Is There a Way to Keep the Britain"s Economy Growing

    1.In today"s knowledge economy, nations survive on the things they do best. Japanese design electronics while Germens export engineering techniques. The French serve the best food and Americans make computers.

    2.Britainspecializes in the gift of talking. The nation doesn"t manufacture much of anything. But it has lawyers, stylists and business consultants who earn their living from talk, talk and more talk. The World Foundation think tank¹ says theUK"s four iconic jobs today are not scientists, engineers, teachers and nurses. Instead, they"re hairdressers, celebrities, management consultants and managers. But can all this talking keep the British economy going? The British government thinks it can.

    3.Although the country"s trade deficit was more than ￡60 billion in 2006, UK"s largest in the postwar period, officials say the country has nothing to worry about. In fact,Britaindoes have a world-class pharmaceutical industry, and it still makes a small sum from selling arms abroad. It also trades services — accountancy, insurance, banking and advertising. The government believesBritainis on the cutting edge² of the knowledge economy. After all, the country of Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a literary tradition of which to be proud. Rock “n” roll³ is an English language medium, and there are billions to be made by their cutting-edge bands. In other words, the creative economy has plenty of strength to carry the British economy.

    4.However, creative industries account for only about 4 percent ofUK"s exports of goods and services. The industries are finding it hard to make a profit, according to a report of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts⁴. The report shows only 38 percent of British companies were engaged in "innovation activities", 3 percentage points below the EU average and well belowGermany(61 percent) andSweden(47 percent).

    5.In fact, it might be better to callBritaina "servant" economy — there are at least 4 million people "in service". The majority of the population are employed by the rich to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Many graduates are even doing menial jobs for which they do not need a degree. Most employment growth has been, and will continue to be, at the low-skill end of the service sector — in shops, bars, hotels, domestic service and in nursing and care homes.

 

词汇：

ionic /ai"kɔnik/ adj．偶像的

menial /"mi:niəl/ adj．仆人的

pharmaceutical /fa:mə"su:tikl/adj．制药的

 

注释：

1.think tank：思想库；智囊团

2.cutting edge：尖端的

3.rock" n" roll：摇滚乐

4.National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts：国家科学、技术和艺术捐赠委员会

A to find jobs

B to do low-skill jobs

C to feed its people

D to handle disputes

E to make a profit

F to worry about the British economy

The creative industries find it difficult_________.

A:A B:B C:C D:D E:E F:F

Extraordinary creative activity has been characterized as revolutionary, flying in the face of what is established and producing not what is acceptable but what will become accepted. According to this formulation, highly creative activity transcends the limits of an existing form and establishes a new principle of organization. However, the idea that extraordinary creativity transcends established limits is misleading when it is applied to the arts, even though it may be valid for the science; Differences between highly creative art and highly creative science arise in part from a difference in their goal. For the sciences, a new theory is the goal and end result of the creative act. Innovative science produces new propositions in terms of which diverse phenomena can be related to one another in more coherent ways. Such phenomena as a brilliant diamond or a nesting bird are relegated to the role of date, serving as the means for formulating or testing a new theory. The goal of highly creative art is different: the phenomenon itself becomes the direct product of the creative act. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not a tract about the behavior of indecisive princes or the uses of political power, nor is Picasso’s painting Guernica primarily a prepositional statement about the Spanish Civil War or the evils of fascism. What ’highly creative activity produces is not a new generalization that ’transcends established limits, but rather an aesthetic particular. Aesthetic particulars produced by the highly creative artist extend or exploit, rather than transcend that form.
This is not to deny that a highly creative artist sometimes establishes a new principle of organization in the history of an artistic field; the composer Monteverdi, who created music of the highest aesthetic value, comes to mind. More generally, however, whether or not a composition establishes a new principle in the history of music has no bearing on its aesthetic worth. Because they embody a new principle of organization, some musical works, such as the operas of the Florentine Camerata, are of signal historical importance, but few listeners or musicologists would include these among the great works of music. On the other hand, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro(费加罗的婚礼) is surely among the masterpiece of music even though its modest innovations are confined to extending existing means. It has been said of Beethoven that he toppled the rules and freed music from the stifling confines of convention. But a close study of his composition reveals that Beethoven overturned no fundamental rules. Rather, he was an incomparable strategist who exploited limits of the rules, forms, and conventions that he inherited from predecessors such as Haydn and Mozart, Handel and Bach—in strikingly original ways.
What’s the best title of the passage

A:Formulating or Testing A New Theory B:Quotation of Accepted Rules C:Extraordinary Creative Activity D:Similarities between Highly Creative art and Highly Creative Science

Extraordinary creative activity has been characterized as revolutionary, flying in the face of what is established and producing not what is acceptable but what will become accepted. According to this formulation, highly creative activity transcends the limits of an existing form and establishes a new principle of organization. However, the idea that extraordinary creativity transcends established limits is misleading when it is applied to the arts, even though it may be valid for the science; Differences between highly creative art and highly creative science arise in part from a difference in their goal. For the sciences, a new theory is the goal and end result of the creative act. Innovative science produces new propositions in terms of which diverse phenomena can be related to one another in more coherent ways. Such phenomena as a brilliant diamond or a nesting bird are relegated to the role of date, serving as the means for formulating or testing a new theory. The goal of highly creative art is different: the phenomenon itself becomes the direct product of the creative act. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not a tract about the behavior of indecisive princes or the uses of political power, nor is Picasso’s painting Guernica primarily a prepositional statement about the Spanish Civil War or the evils of fascism. What ’highly creative activity produces is not a new generalization that ’transcends established limits, but rather an aesthetic particular. Aesthetic particulars produced by the highly creative artist extend or exploit, rather than transcend that form.
This is not to deny that a highly creative artist sometimes establishes a new principle of organization in the history of an artistic field; the composer Monteverdi, who created music of the highest aesthetic value, comes to mind. More generally, however, whether or not a composition establishes a new principle in the history of music has no bearing on its aesthetic worth. Because they embody a new principle of organization, some musical works, such as the operas of the Florentine Camerata, are of signal historical importance, but few listeners or musicologists would include these among the great works of music. On the other hand, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro(费加罗的婚礼) is surely among the masterpiece of music even though its modest innovations are confined to extending existing means. It has been said of Beethoven that he toppled the rules and freed music from the stifling confines of convention. But a close study of his composition reveals that Beethoven overturned no fundamental rules. Rather, he was an incomparable strategist who exploited limits of the rules, forms, and conventions that he inherited from predecessors such as Haydn and Mozart, Handel and Bach—in strikingly original ways.

What’s the best title of the passage（）

A:Formulating or Testing A New Theory B:Quotation of Accepted Rules C:Extraordinary Creative Activity D:Similarities between Highly Creative art and Highly Creative Science

Extraordinary creative activity has been characterized as revolutionary, flying in the face of what is established and producing not what is acceptable but what will become accepted. According to this formulation, highly creative activity transcends the limits of an existing form and establishes a new principle of organization. However, the idea that extraordinary creativity transcends established limits is misleading when it is applied to the arts, even though it may be valid for the science; Differences between highly creative art and highly creative science arise in part from a difference in their goal. For the sciences, a new theory is the goal and end result of the creative act. Innovative science produces new propositions in terms of which diverse phenomena can be related to one another in more coherent ways. Such phenomena as a brilliant diamond or a nesting bird are relegated to the role of date, serving as the means for formulating or testing a new theory. The goal of highly creative art is different: the phenomenon itself becomes the direct product of the creative act. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not a tract about the behavior of indecisive princes or the uses of political power, nor is Picasso’s painting Guernica primarily a prepositional statement about the Spanish Civil War or the evils of fascism. What ’highly creative activity produces is not a new generalization that ’transcends established limits, but rather an aesthetic particular. Aesthetic particulars produced by the highly creative artist extend or exploit, rather than transcend that form.
This is not to deny that a highly creative artist sometimes establishes a new principle of organization in the history of an artistic field; the composer Monteverdi, who created music of the highest aesthetic value, comes to mind. More generally, however, whether or not a composition establishes a new principle in the history of music has no bearing on its aesthetic worth. Because they embody a new principle of organization, some musical works, such as the operas of the Florentine Camerata, are of signal historical importance, but few listeners or musicologists would include these among the great works of music. On the other hand, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro(费加罗的婚礼) is surely among the masterpiece of music even though its modest innovations are confined to extending existing means. It has been said of Beethoven that he toppled the rules and freed music from the stifling confines of convention. But a close study of his composition reveals that Beethoven overturned no fundamental rules. Rather, he was an incomparable strategist who exploited limits of the rules, forms, and conventions that he inherited from predecessors such as Haydn and Mozart, Handel and Bach—in strikingly original ways.

What’s the best title of the passage（）

A:Formulating or Testing A New Theory B:Quotation of Accepted Rules C:Extraordinary Creative Activity D:Similarities between Highly Creative art and Highly Creative Science

Most people believe they don’t have much imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us, once we become adults, forget how to access it. Creativity isn’t always connected with great works of art or ideas. People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems. Maybe you have a goal to achieve, a tricky question to answer or you just want to expand your mind! Here are three techniques to help you.
This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them. First, think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do. Then find an image, word, idea or object ,for example, a candle. Write down all the ideas/words associated with candles: light, fire, matches, wax, night, silence, etc. Think of as many as you can. The next stage is to relate the ideas to the job you have to do. So imagine you want to buy a friend an original present; you could buy him tickets to a match or take him out for the night.
Imagine that normal limitations don’t exist. You have as much time/space/money, etc. as you want. Think about your goal and the new possibilities. If, for example, your goal is to learn to ski(滑 雪),you can now practice skiing every day of your life(because you have the time and the money). Now adapt this to reality. Maybe you can practice skiing every day in December, or every Monday in January.
Look at the situation from a different point of view. Good negotiators(谈判者)use this technique in business, and so do writers. Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books. They ask questions: what does this character want Why can’t she get it What changes must she make to get what she wants What does she dream about If your goal involves other people, put yourself "in their shoes". The best fishermen think like fish!
According to the passage, when we become adults,

A:we can still learn to be more creative. B:most of us are no longer creative. C:we are not as imaginative as children. D:we are unwilling to be creative.

Most people believe they don’t have much imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us, once we become adults, forget how to access it. Creativity isn’t always connected with great works of art or ideas. People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems. Maybe you have a goal to achieve, a tricky question to answer or you just want to expand your mind! Here are three techniques to help you.
This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them. First, think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do. Then find an image, word, idea or object ,for example, a candle. Write down all the ideas/words associated with candles: light, fire, matches, wax, night, silence, etc. Think of as many as you can. The next stage is to relate the ideas to the job you have to do. So imagine you want to buy a friend an original present; you could buy him tickets to a match or take him out for the night.
Imagine that normal limitations don’t exist. You have as much time/space/money, etc. as you want. Think about your goal and the new possibilities. If, for example, your goal is to learn to ski(滑 雪),you can now practice skiing every day of your life(because you have the time and the money). Now adapt this to reality. Maybe you can practice skiing every day in December, or every Monday in January.
Look at the situation from a different point of view. Good negotiators(谈判者)use this technique in business, and so do writers. Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books. They ask questions: what does this character want Why can’t she get it What changes must she make to get what she wants What does she dream about If your goal involves other people, put yourself "in their shoes". The best fishermen think like fish!
According to the passage, when we become adults,

A:we can still learn to be more creative. B:most of us are no longer creative. C:we are not as imaginative as children. D:we are unwilling to be creativ