READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage 1.

The Creativity Myth

A later university and then work, teach us
It is a myth that creative people are born to regulate our lives, imposing a
with their talents: gifts from God or continuous process of restrictions which
nature. Creative genius is, in fact, latent is increasing exponentially with the
within many of us, without our realising. advancement of technology. Is it
But how far do we need to travel to find surprising then that creative ability
the path to creativity? For many people, appears to be so rare? It is trapped in the
a long way. In our everyday lives, we prison that we have erected. Yet, even
have to perform many acts out of habit here in this hostile environment, the
to survive, like opening the door, foundations for creativity are being laid;
shaving, getting dressed, walking to because setting off on the creative path is
work, and so on. If this were not the case, also partly about using rules and
we would, in all probability, become regulations. Such limitations are needed
mentally unhinged. So strongly so that once they are learnt, they can be
ingrained are our habits, though this broken.
varies from person to person, that
sometimes, when a conscious effort is
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made to be creative, automatic response
The truly creative mind is often seen as
takes over. We may try, for example, to
totally free and unfettered. But a better
walk to work following a different route,
image is of a mind, which can be free
but end up on our usual path. By then it
when it wants, and one that recognises
is too late to go back and change our
that rules and regulations are
minds. Another day perhaps. The same
parameters, or barriers, to be raised and
applies to all other areas of our lives.
dropped again at will. An example of how
When we are solving problems, for
the human mind can be trained to be
example, we may seek different answers,
creative might help here. People's minds
but, often as not, find ourselves walking
are just like tense muscles that need to be
along the same well-trodden paths.
freed up and the potential unlocked. One
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strategy is to erect artificial barriers or
So, for many people, their actions and
hurdles in solving a problem. As a form of
behaviour are set in immovable blocks,
stimulation, the participants in the task
their minds clogged with the cholesterol
can be forbidden to use particular
of habitual actions, preventing them from
solutions or to follow certain lines of
operating freely, and thereby stifling
thought to solve a problem. In this way
creation. Unfortunately, mankind's very
they are obliged to explore unfamiliar
struggle for survival has become a
territory, which may lead to some
tyranny - the obsessive desire to give
startling discoveries. Unfortunately, the
order to the world is a case in point.
difficulty in this exercise, and with
Witness people's attitude to time, social
creation itself, is convincing people that
customs and the panoply of rules and
creation is possible, shrouded as it is in
regulations by which the human mind is
so much myth and legend. There is also
now circumscribed.
an element of fear involved, however
C
subliminal, as deviating from the safety
The groundwork for keeping creative
of one's own thought patterns is very
ability in check begins at school. School,
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much akin to madness. But, open atoms floating around and then forming a
Pandora's Box and a whole new world molecule. Once the idea has been formed,
unfolds before your very eyes. it needs to be contained or it will fly
away, so fleeting is its passage. The mind
needs to hold it in place for a time so that
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it can recognise it or call on it again. And
Lifting barriers into place also plays a
then the parameters can act as channels
major part in helping the mind to control
along which the ideas can flow,
ideas rather than letting them collide at
developing and expanding. When the
random. Parameters act as containers for
mind has brought the idea to fruition by
ideas, and thus help the mind to fix on
thinking it through to its final conclusion,
them. When the mind is thinking
the parameters can be brought down and
laterally, and two ideas from different
the idea allowed to float off and come in
areas of the brain come or are brought
contact with other ideas.
together, they form a new idea, just like

Questions 1 - 5

Reading Passage 1 has five paragraphs, A-E. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1) the way parameters in the mind help people to be creative

2) the need to learn rules in order to break them
3) how habits restrict us and limit creativity
4) how to train the mind to be creative
5) how the mind is trapped by the desire for order

Questions 6 - 10
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

6) According to the writer, creative people

A are usually born with their talents.

B are born with their talents.
C are not born with their talents.
D are geniuses.
7) According to the writer, creativity is

A a gift from God or nature.

B an automatic response.
C difficult for many people to achieve.
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 D a well-trodden path.

8) According to the writer

A the human race's fight to live is becoming tyranny.

B the human brain is blocked with cholesterol.
C the human race is now circumscribed by talents.
D the human race's fight to survive stifles creative ability.

9) Advancing technology
A holds creativity in check.
B improves creativity.
C enhances creativity.
D is a tyranny.

10) According to the author, creativity

A is common.
B is increasingly common.
C is becoming rarer and rarer.
D is a rare commodity.

Questions 11 - 14
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer?
In boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet write

YES if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

NO if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about the statement in the passage

11) Rules and regulations are examples of parameters.

12) The truly creative mind is associated with the need for free speech and a totally free society.
13) One problem with creativity is that people think it is impossible.
14) The act of creation is linked to madness.