patents and copyright claims). He also warns that the work demands a lot of time, sweat and grit. Or as Albert Einstein put it: creativity is the residue of time wasted.