Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on autopilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative implication. So it seems paradoxical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try—the more we step outside our comfort zone—the more inherently creative we become, both in the workplace and in our personal lives. But don’t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the brain, they’re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads. “The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of The Open Mind. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide’, just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider’.” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.” All of us work through problems in ways of which we’re unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960 discovered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At the end of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life. The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system—that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book This Year I Will ... and Ms. Markova’s business partner. “That’s a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you’re good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.” This is where developing new habits comes in.
真题出处：
2009年英语一text1
题目：
22. Brain researchers have discovered that the formation of new habits can be _______.[A] predicted[B] regulated[C] traced[D] guided
解析 本题是一道细节题，题干中的Brain researchers在第二段句②中原词重现，the formation of new habits是对句中develop new habits的同义替换，因此这句话就是本题的定位点。 该句指出，大脑研究人员发现，有意识地培养新习惯(consciously develop new habits)有利于创新思维的产生。紧接着第三段句①又提到，我们可以通过有意识地培养新习惯来引导自己的改变。 由此可见，人们可以有意识地去养成新习惯，即新习惯的形成是可以被引导的。故本题应选D，该选项是对原文consciously develop new habits的合理概括。 干扰选项分析： 原文没有提到对习惯进行“预测”或“控制”这些信息，选项A和B都属于无中生有，故排除。 选项C由第二段句②中的paths和tracks这两个可以表示“路径”的词推理出新习惯的形成可以被“追踪”，但paths指的是大脑的神经通路，tracks意在表明有意识地培养新习惯有利于创新思维的产生，由二者不能得出新习惯的形成可以被“追踪”这一结论，故排除该选项。
