Reversal—change your perspective and solve your problem
It’s often your definition of a problem that limits you in finding a suitable solution. Creative solutions require a change of perspective. 1 ．
The reversal technique is a creative thinking technique that is based on the thought that to change your perspective, you sometimes need to change the order of the words in your problem definition.
How you change the order of the words doesn’t matter much, as long as the key words are reversed. 2 ． Your challenge is “How do we make sure that fewer people take cars to their work?”. Swapping the key words, you could rephrase this challenge as “How do we make sure that fewer cars take people to their work?” In this case, the first statement will make you think of alternative means of transportation, like trains or bikes, while the second statement will probably make you think of solutions like carpooling—fewer cars for the same number of people.
Not every problem statement is suitable for a reversal. Sometimes using this technique requires you to first rephrase the question altogether. 3 ． For instance, the question “how might we sell more washing machines?” is not easily reversed—there is no key word to swap with “washing machines”. Yet, when you rephrase the question to “How might we sell more washing machines to young parents?” you can easily change it to “How might we sell more young parents to washing machines? 4 ． You could interpret this last sentence as “the washing machine pays the young parents to try it out”. Then, you could start communicating to potential buyers how much they will save each year when they choose your energy efficient washing machine.
As this example shows, some reversals will require a very flexible way of thinking. 5 ． However, thinking about the tiny amount of time it will “cost” you to try out a reversal, you have very little to lose and, potentially, lots to gain.
A ． The second problem statement is much more logical.
B ． Often it helps to add one more key word to the sentence.
C ． Rephrasing your challenge is to change the problem statement.
D ． A great way to do this is by “reversing” your problem statement.
E.For instance, imagine you are responsible for limiting the traffic jam in your area.
F.Admittedly, it is a very unusual challenge, but it might just stimulate a creative thought.
G.Not everyone will be able to move from an unreasonable statement to a useful solution.
1 ． D
2 ． E
3 ． B
4 ． F
5 ． G
【分析】
本文是一篇说明文。文章通过举例子介绍了一种解决问题的思维方式 —— 逆向思维，描述了它的好处和表现形式。
1 ．根据上文 “Creative solutions require a change of perspective. （创造性的解决方案需要改变观点。） ” 以及下文 “The reversal technique is a creative thinking technique （逆向技术是一种创造性思维技术） ” 可猜测，划线句写的是创造性的解决方案是逆向技术。 D 选项 “A great way to do this is by “reversing” your problem statement.” （一个很好的方法是 “ 颠倒 ” 你的问题陈述。）符合题意，故选 D 项。
2 ．根据上文 “How you change the order of the words doesn’t matter much, as long as the key words are reversed. （你如何改变单词的顺序并不重要，只要关键字颠倒过来就行。） ” 以及下文 “Your challenge is “How do we make sure that fewer people take cars to their work?”. Swapping the key words, you could rephrase this challenge as “How do we make sure that fewer cars take people to their work?””. （你面临的挑战是 “ 我们如何确保开车上班的人更少 ?” 换掉关键词，你可以把这个挑战重新表述为 “ 我们如何确保更少的车载着人们去上班 ?” ） ” 可知，本段是在举关键字颠倒过来的例子，并且有关于道路交通。 E 选项 “For instance, imagine you are responsible for limiting the traffic jam in your area.” （例如，设想你要负责限制你所在地区的交通堵塞。）符合题意，故选 E 项。
3 ．根据前文 “Sometimes using this technique requires you to first rephrase the question altogether. （有时使用这个技巧需要你首先重新表达问题。） ” 以及下文 “For instance, the question “how might we sell more washing machines?” is not easily reversed—there is no key word to swap with “washing machines”. （例如， “ 我们如何才能卖出更多的洗衣机 ?” 没有一个关键词可以和 “ 洗衣机 ” 互换。） ” 可知，重新表达问题与关键词有关。 B 选项 “Often it helps to add one more key word to the sentence.” （通常，在句子中再加一个关键词是有帮助的。）符合题意，故选 B 项。
4 ．根据前文 “Yet, when you rephrase the question to “How might we sell more washing machines to young parents?” you can easily change it to “How might we sell more young parents to washing machines? （然而，当你把这个问题重新表述为 “ 我们如何才能向年轻的父母出售更多洗衣机 ?” 你可以很容易地把它改成 “ 我们如何才能让更多的年轻父母喜欢洗衣机 ?” ） ” 可知，这种办法可以激发创造性思维。 F 选项 “Admittedly, it is a very unusual challenge, but it might just stimulate a creative thought.” （诚然，这是一个非常不寻常的挑战，但它可能会激发创造性思维。）符合题意，故选 F 项。
5 ．根据前文 “As this example shows, some reversals will require a very flexible way of thinking. （正如这个例子所示，一些反转将需要非常灵活的思维方式。） ” 以及后文 “However, thinking about the tiny amount of time it will “cost” you to try out a reversal, you have very little to lose and, potentially, lots to gain. （然而，考虑一下你尝试逆转的时间 “ 成本 ” ，你不会损失什么，但潜在地，你会得到很多。） ” 可猜测，做出这些反转很困难，要耗脑力。 G 选项 “Not everyone will be able to move from an unreasonable statement to a useful solution.” （不是每个人都能从一个不合理的陈述变成一个有用的解决方案。）符合题意，故选 G 项。
