Question

Discoveries in science and technology are thought by “untaught minds” to come in blinding flashes or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not ,as legend would have it ,look at the mold on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations（创新）almost always come out of laborious trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score.

The point is that the players who score most are the ones who take the most shots at the goal-and so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovators and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciously on theirs, and they follow them through until they prove practicable or otherwise. What ordinary people see as fanciful abstractions, professional innovators see as solid possibilities.

“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular virtue in doing things the way they have always been done.” wrote Rudolph Flesch, a language authority. This accounts for our reaction to seemingly simple innovations like plastic garbage bags and suitcases on wheels that make life more convenient: “How come nobody thought of that before?”

The creative approach begins with the proposition that nothing is as it appears. Innovators will not accept that there is only one way to do anything. Faced with getting from A to B, the average person will automatically set out on the best – known and apparently simplest route. The innovator will search for alternate courses, which may prove easier in the long run and are bound to be more interesting and challenging even if they lead to dead ends.

Highly creative individuals really do march to a different drummer.

1．What does the author probably mean by “untaught mind” in the first paragraph?

       A．A person ignorant of the hard work involved in experimentation.

       B．A citizen of a society that restricts personal creativity.

       C．A person who has had no education.

       D．An individual who often comes up with new ideas by accident.

2．According to the author, what distinguishes innovators from noninnovators?

       A．The variety of ideas they have               B．The intelligence they possess.

       C．The way they deal with problems.         D．The way they present their findings.

3．In the first sentence of paragraph 2, “…the players who score most are the ones who take the most shots at the goal …” is most similar to the meaning of ______.

       A．He laughs best who laughs last.             B．Never too old to learn.

       C．Time and tide wait for no man.             D．No pain, no gain.

4．The phrase “march to a different drummer” （the last line of the passage） suggests that highly creative individuals are ______.

       A．working hard at following their goals

       B．unwilling to follow common ways of doing things

       C．devoted to the progress of science

       D．concerned about the advance of society

Answer 1

DCDB