I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: Seize the moment. Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it. Don't have it on their schedule, and didn't know it was coming or they are too strict to depart from their routine.

    I can't count the times I called my sister and said, “How about going to lunch in half an hour?” She would gasp and stammer(结结巴巴地说), “I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known it yesterday, I had a late breakfast, and it looks like rain.” And my personal favorite response: “It's just Monday.” She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

    Life has a way of going faster as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises made to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we are awaken, and all have to show for our lives is repetition of “I'm going to”, “I plan on” and “Someday, when things are settled down a bit.”

    When anyone calls my “seize the moment” friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for a while, and you're ready to change your attitude to life.

    My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to, not something on your SHOULD DO list.

    One of the biggest problems when we are talking is the awkward silence. Encountering this situation is so uncomfortable that you would avoid meeting new people in the first place. In the past, I struggled with this and I even thought it had to do with my DNA or something… But later I learned that once you know how to keep those words flowing, you can meet and talk to anyone you like, which helps create great possibilities for friendship, fun and shared activities that you would otherwise have missed out on.

    After studying this in depth, I had different opinions and found that one of these common behaviors is the habit of filtering (过滤)--holding back from saying something until you've "checked" to make sure that what you're about to say is cool, impressive and interesting. Another problem is not learning to get in the mood for conversation. If you don't know how to change from subjects, then it can take a lot of time to warm up.

    It is the reflex (习惯性思维) that allows you to say whatever goes on in your mind. It's fun to realize that you're allowed to say whatever is on your mind. As long as you don't say anything that could land you in jail (监狱).

    All of the "Oh! That's interesting…" "Hmm, I've never heard of that" "Hmm, cool!" expressions are reactionary (保守的) bits of conversation that prove to the other person that you're really listening. This works 99% of the time. So, if you show some interest, they'll hang around and want to talk to you even more.

    Everyone knows that stories juice-up conversations, but most people only talk about stories of their own lives. When someone mentions something related to any of them, just tell the story, even if it's not from your life. The more interesting, stranger or more frightening they are, the harder they are to forget.

    For many people, the “golden years” are a time to slow down and recall past achievements. Nola Ochs—a Guinness record holder as the world's oldest college graduate at the age of 95—saw age as an opportunity to take on new challenges and satisfy unfulfilled goals.

    Born in 1911 in Illinois, Nola always loved learning. She was a good student who graduated from high school in 1929 and began college via correspondence course（函授课程）from Fort Hays State University in Kansas. After getting the degree of the college, she taught in county schools for four years before marrying her husband, Vernon Ochs.

    Soon, the realities of farming stopped any thoughts of furthering her education, though Nola lived a good, full life on the farm, raising four sons. She always yearned to learn more about the world she lived in, but not until after Vernon died in 1972, did Nola consider resuming her formal education.

    “I just thought something off the farm would be fun,” Nola explained. “Really, I had no thought of ever graduating. For 10 years, I just took classes that were of interest to me, mostly history and composition. And then one of the professors came to me and told me if I would take college algebra, I would have enough credit hours to graduate. And I finally made it.”

    For most people, graduating at the age of 95 with a 3.7 GPA might be enough of an accomplishment, but not for Nola. In May 2010, at the age of 98, Nola Ochs received her master's degree, making her the oldest person to receive that distinction.

By the time Nola passed away in 2016, at the incredible age of 105, she had achieved her goal of writing a book about her life experiences. At one point in the process, when asked for her life advice, she said, “Buy the plane ticket!” She meant that people should take advantage of life's opportunities and not wait until tomorrow.

    Nelson Mandela is respected and admired around the world. And to South Africans he is a superstar. He is a hero who shocked the world by fighting for peace between races, despite the 27 years he spent in the prison of the South Africa's white, racist regime (种族主义政权).

    Mandela who won the nation's first all-race elections after the fall of apartheid (种族隔离) in 1994, retired in 1999. But he remains as popular as ever. His popularity has inspired an entire national industry. His portrait (肖像) has appeared at many places, including on some goods. His face has appeared on a South African coin, and some business leaders hope to build a statue in his likeness—the Statue of Freedom. It would stand taller than New York's Statue of Liberty.

    “His popularity is similar to that of John F. Kennedy with US or Winston Churchill in Britain, but few politicians in his times have achieved his level of admiration,” said Tom Lodge, head of the political science department of the University of the Witwatersrand, “What a skilled performer Mandela has been throughout his political career! He's a very, very clever man.”

    However, he is far from perfect. Most articles for his birthday, which appeared in every major South African newspaper on the day, briefly mentioned that Mandela did have his shortcomings.

    Then they returned to their flowing praises. “Through the ages, the human race has had its icons (偶像)—men and women who rose above ordinary people to inspire their generations,” The Mail and Guardian Weekly said. “In our generation, the gods presented us Nelson Mandela.”

    If you're looking at diving for the first time in Papua New Guinea, believe everything you have read about our world-class waters.

    Called the "underwater photographer's paradise", we've got many international awards for underwater photography taken here. In our oceans you'll see up to twice as many marine species as the waters of the Red Sea and up to five times as many as the Caribbean. Our waters enjoy a huge diversity of dive sites, including reefs, coral walls, seagrass beds, and wreck dive sites (ships, aircraft and submarines!).

    Must see

    Dive down to a fully complete Japanese fighter plane in Kimbe Bay, known also for soft coral and unusual creatures.

    Experience "Muck Diving", which puts Papua New Guinea on the map, in Milne Bay.

    Explore our surfing destinations from October to April. Relatively new to international surf enthusiasts, our breaks at Vanimo, Wewak, Madang and Kavieng are quickly becoming known for being uncrowded, challenging and entertaining for days!

    Want to book a "Muck Diving"? Call 00675-374.

    Want to dive to see fighter plane? Call 00675-325.

    Where to stay

    Papua New Guinea has accommodation to suit every budget and need. From privacy-protected hideaways to family-friendly escapes, book your business package or luxury resort knowing you'll be well looked after.

    Want to find a suitable hotel? Call 00677-366.

    Further information

    Dive coaches offer both land-based (one day, three dives) and live-aboard dive tours (7-10 days, up to five dives a day).

    The average water temperature varies from 25℃ along the edge of the Coral Sea to 29℃in the Bismarck Sea.

    You can dive in Papua New Guinea all year round, with the high season generally from May to November.

    Want to get yourself a professional dive coach? Call 00652-392.

    For high school leavers starting out in the working world, it is very important to learn particular skills and practice how to behave in an interview or how to find an internship (实习). In some countries, schools have programs to help students onto the path to work. In the United States, however, such programs are still few and far between.

    Research shows that if high schools provide career-relat­ed courses, students are likely to get higher earnings in later years. The students are more likely to stay in school, graduate and go on to higher education.

    In Germany, students as young as 13 and 14 are expected to do internships. German companies work with schools to make sure that young people get the education they need for future employment.

    But in America, education reform programs focus on how well students do in exams instead of bringing them into contact with the working world. Harvard Education school professor Robert Schwartz has criticized education reformers for trying to place all graduates directly on the four-year college track. Schwartz argued that this approach leaves the country's most vulnerable (易受影响的)kids with no jobs and no skills.

    Schwartz believed that the best career programs encour­age kids to go for higher education while also teaching them valuable practical skills at high school. James Madison High School in New York, for example, encourages students to choose classes on career-based courses. The school then helps them gain on-the-job experience in those fields while they're still at high school.

    However, even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work, the job market is daunting. In the US，unemployment rates for 16-to 19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row.

"The risk is that if teenagers miss out on the summer job experience, they become part of this generation of teens who had trouble in landing a job," said Michael, a researcher in the US.