For me, two of the loveliest words in En...

Five Ways to End Procrastination

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today. Waiting until later is one of life's guilty secrets, but procrastination (拖延症) is linked to poorer health, work and relationship outcomes. Here are five ways to try to remedy (纠正) procrastination.

1. A five-minute start

Five minutes is nothing — it's just three hundred seconds. It's the length of a song or a TV commercial. Pick up a project you've been putting off and spare just 300 seconds of your time to do it.1. After a while, the momentum (动力) of beginning the task will push you forward.

2. Set goals and rewards

During the day, set goals and rewards. Each time you achieve a goal, you earn the reward: a short break, a funny YouTube video or something else.2.Make sure you select a time to review your progress and adjust your targets accordingly.

3. Be good to yourself — me today versus me tomorrow

Sometimes, when you find yourself buried in work, you are upset with yourself for not having started earlier. Imagine a conversation, between ―you today and ―you tomorrow. 3.

4. I was there — witnessing accountability (责任制)

4. Consider going on a diet: Is there more pressure if you don't tell a soul, or if you announce it to all your friends, with strict rules to follow if you are invited to dinner? It seems an obvious way of making you feel guilty, but it can also be highly effective.

5. Set creative punishments — negative consequences

Make the consequences of inaction so unbearable that you have no choice but to get busy now. You could write a note to someone that you don't like. Give the note to a friend with strict instructions to mail the note if you do not achieve your goal. The more you dislike the other party, the stronger the motivation to get the task done.

Procrastination is a silent killer of dreams.5.By understanding and fixing your procrastination, you'll discover you jump-start many areas of your life.

A. Everyone suffers from it.

B. Once the five minutes is up, stop and reassess.

C. Everyone likes to have a dream of procrastination.

D. Going public with a goal increases your support and accountability.

E. What is the future of my life with the intention of putting off my tasks?

F. If ―you tomorrow could chat with ―you today, what would he say?

G. It's important that the goals are realistic and the rewards are in proportion(按比例).

    An old man in a faded yellow shirt sat in a windowless room on a raised concrete form. The only source of heat came from somewhere beneath the plastic mattress and the rough blanket the blank-faced police woman had handed him after taking his thumb prints. He heard voices and metallic clang as the cell door swung open.

At the front desk a tired looking policeman handed the old man back his belongings, his worn-out cap and the Seiko watch that had stopped working the day his beloved Evelyn left. The policeman dramatically held the blue plastic bag at an arm's length to the old man who took it and made sure its contents were undamaged: the goat meat, palm oil, leaves and spices. He ignored the confused expression on the officer’s face and signed the document declaring he had been returned the possessions they had taken off him the night before.

No one spoke to him as he walked slowly towards the exit.

''Mr. Easy-nwa? '' He stopped and prayed to the God who now took care of Evelyn to please take him far away from this unhappy place of expressionless faces, clipped accents and people who did not even attempt to pronounce his name right.

''Ezenwa,'' He said and looked at a woman with tangerine lips, her name tag said Jessica Harlow, Social Services. ''A bit far from home'' she said as she drove fast and with confidence the way Evelyn used to. He wondered if she meant the 50 miles from Liverpool or the 50,000 miles from Enugu，a city in Nigeria. He did not bother replying as this woman had plenty to say about the weather, bad drivers, her daughter's school play...

At last she drew up outside the block of flats where he lived.

''Got here in the end''，said she seriously, ''Really Mr. Easy-nwa, if you keep getting lost, we will have to consider moving you into a home''.

''No need, I was not lost, '' he answered. He carefully rolled up the sleeves of the oversize bomber jacket he wore and turned on the tap to wash his hands, relieved the pipes were not frozen.

In a clean pan he placed the chopped pieces of goat meat. The herbs and spices that had taken him three months to track down, the uziza seeds had taken him into the heart of Granby Market in Liverpool, his uchanwu leaves down a shady back alley in Manchester, and yesterday, among other food items, the finest goat meat from a Sierra Leonean Butcher in Birmingham. That had taken some time, so much he missed the last train and when the police found him shivering outside the locked-up station, so cold he couldn't answer loudly enough the pink-faced big copper who yelled in his face, ''What's your name sir? '' spraying his face with spittle (吐沫)as he did so, leaving them with no choice but to search an exhausted, frozen old black man and finding him in possession of mysterious condiments (调味品)including a bag of dried bitter-leaf which could of course be mistaken for anything that resulted in him getting read his rights and charged with ...possession???

He lifted the lid of the bubbling soup, the room was filled with the rich and spicy scent of his culinary (烹饪的)effort. He served two bowls, taking the chipped one and placing the other opposite where Evelyn would have sat. He would tell her about his adventure, it was their anniversary and this was the perfect pepper soup to celebrate.

Ken Onyia, UK (Nigeria) Commonwealth Sport Short Story Prize

1.Why was Mr. Ezenwa taken to the prison for a night?

A.He was too weak to move.

B.He couldn't find his way back home.

C.He then had nowhere else to go.

D.He was suspected of possessing drugs.

2.When Mr. Ezenwa was to leave the prison,          .

A.his thumb print was taken immediately

B.the policeman was confused about what he had

C.a social worker was assigned to drive him back home

D.the policeman was so kind as not to damage his belongings

3.What did Mr. Ezenwa do for his wedding anniversary?

A.He collected all sorts of valuables as presents.

B.He cooked native food as a surprise for his wife.

C.He prepared a special Nigerian pepper soup carefully.

D.He travelled a lot, attempting to get his wife back.

4.What words can be used to describe Mr. Ezenwa?

A.Hopeless and pessimistic. B.Affectionate and persistent.

C.Mysterious and troublesome. D.Energetic and sympathetic.

    “Data is the new oil.” Like the sticky black thing, all those Is and 0s are of little use until they are processed into something more valuable. That something is you.

Five of the world’s ten most valuable companies are built on a foundation of tying data to human beings. Google and Facebook want to find out as much as possible about their users’ interests, activities, friends and family. Amazon has a detailed history of consumer behavior. Tencent and Alibaba are the digital wallets for hundreds of millions of Chinese; both know enough about consumers to provide widely used credit scores. Those with a good Zhima credit score, provided by Alibaba, enjoy discounts. Those without receive few offers. In other words, data are used to decide what sort of access people have to services.

That data are valuable is increasingly well-understood by individuals, too, especially because personal information is so often leaked（泄露）or stolen. The list of companies that have suffered some sort of data leak in 2018 alone reads like a roll call of household names: Facebook, Google, British Airways and so on. Such events have caused a switch in the public understanding of data collection. People have started to take notice of all the data they are giving away.

Yet few people have changed their online behavior or exercised what few digital rights they possess. Partly this is because managing your own data is time-consuming and complex. But it is more because of a misunderstanding of what is at risk. “Data” is an abstract concept. Far more solid is the idea of identity. It is only when “data” is understood to mean “people” that individuals will demand responsibility from those who seek to know them.

The fossils of past actions fuel future economic and social outcomes. Privacy rules and data-protection regulations are extremely important in protecting the rights of individuals. But the first step towards ensuring the fairness of the new information age is to understand that it is not data that are valuable. It is you.

1.The example of Zhima credit scores is mentioned to show __________.

A.data help companies target their services

B.credit scores change people’s way of life

C.Alibaba gains popularity among customers

D.people prefer to be offered discounts

2.What has caused a change in the public understanding of data collection?

A.The development of companies. B.The history of consumption.

C.Cases of data leak and theft. D.Lists of household names.

3.People don’t protect their data well mainly because __________.

A.they find it time-consuming and complex

B.they are not fully aware of its importance

C.they have no access to their personal data

D.they are afraid of taking responsibility

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A.To defend companies’ use of data.

B.To show the economic value of data.

C.To call for more regulations to protect data.

D.To advocate a new way of thinking about data.

    A British friend told me he couldn’t understand why Chinese people love eating sunflower seeds(嗑瓜子) as a snack so much. “I’ve met a lot of older Chinese and many have a crack in their front teeth; I believe that’s from cracking the seeds,” he said.

I had never noticed the habit, but once he mentioned it, I suddenly became more aware. I realized that whenever I’m watching TV or typing a report, I always start mindlessly cracking sunflower seeds. My friend doesn’t like sunflower seeds, and, to him, it seems unnecessary to work so much just to get one small seed.

When we were young, the whole family would usually get together for Chinese New Year. Then, we all lived close to one another, usually in a small city, and sometimes even neighbors would go door-to-door on Chinese New Year’s Eve to check out what every household was making.

I remember my parents would be in the kitchen cooking. Out in the living room , a large table would already be laid out, complete with fancy tablecloth, ready-made dumpling fillings, and dishes full of candy, fruits and sunflower seeds. Some of the dishes were to be offered to our ancestors later, while others were for neighbors and children to eat before the evening feast. I must have learned how to crack sunflower seeds back then.

I don’t think it’s right to criticize one’s choice in food or eating habits, no matter how strange they may seem.

It’s not only in China. When I went abroad, I found people had all sorts of strange habits when it came to food. In Denmark, they put salted red fish on bread and eat it for dinner, no matter how much it ruins your breath. They think it’s a delicacy(美味佳肴), and it’s connected to their certain culture. I think it’s a wonderful tradition.

1.What did the writer become aware of?

A. She had ever typed a report about seeds.

B. She had various snacks while watching TV.

C. She damaged her teeth by eating sunflower seeds.

D. She had a habit of cracking sunflower seeds.

2.What does the writer prove by mentioning Chinese New Year?

A. The traditions of celebrating it disappear.

B. Eating sunflower seeds is related to it.

C. The families get together for it.

D. Children can eat delicious food on that day.

3.The writer’s attitude to Denmark’s way of eating bread is _____.

A. neutral (中立的) B. critical (批评的) C. acceptable D. doubtful

4.What lesson can we learn from the story?

A. One kind of food doesn’t necessarily suit everyone.

B. It is good to form healthy eating habits.

C. Eating habits come from a certain culture.

D. Changing your eating habits will change your life.

    Before he sailed round the world alone, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.

The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail.His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August 1966, at the age of nearly 65, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life.

Chichester covered 14100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone. He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.

After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: "I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."

Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him.Queen Elizabeth II knighted(授以爵位) him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time.The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.

1.What can we learn about Chichester?

A.He failed the solo transatlantic sailing race in 1959.

B.He was a brave and determined man.

C.The second half of his voyage was not as dangerous as the first half.

D.The radio message expressed his concern about the sailing.

2.What did Queen Elizabeth II do after Chichester arrived back in England?

A.She called on the English to learn form him.

B.She was waiting to congratulate on his success in sailing.

C.She thought poorly of his achievements.

D.She knighted him for praising him.

3.We can infer from the text that ____

A.Anyone who had sailed alone traveled less than 7050miles before 1966

B.Chichester sailed round the Atlantic in 1931

C.Most of the English retire at the age of 65

D.Chichester died of lung cancer in 1967 after he went back to England