Do you want to be productive（富有成效的）at work or at home? Here's what you should do.

Turn off television

    I used to tell myself that I needed a break. So, when the kids slept I turned on the cable and watched whatever program that caught my fancy. Often, I found myself not watching, just channel-surfing. And I didn't end up watching a full program. I decided one day to just give up on TV as it made me sleep late and woke up exhausted（疲惫的）.

    If you want to be productive, cut off TV. You are better off reading a book. Without TV, I have managed to finish many books which I have bought but never read.

Limit Internet Use

    The other big distraction that can make you sleep late is the Internet. Probably because you will be checking your emails, updating your blog, watching YouTube, etc. Try limiting the use of it at home, or switch it to the morning session.

    Nowadays, I check all my personal emails early in the morning. When I get into work, I find myself less tempted to check personal emails.

Know Your Priorities(优先考虑的事)

    Really, it is all about the choices you make and the priorities you have. If you know it is competitive out there in the world, how can you be a better worker than the person who is also aiming for the position above you?

Rest Early, Rise Early

    You want to be productive? Rise early, read more books, have more energy, be more focused and set standards for others to catch up. It's as simple as that.

    What is a big dream? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Or, is a big dream something that provides only entertainment? Children dream big dreams, but there are three barriers to realizing dreams. They often kill them before they ever have a chance to grow.

The Self

    Immediately following the birth of a big dream, a negative self-talk takes over and gives all the reasons why it cannot happen. This inside voice is the ego (自我). It's there for protecting and should be listened to. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Most people are influenced by the inside voice. That's why only a handful of people make their dream come true.

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    Family and friends are a lot like the ego. They want to protect those they love, so they will often list all the reasons why the big dreams won't come true. Sometimes, family and friends destroy dreams of those they love most, out of their own fear of being left behind.

The World

    If one gets past the first two barriers, one has to face the world.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} In the past, big dreamers were locked up and sometimes even killed when they were shown to the world. Fortunately, in most of the world today, big dreamers just get laughed at.

    The way to realize a big dream is with confidence and action. When children have confidence and then take action, they will be ready to accept any failure. The truth is that every great dreamer whose dreams have never seen the light of success knows failure well.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Family and Friends.

B. How big Dreams Die.

C. Does a big dream show one's future?

D. They simply fail until they succeed.

E. it is the last and the most terrible barrier.

F. Sometimes it is right, but more often it is wrong.

G. And their big dream is to be a rock star or a famous artist.

    I was playing in my kitchen. My mom stood in front of me, hardly keeping the tears from spilling over. She told me that my little cousin had cancer. Hearing this, I went completely numb. How could this be happening? I had just seen her, and she was fine.

    These things didn't happen to our family, that's what my uncle said. It seemed like the world turned upside down; just last week my grandmother had passed away. I felt like I couldn't get my feet on solid ground.

    That's when my sister, Ella, came down the stairs with her long brown hair freshly washed. She sat next to me and smiled. Despite what was happening, everything would work out, her smile seemed to say.

    “Mom, do you think I could get my hair cut tomorrow?” Ella asked.

    “Sure,” Mom said, starting to wash the dishes.

    “I want to donate it to Locks of Love” Ella smiled.

    My mom stopped washing and turned to look at her. “Are you sure?” I noticed that Mom was holding back tears. This was a sacrifice(牺牲) for Ella. Her long hair was an important part of her.

    “Yeah, it's just hair. Eventually it will grow back.” She said.

    “All right,” Mom said quietly, smiling again.

    Ella gave up a part of herself for a while. She let a piece of herself go to someone else, someone she didn't know. That day she became my hero too.

    Grandparents Answer a Call

    As a third-generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away. Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused. Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms. Garza finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.

    No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence (证据) suggesting that the trend (趋势) is growing. Even President Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study by grandparents.com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson's decision will influence grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama's family.

    “In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough or fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,” says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand, a magazine for grandparents. “We now realize how important family is and how important it is to be near them, especially when you're raising children.”

    Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices (牺牲), but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.

    Many animal and plant species have become extinct and many more are in critical danger. Finding ways to protect the earth's wildlife and conserve the natural world they inhabit (居住) is now more important than ever.

    Dodo

    The Dodo is a classic example of how human caused damage to the earth's biology. The flightless Dodo was native to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It lived off fruit fallen from the island's trees and lived unthreatened until humans arrived in 1505. The easily controlled bird became a source of food for sailors and was attacked by animals introduced to the island by humans such as pigs, monkeys and rats. The population of Dodos rapidly decreased and the last one was killed in 1681.

    Rhinos

    The Rhino (犀牛) horn is a highly prized item for Asian medicine. This has led to the animal being hunted in its natural habitat. Once widespread in Africa and Eurasia, most Rhinos now live in protected natural parks and reserves (保护区). Their numbers have rapidly decreased in the last 50 years, and the animals remain under constant threat from poachers (偷猎者).

    The Giant Panda

    The future of the World Wildlife Fund's symbol is far from certain. As few as 1, 000 remain in the wild. The Chinese government has set up 33 panda reserves to protect these beautiful animals and made poaching them punishable with 20 years in prison. However, the panda's distinct black and white patched coat fetches a high price on the black market and determined poachers still pose (造成) one of the most serious threats to the animals continued existence.

    Whales

    The International Whaling Commission is fighting to ensure the survival of the whale species. Despite the fact that one-third the world's oceans have been declared whale sanctuaries (保护区), 7 out of 13 whale species remain endangered. Hunted for their rich supply of oil, their numbers have decreased to just 300. Collisions with ships, poisonous pollution and being caught in fishing nets are other major causes of whale deaths.

    Tigers

    The last 100 years has seen a 95% reduction in the numbers of remaining tigers to between 5, 000 and 7, 000 and the Bali, Javan, and Caspian tigers are already extinct. The South China tiger is precariously close to disappearing, with only 20 to 30 still alive. Like the Rhino horn, tigers' bones and organs are sought after for traditional Chinese medicines. These items are traded illegally along with tiger skins.

    It started during a yoga class. She felt a strange pull on her neck, a feeling completely foreign to her. Her friend suggested she rush to the emergency room. It turned out that she was having a heart attack.

    She didn't share similar symptoms with someone who was likely to have a heart attack. She exercised, watched her plate and did not smoke. But on reviewing her medical history, I found that her cholesterol (胆固醇) level was sky-high. She had been prescribed a cholesterol-lowering statin (他汀) medication, but she never picked up the prescription because of the scary things she had read about statins on the Internet. She was the victim of fake medical news.

    While misinformation has been the object of great attention in politics, medical misinformation might lead to an increase in deaths. As is true with fake news in general, medical lies tend to spread further than truths on the Internet—and they have very real bad consequences.

    False medical information can also lead to patients experiencing greater side effects through the "nocebo effect (反安慰剂效应) ". Sometimes patients benefit from an intervention (干预) simply because they believe they will—that's the placebo effect (安慰剂效应). The nocebo effect is the opposite. Patients can experience harmful effects because they anticipate them. This is very true of statins. In blinded trials, patients who get statins are no more likely to report feeling muscle aches than patients who get a placebo. Yet, in clinical practice, according to one study, almost a fifth of patients taking statins report side effects, leading many to discontinue the drugs.

    What else is on the fake news hit list? As always, vaccines (疫苗) . False concerns that the vaccine may cause side effects have greatly reduced coverage rates.

    Cancer is another big target for pushers of medical misinformation—many of whom refuse alternative therapies. "Though most people think cancer tumors are bad, they're actually the way your body attempts to contain the harmful cells," one fake news story reads. It warns that prescription medications lead to the uncontrolled cell mutations (变异) .

    Silicon Valley needs to face this problem. I am not a free-speech lawyer, but when human health is at risk, perhaps search engines, social media platforms and websites should be held responsible for promoting or hosting fake information. Meanwhile, journalists should do a better job of spreading accurate information.