Most people believe they don't have imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us，once we became 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, 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 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!
小题1:According to the passage, when we become adults, _________ .
A．most of us are no longer creative
B．we can still learn to be more creative
C．we are not as imaginative as children
D．we are unwilling to be creative小题2:The second technique suggests that you just imagine
A．setting a goal is as simple as skiing
B．new possibilities will soon appear
C．December and January are the best months for skiing.
D．you have every resource to achieve your goal小题3:The phrase “put yourself in their shoes” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______ .
A．dress yourself like them
B．think as they would
C．do as they ask you to
D．put on their shoes小题4:We learn from the third technique that a good salesman should ask himself “ _________ ?”.
A．what do I usually do
B．what did my boss tell me to do
C．what are my customers' needs
D．how should I sell my products
