Question

    Do you know where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books? She wrote the first books in a coffee shop. Was it because she felt more creative when working there? The answer might be yes!

Scientists from the University of Illinois found that moderate (适度的) noise can make people more creative, the New York Times reported.

Scientists did tests on students. They divided them into four groups. They then asked the students to do certain tasks involving creative thinking. But each group did the task with different volumes (音量) of background noise.

They found that students did best when working under moderate noise —70 decibels (分贝). This is about the same volume of background noise in a cafe. Students did worse in low noise (50 db). This is the volume of a quiet room. They did the poorest when in a high-noise (85 db) environment. This is the noise level in a factory.

Moderate noise can distract (分心) people just enough so that they think more creatively. “It helps you think outside the box,” Raci Mehta, a lead researcher in the study, said to the Business Standard.

On the one hand, working in a very quiet place can strengthen our focus. But it also stops us from thinking abstractly (抽象地).

“This is why if you are too focused on a problem and you can’t solve it,” said Mehta, “You leave it for some time and then come back to it and you get the solution.”

However, the scientists said that when you need to do detailed things, like proofreading (校对) a paper, a quiet place is better than a noisy one.

1.What can we tell from the first paragraph?

A.J.K. Rowling likes drinking coffee. B.Drinking coffee helps people become creative.

C.The best novels are born in coffee shops. D.Moderate noise makes people creative.

2.The underlined word “involving” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by the word “________”.

A.referring to B.including C.in order to D.even

3.Which volume of background noise helps students do the best at creative tasks?

A.85 db. B.70 db. C.50 db. D.0 db.

4.Which of the following is TRUE when working in a very quiet place?

A.It can help people think outside the box. B.It can make people think abstractly.

C.It can help people find the solution easily. D.It can help people focus on their work.

5.What is the main idea of the story?

A.How to work under a moderate noise level.

B.Why J. K. Rowling likes to write stories in a coffee shop.

C.Why moderate noise is good for creative thinking.

D.How scientists tested students’ learning abilities.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.D

5.C

【解析】

这是一篇新闻报道类阅读。主要报道了科学家的一项研究发现，适当的噪音有助于人们更富有创造力，并且说明了原因。

1.段落大意题。根据第一段“Was it because she felt more creative when working there? The answer might be yes!”可知在咖啡厅工作可能会让人更有创造力。结合全文可知，适当的噪音会让人们更有创造力。故选D。

2.词义猜测题。referring to提及，涉及；including包含；in order to目的；even甚至。“They then asked the students to do certain tasks involving creative thinking.”意为他们要求学生做一些涉及创造力思维的任务，主要的研究目的就是为了研究创造性思考的，因此此词意思与“关于；涉及”有关。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段“They found that students did best when working under moderate noise —70 decibels (分贝). ”可知在70分贝的时候学生们做得最好。故选B。

4.细节理解题。根据第六段“On the one hand, working in a very quiet place can strengthen our focus.”可知在非常安静的地方工作可以集中我们的注意力。故选D。

5.主旨大意题。根据第二段及文章内容可知，本文主要介绍了科学家发现适度的噪音可以让人们更有创造力以及它的原因。故选C。