You want to be happy, who doesn't? However, whether you procrastinate(拖延), feed negative self-talk, or don't rest your mind, you lower your potential to create happiness.

Procrastination

    You aren't in deadly danger if you procrastinate, but your system doesn't always take this information on board. You still react as though you are anxious and produce stress chemicals.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Your ability to see the big picture of life is reduced when you procrastinate. Therefore, you don't see as much joy.

Negative self-talk

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Taking notice of what goes on in your head and putting positive change in action makes negative self-talk useful. Nevertheless, most people don't recognize negative self-talk as a pointer; they feed it until it grows out of control.

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    Your mind contains an incredible amount of information and is more powerful than any computer many times over. However, if you give it too many tasks, you shut out peace of mind.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Thought-overload results in physical symptoms, like a racing heart and shortness of breath. Additionally, you might have sleeplessness, digestive problems and other symptoms of stress that reduce your happiness.

    If you want to increase the odds of being happy, don't procrastinate. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Similarly, don't overload your mind, give it a rest and you will soon notice you are happier.

    Sarah Hutchins has won a prize from Amazon.com in a competition for young inventors. She invented “camoculars”! Now what are “camoculars”?  Camoculars are binoculars(双筒望远镜) and a camera combined. Amazon.com, a web company, organized a competition for young inventors. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Sarah was at a concert when she thought of her invention. “I was sitting a long way from the stage and I was watching the band through my binoculars. While I was watching, I thought,' {#blank#}2{#/blank#} 'Then I got an idea. Why not have binoculars with a camera inside them?”

    When she got home, she took some plastic binoculars and a cheap camera and put them together. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} So Sarah sent her idea to Amazon.com and two months later, she got a surprise. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They didn't give her the top prize in the competition, but she won $1,000 and a trip to New York.

    People are already asking Sarah what she is going to invent next. “I don't know,” says Sarah. “If you just sit there and think, you won't invent anything, because you get ideas at strange moments. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Sarah likes music very much.

B. I'd love to be able to take a picture of this!

C. Amazon.com phoned to say that she was a winner.

D. I have always dreamed of travelling around New York.

E. The only thing you can do is keep your eyes and ears open!

F. Her sister was watching her and told her about the competition.

G. Sarah was one of thousands of young people who took part in this competition.

    How Can I Fight Laziness?

    Lazy people will never amount to anything in life. However, laziness can be defeated once a few changes have been made in your mind.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Many people lack sleep constantly, since they stay up too late and get up too early to prepare for work. These people have little motivation once they arrive home. Laziness works hand in hand with a lack of motivation and a tendency (趋势) to put off things. By adjusting your sleep schedule to provide a few more hours of meaningful rest, you can fight laziness throughout the day.

    Another way to fight laziness is to change your mind from passive to active. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Others take a more active approach, viewing each task as a challenge they must overcome alone. Laziness sets in when you no longer feel in charge of your own life.

    Some people fight laziness by removing the temptations (诱惑) that surround them. A television in the living room may provide entertainment. However, watching too much TV in your spare time often contributes to laziness. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Complete a few tasks and reward yourself with what you enjoy, such as a good dinner or a film. Laziness can also be a lasting problem at home. Couples and children may all have different energy levels, but laziness can be spread if not dealt with immediately. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Be the first to collect and wash dishes after a meal. Others in the home may eventually follow your example and perform their own task. It is difficult to practice laziness when you are surrounded by motivated people.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Enough exercise and a balanced diet can enable you to have more energy and help lift your spirits.

A. To fight family laziness, set an example.

B. Knowing how to fight laziness is important.

C. One way to fight laziness is to get enough sleep.

D. Finally, developing a healthy lifestyle can help you fight laziness.

E. With strong determination (意志力), you will be able to achieve your goal.

F. Some people treat their lives as if they were pushed from task to task.

G. Create a reward system for yourself, just as parents do for a child.

Time is on your side

    How frequently do you say "I don't have time"? Quite often, I guess. Every time we say those words, they make us feel weak and out of control. You are in control of your hours and your life. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    I know it's not as easy as simply turning off the TV. But here are two steps that will help you take back control and get time on your side.

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    Be honest: do you spend an hour or two visiting Weixin and QQ every day? Are you spending time with people that you don't really like just to please them? Are there meetings you attend that you can politely refuse?

    It's time to get real about the hours that add up to a lot of dissatisfying nothing. Think how you can cancel daily activities that are not useful. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Change your language.

    Words matter. They have power. Saying "I don't have time" is an excuse for not wanting to do something. Here are some good, empowering alternatives (选择):

    "I choose not to start that project until next year."

    "{#blank#}4{#/blank#}"

    "I'd love to go out this weekend but have important work I need to do first."

    Get better at saying no. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Use little pockets of time (friend running late, car stuck in traffic, meeting ending 10 minutes early) to do some productive thinking. All these things can add up over time more than you believe!

A. Identify your blocks.

B. But you are likely wasting a lot of it!

C. I really don't have enough time to do it.

D. Replace them with things that satisfy you.

E. Take no notice of all those unimportant messages on your phone.

F. I'd love to read that book — I'll get to it after my homework is complete!

G. When you don't have a plan for your life, someone else will plan it for you.

    Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} We know that, while awake, fresh memories are recorded by reinforcing (加强) connections between brain cells, but the memory processes that take place while we sleep have been unclear.

    Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons (神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} The synapses in the mice taken at the end of a period of sleep were 18 per cent smaller than those taken before sleep, showing that the connections between neurons weaken while sleeping.

    If Tononi's theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night's, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.

    Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} “You keep what matters,” Tononi says.

A. We should also try to sleep well the night before.

B. It's as if the brain is preserving its most important memories.

C. That's why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning.

D. Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick.

E. The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories.

F. Tononi's team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice.

G. “Sleep is the price we pay for learning,” says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea.

    Since the 1980s eco-tourism has grown and grown. It is the fastest growing type of tourism.

    If done well, eco-tourism has several advantages. It is kinder to the environment. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This means that more natural habitat is protected and that the resources for building come from sustainable (可持续的) sources. Another advantage is that people in the developed world through eco-tourism get to experience places of great natural importance as well as communicating with local people. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    However, there are some disadvantages of eco-tourism. It is felt by some environmentalists that any human activity will cause disorder in the routine of animals. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Another problem for local people is that they are expected to pose for cameras and dance etc. for money. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The tourists are destroying the culture that they are paying to protect.

    Eco-tourism tries to go to the places far away from other communities. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}There is nothing stopping people taking money from tourists as well as doing environmentally unfriendly activities.

    It seems that the disadvantages often outweigh the advantages of eco-tourism. It might be better to take pictures of animals rather than kill animals, but given the choice the animals would sooner not have people around. It seems whether eco-tourism should be allowed should be judged case-by-case, and that the local people must be considered.

A. These places are often not well policed.

B. People walking through the forest may do much harm.

C. And these activities will also damage the eco-system.

D. It seldom ends people to untouched parts of the world.

E. This is good for both parties: they both can better understand each other.

F. And it encourages developers to consider the natural environment more.

G. It discourages the local people from pursuing their traditional life styles.