Unit-4-Creativity新编大学英语第二版第四册课文翻译

Unit 4 Creativity

The Case for Creativity—Encouraging Children to Think

Creativity is the key to a brighter future, say education and business experts. Here is how schools and parents can encourage this vital skill in children.

If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as practically essential: masking tape. Drew worked for the Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining Company, better known as 3M. At work he developed a sticky-side substance strong enough to hold things together. But his boss told him not to pursue the idea. Finally, using his own time, Drew perfected the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people. And his former company learned from its mistake: Now 3M encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking and developing new ideas.

It is a strategy that more and more companies are employing and one that experts around the country say we ought to be following with our children, both at home and at school. The feeling is that if we teach them to think creatively, they will be better able to function in tomorrow's society.

Creativity's benefits reach beyond music and art. Successful students and adults are the ones who discover a number of ways to approach problems.

Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a characteristic of high intelligence. Just because a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce original ideas that are good for something.

Unfortunately, schools have not tended to promote creativity. With strong emphasis on test scores and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators sacrifice creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but can't recognize ways to apply it to new situations. They may know their multiplication tables, for example, but they are unable to apply them to story problems.

In some schools, however, educators are recognizing the problem and are developing new approaches to teaching which should encourage creativity in their students. Some teachers are combining the basics with activities where the students must use their imagination. For example, instead of simply asking WHEN Columbus discovered the New World, teachers might ask students to think about what would have happened if his trip had taken him to New York first instead of to the Caribbean area. With that question, students would have to use what they know about Columbus, what they know about New

York, and what they know about the Caribbean. Teachers feel that even if the answers seem silly, it's OK, that sometimes being silly is an essential step toward creativity. In the classroom as well as at home, children must have the right to have crazy thoughts, experts say. Then it is up to parents and teachers to work with the children to develop those thoughts into workable ideas. The best strategy is to encourage children by asking them questions, meanwhile praising their ideas and new thoughts. Experts say that it is important to create an atmosphere in which there is no risk in being creative—a place where wild ideas are honored and valued, never scorned or dismissed.

There are things that parents can do at home to encourage creativity. They can involve children in decision-making if the problem is appropriate, asking the child for suggestions. Parents can help their children to understand the consequences of various decisions. Parents should also encourage their children to talk out loud about things they are doing. Thinking and language skills are closely related. Talking out loud improves language skills and thinking skills.

Having a sense of humor is also important in helping to develop creativity in a child. When parents show a sense of humor, children can see creativity in its purest form. By its nature, humor crosses conventional boundaries and breaks patterns. Creativity often does the same.

It is important to give children choices. From the earliest age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their consequences. Even if it's choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills. As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money, but not automatically help them too much if they make the wrong decision. This may be confusing for the child, but that is all right. This is because one of the most important traits of creative people is a very strong motivation to make order out of confusion.

关于创造力的培养——鼓励孩子思考

1 教育界和商业界的专家们说, 具有创造性是通向光明前程的关键。本文将介绍一下学校和家长如何才能鼓励孩子发展这一至关重要的能力。

2 如果1925年迪克•德鲁听从了他老板的意见，也许我们就不会有遮护胶带这种用品了。现在我们几乎离不开它。德鲁当时就职于“明尼苏达制造和矿业公司”，通常称为3M公司。在工作中，他研制了一种用于胶带有黏性那面的物质，黏性很强，能使物体粘在一起。但是老板却不让他做进一步的研究。最后德鲁只好利用自己的时间改进了这种胶带。这种胶带现已被人们广泛使用。而他原来工作过的3M公司也从自己的失误中吸取了教训：现在该

公司鼓励员工抽出15%的工作时间专门用来开动脑筋搞创新。

3 现在这种策略已被越来越多的公司所采用，而且全国各地的专家认为，对待孩子也应仿效这种做法，无论是在家里还是在学校。他们认为，如果我们教育孩子进行创造性思维，他们就能在明天的社会中更好地发挥作用。

4 受益于创造性的不只限 …… 此处隐藏：14361字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……