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.

    How do actors and actresses memorize hundreds of lines? Memorizing lines takes practice and constant repetition. However, there are a few ways to make the memorization process run smoothly and quickly.   

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    For most performers, there is no quicker way of memorizing lines. To learn lines, an actor must recite the play loud over and over again. Most rehearsals(彩排) encourage this by running through the lines or having a ＂read through＂. By the time opening night arrives, most actors have spoken their lines hundreds of times.

Listen to your cast members.

    Sometimes inexperienced actors spend rehearsals looking at fellow performers, waiting patiently to say their next line. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} This will help the actor learn his lines better because the context of the dialogue is absorbed.

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    Because there is often not enough rehearsal time, many performers find ways to listen to the play's dialogue during everyday activities. They use a tape recorder or an MP3 player to listen to the lines from each relevant scene. Some actors prefer to record the lines of all the characters, including their own. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  Others like recording the lines of fellow cast members, and they leave a blank space so that they can insert their dialogue while listening to the recording.

Think positively and don't panic.

    Most actors will experience stage fright before the opening night. Actors forget lines now and then. When it happens, however, most of the time the audience never notice. If you forget a line in the middle of your performance, don't freeze. Stay in character. Keep the scene going to the best of your ability. If unfortunately you forget a line once, you will probably never forget that line ever again. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Record your lines.

B. Practice makes perfect.

C. Read lines loud and repeat them.

D. Read lines loud and remember them in a short time.

E. Sometimes embarrassment is the toughest method of memorization.

F. Then, they not only listen carefully, but they also speak all of the lines.

G. Instead, they should be listening carefully, responding in character at all times.

Four benefits of writing by hand

    Today is National Handwriting Day! Although we don't write like we used to, here are four ways handwriting is still helpful.

    It's better for learning.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} That's because putting ink to paper stimulates (刺激) the brain. One study from 2010 found that the brain areas related to learning “lit up” much more when kids were asked to write words like “spaceship” by hand versus just studying the word closely.

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    Many famous authors prefer writing by hand to the use of a typewriter or computer. Writer Susan Sontag once said that she penned her first drafts (草稿) before typing them up for editing later. She said, “{#blank#}3{#/blank#}” A 2009 study seems to support Sontag's preference for writing by hand: Elementary school students who wrote essays with a pen not only wrote more than their keyboard-tapping friends, but they also wrote faster and in more complete sentences.

    It will prevent you from being distracted (分心).

    The computer in front of you is really a distraction. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} In 2012, scientists even suggested that taking five-minute breaks to browse Tumblr or BuzzFeed could make you a more productive worker. However, when it's time to work on that essay, have only a pen and paper in front of you.

    It keeps your brain sharp as you get older.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} According to The Wall Street Journal, some physicians say that the act of writing is good exercise for those who want to keep their minds sharp as they age.

A. It makes you a better writer.

B. Writing is good for your brain.

C. Of course, the Internet isn't all bad.

D. I like the slowness of writing by hand.

E. Try writing by hand at least 20 minutes each day.

F. Many writers have a preference for writing by hand.

G. One of the most effective ways to study is to rewrite your notes by hand.

Testing the five-second rule

    You may have seen a friend drop food on the floor, pick it up, and eat it, while declaring, “Five-second rule! ” It's said that food dropped on the floor for five seconds or less is still likely to be clean. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Students at Britain's Aston University, led by microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, tested the rule and found it to have some scientific basis. The study's results show that food dropped for five seconds is less likely to contain bacteria than if it sits there for longer, according to Hilton.

    The students also found that the type of flooring where the dropped food lands has an effect. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Bacteria are most likely to transfer from tiled (铺瓷砖的) surfaces to moist food when the food has stood there for more than five seconds.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Therefore, consumers should still be cautious. “However, the findings of this study will bring some light relief to those who have been employing the five-second rule for years, despite a general consensus that it is purely a myth,” professor Hilton said in a statement.

    The research team at Aston also surveyed 500 people to find out who employs the five-second rule. Of the people surveyed, 87% said they would eat food dropped on the floor, or have done so in the past. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} “Our study showed people are also more likely to follow the five-second rule, which our research has shown to be much more than an old wives' tale,” Hilton says.

    Still, scientists say you should be careful about eating food dropped on the floor, especially if you have doubts about the cleanliness of the surface. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. But is that true?

B. Carpeted surfaces posed the lowest risk.

C. Of those people, the majority were women.

D. We've just lost our last excuse to eat food off the floor.

E. Usually people recover from the infection in five to ten days.

F. There is still a risk of infection if certain bacteria are present on the dropped surface.

G. A biologist points out that one in six Americans get sick from food poisoning every year.

    Entering a university is an important part of a person's life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine or education. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} An important one started in Egypt over one thousand years ago.

    The world's oldest surviving university, AL-Azhar, is in Cario, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque for religion (宗教寺院) in A.D.972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque. They read and talked about the subject of religion and law. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Leaders in the city of Cario decided to create a school for higher learning and soon after that, and AL-Azhar University was founded.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For these teachers at AL-Azhar, they needed to think about what courses to teach and how to teach them. The earliest courses were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teachers, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers had interesting discussions, and there was no ‘right' answer. In the years that followed, the new university interested scholars from around the world. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} At AL-Azhar, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.

    Over a thousand years later, AL-Azhar is still an important university in the world. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Today, many of the world's most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the same traditions as they do at AL-Azhar.

A. However, the university is not a modern invention.

B.There are many reasons to study in Egypt.

C.They came here to teach and do research.

D.Around the year 988, a new decision was made.

E. Its library contains many of the world's oldest and most valuable books.

F. The cost of university education is increasing year by year.

G. A university was a new idea at that time.

    Our world is more connected than ever before thanks to technology.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly important that we all learn how to deal with this painful feeling.

    You should be determined to actively end your loneliness. We often end up passively waiting for someone else to make us feel less lonely. You may feel that your loneliness indicates that nobody is willing to connect with you. And there is nothing you can do about it. But that is far from the truth.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    You should find reasons why you are lonely. We all feel lonely for different reasons. Some of us have no one else to interact(互动) with on a consistent basis and that's why we feel lonely. You may feel that the people in your life don't share your thoughts and ideas.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, you need to identify it. And you know exactly how to handle your loneliness.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. People who are lonely tend to fall into destructive mental habits. They try to avoid the pain of not being understood and being disconnected by not giving people any chance to understand and connect with them. That's not what you should choose to do. Instead, you should share your thoughts and feelings with others and do so openly and fearlessly.

    You should find people who share your interests.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, everybody is interested in something. And just as there are many interests, there are many people who share those interests. Find what interests you and connect with others on that basis.

A. Whatever the reason is

B. Whether it's coin collecting or video games

C. If you have no reason to share your interests

D. You should be true to yourself or actively end loneliness

E. You should be open about your thoughts, ideas and desires

F. Ending loneliness is something that you can and should do actively

G. However, more and more of us find ourselves having to stand loneliness