Too many of us are waiting too long to live our best lives. We keep putting everything off until tomorrow. Then, before we know it, we find ourselves asking, "How did it get so late so soon?"

    So we'd better make today the beginning of our new life. Take time to realize what we want and need. Take time to love, laugh, cry, and learn. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are five things we should start doing today:

    Accept ourselves. The secret to happiness and success is the acceptance of ourselves. We will never become who we want to be if we rely on everyone else to qualify us.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} So always go with ourselves, never against ourselves. Be who we were created to be and we will set the world on fire.

    Make ourselves a priority. To tell the truth, there are only a few people in this world who will stay 100% true to us, so we should stay true to ourselves. Put our own needs into the list of things to do.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Don't sit back and let things happen to us. Go out and make things happen. We are what we do, not what we say we'll do. Stop saying "I wish" and start saying "I will". Turn our dreams into plans.

    Do the work. We can't underestimate(低估) a person who always works hard. Be that person.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Always remember that the task ahead of us is never greater than the strength within us. Do what's right, not what's easy. Our dreams are worth it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} We can't force things to happen; we can only drive ourselves trying crazily. There's a time and place for everything. So don't force what's not yet supposed to fit into our life. When it's meant to be, it will be. Work hard, and be patient.

A. Take positive action.

B. Enjoy every moment of life.

C. Life is shorter than it often seems.

D. Everyone has a different way of life.

E. Accept ourselves just the way we are.

F. Allow life to happen like it's supposed to.

G. In life, we don't get what we wish for; we get what we work for.

    Lots of people give you advice on overcoming fear. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} However, I want to tell you that a world without fear would be more dangerous, less rewarding. So we want to treat fear as a friend? Here are three reasons.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Think about it. Do you get more nervous when you meet the girl (or guy) of your dreams? Which is more fearful, talking to the boss of your company or to some of your friends? {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If you didn't have fear to guide you, you might not know that! Not so bad, right?

    Next, fear encourages us to take action. Fear is a call to action. In the past, our ancestors didn't run away in fear when they saw a tiger running toward them but tried to kill it for food. Now, most of us don't face serious danger like hungry tigers every day, but we do face serious bosses or public speaking. So, what can we do? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Lastly, fear lets you know you are alive. Why do we like roller coasters? {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Same for horror movies.

    So fear can guide you towards what's important for you and encourage you to take action to improve. Don't we all need that kind of friend?

A. The first is that fear is an excellent guide to opportunity.

B. They frighten us in a mostly safe way.

C. Imagine what life would be like without fear.

D. Let fear provide us with the energy to do what needs to be done.

E. Fear is showing you what is important and what matters to you.

F. Don't fear to be wrong.

G. They say if you can overcome fear, you will be successful.

    Bank holidays! We all love them!

    A bank holiday is an English term for a public holiday. During the day banks and offices are closed and a lot of people have a day off work. In the UK, people only get eight bank holidays in one year. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    People in Colombia are much luckier. There are twenty bank holidays for the whole country in one year! And there can be even more, depending on which region(地区) you live in. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} As in the UK, most of the bank holidays in Colombia exist for religious reasons.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} One such example is Independence Day on 20 July every year. This is just like Bastille Day in France on 14 July. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is in memory of the day that Christopher Columbus, first reached America in the year 1492.

    Bank holidays are very important for western people. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They may also choose to stay at home to relax and forget about work.

A. Bank holidays are different in Colombia.

B. During the holidays, they often travel with their families.

C. This is because different regions have their own holidays.

D. And at least five of those are around Christmas time and Easter.

E. Every country on the continent of America celebrates Columbus Day.

F. Another historical bank holiday in Colombia is Columbus Day on 12 October.

G. However, some bank holidays in Colombia came into being for historical reasons.

    Some are born with the ability to talk to people in any kind of situation and express their ideas. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Having no confidence can be one of the reasons why these people are afraid to talk with others. So it's necessary for them to know some ways to talk to people.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In some situations where you are finding it awkward (难为情的) to talk to people, just carry a smile, and you'll find that people will actually start talking to you!

    Using good body language during a conversation is also important. Before you start talking, make sure that you are in a good posture (姿势), and look into the eyes of the other person.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} It also shows you're interested to talk to the person.

    For talking comfortably to people on the phone, you have to learn to listen actively. Here, body language is of no importance at all. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}And at the same time repeat to the person what he or she said from time to time. This shows your interest in the conversation.

    It's difficult to talk with unhappy people. Such people are less likely to talk first because of their bad state of mind. Try asking close­ended questions. For example, you can ask like this：Have you been alright lately? Or was your day a good one? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}This will help calm the other person down.

A. And this can increase your confidence.

B. However, remember to use a gentle voice.

C. Start a lively conversation with the latest events.

D. A smile is a good way to start any conversation.

E. Talking to people is not a difficult task as it may seem to be.

F. You just need to listen carefully to the person at the other end.

G. For some people, it's difficult even to start a light conversation.

    Parents and the Young

    It is natural that young people are often uncomfortable when they are with their parents.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} They often think that their parents are out of touch with modern ways, that they are too serious and too strict with their children, and that they seldom give their children a free hand. It is time that parents often find it difficult to win their children's trust and they always forget how they themselves felt when young. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It is one of their ways to show that they have grown up and they can face any difficult situation. Adults worry more easily. Most of them plan things ahead. Young people make their parents angry with their choices in clothes, in entertainment and in music. But they do not mean to cause any trouble: It just shows that they feel cut off from the adult's world, and they have not yet been accepted into their world. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}And if their parents do not like their music or entertainment or clothes or their way of speech, this will make the young people very happy. Sometimes you are so proud of yourself that you do not want your parents to say "yes" to what you do. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It is natural enough, after being a child for so many years, when you were completely under your parents' control. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If your parents see that you have a high sense of responsibility, they will give you the right to do what you want to do.

A. Parents should understand young people.

B. Young people like to live with their parents.

C. Young people like to act without much thinking.

D. They say that their parents don't understand them.

E. All you want is to be left alone and do what you like.

F. If you plan to control your life, you'd better win your parents.

G. That's why young people want to make a new culture of their own.

My, what a big beak you have!

For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defenses may help to make the effects of a warmer world less harmful. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}In a paper published in Trends & Evolution, a team led by Sara Ryding, a PhD candidate at Deakin University, shows that is already. happening. Climate change is already changing the bodies of many animal species: bigger beaks (喙), limbs and ears.

In some species of Australian parrot, for instance, beak size has increased by between 4% and 10%since 1871. Another study, this time in North American dark-eyed juncos, another bird, found the same pattern.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

All that is perfectly consistent with evolutionary (进化) theory, "Allen's rule". Allen suggested it in 1877, holding that warm-blooded animals in hot places tend to have larger body parts than those in temperate (温带的) regions.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Being richly filled with blood vessels (血管), and not covered by feathers, beaks make an ideal place for birds to get rid of heat.

Ms. Ryding examined museum specimens (标本) to prove that climate change was the cause of an anatomical (解剖学的) changes. All sorts of other factors might have been driving the changes. Her team combined data from different species in different places. They have little in common apart from living on a warming planet.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

For now, at least, the increase is small, never much more than 10%{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs (妥协), it is unclear how far the process might go.

A. Therefore, climate change is the most reasonable explanation.

B. That may change as warming accelerates (加速).

C. Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviors.

D. It seems that the future world is going to be hotter than humans are used to.

E. Therefore, the negative effects of a warmer world are visible in these animals' bodies.

F. Such adaptations boost an animal's surface area relative to its body, helping it to release extra heat.

G. Similar trends are seen in mammals, with species of mice and bats evolving bigger ears, legs and wings.