Many people often lose their chance to live life to the fullest because of procrastination, which means that they always delay doing something that must be done at once. Moreover, because they often put off their plans till “tomorrow”, they are less likely to achieve their goals and will give up their dreams and goals finally. As a result, we can say that procrastination is the enemy of a progressive lifestyle.

Now that we know procrastination is something bad, why do some people not take immediate action? Well, there are some things that result in procrastination. Depending on someone else rather than doing by oneself is one of the things. Whenever you wait for something to happen before you act, you make it easier to delay your goals and dreams until “someday”. Another cause of procrastination is that people do not value each moment in their day. Actually, it’s surprising how much you can do if you just decide to do little things with the little time you have. Also those who often procrastinate can always find a good reason for something they refuse to do at once. If you are one of those who often delay, then it’s time for you to make a decision to act now because things happen only when we decide to act. Get down to doing something like losing weight, saving money or spending more time with family. Don’t let these things continue to be a desire for you to do “someday”, but make a decision to do it now.

Once you have made your decision, write down the plan and take action immediately. Making plans can help you think carefully about how you are going to do what you need to do. After understanding how to do what you want to do, get doing with the plan. It doesn’t matter how small the move you make is as the little things you do accumulate（累积）over time and move you to be closer to your goals. So, don’t wait until tomorrow; instead, start now! Just make use of every moment you have to do something that is helpful in realizing your dreams and goals.

Here is a challenge that will also move you to be closer to your dreams and goals if taken seriously. Make a list of ten things you have been putting off. It could be anything from getting a health examination, calling a friend or family member, to getting the car fixed and cleaning up the garbage, etc. And then try to develop the habit of doing them immediately!

请阅读下面短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。I used to be the messiest person alive．Over the years, through watching others and by trial and error, I have finally found ways to come up with plans, organize them and follow through with them．

Make an outline of everything you need to have and do to make your plan happen．Make a list of all of the steps that need to be accomplished and think about what needs to be done．

Detail everything thoroughly and read over it so you can start coming up with some mental solutions of how to carry out your plans．

You should ensure that if for some reason way one doesn't work, you have way two and way three to lean back on．Therefore, different ways are needed at hand．It’s just a matter of being organized．Chances are that there is always more than one way of doing things, and chances are that if one of those ways doesn’t work, one of the other ones will．

Committing yourself to finishing at least part if not all of your plan at once is also necessary．It will show that you not only have initiative to get things rolling, but that you are interested in the results obtained with making the move to get everything done．

If you make a commitment to finish before a specific time, make sure that you carry that out, and be sure to do everything in the way you said you would, within the time-frame you set for yourself．

Don’t try to tackle more things all at a time．All that does is delay your progress, distract you and make you lose your interest, motivation and energy．

Carrying out an effective plan requires being as organized as possible．You will only achieve this by sticking to the order of the plan and not deviating or trying to do more at a time．

Last but not least, you should never abandon things mid-project．It will only annoy everyone around you including yourself．Unfinished plans are a waste of time, energy and, in some cases, even money．

So, don’t be afraid of organization．The older we get, the more necessary it becomes to have the skills to follow through with confidence and to be able to carry through plans in an organized and manageable way．It pays to be organized, after all．

Just as team members today have assigned doing roles, there should also be thinking roles. Knowing how other members of your team and organization think — and others knowing how you think — can help promote efficiency. So how should you evaluate how you and your team think? After a lot of trial-and-error, we developed a three-step method that delivers practical and meaningful results.

Focus. Do you tend to pay the most attention to ideas, process, action, or relationships? For example, in the morning as you think about the day ahead, do you tend to think about the problems you need to solve, the plans you need to make, the actions you need to take, or the people you need to see? This isn’t about picking one to the exclusion (排除) of the other. It’s about where your focus naturally lands.

Orientation (方向). A good way to identify your orientation is thinking about what tends to bother you in meetings. Are you more likely to complain about getting dragged into the weeds or about things being too general and not specific enough? These dimensions are complementary (补充的) to personality, skills, and traditional roles.

Combination. By combining these two dimensions you can know about the thinking style at work in whatever context or setting you chose. When you know your thinking style, you know what naturally energizes (激发) you, why certain types of problems are challenging or boring, and what you can do to improve in areas that are important to reaching your goals. Once you know your style, it helps to share it with others, and have others share theirs with you. In this way, your thinking style becomes a useful tool — a kind of social currency — for the team. Imagine you put together a team to work on a new initiative (行动). Wouldn’t you like to know who is energized by big-picture strategy discussions and who finds them frustrating? Who likes to work on the details of the execution? And who is energized by managing the team dynamics?

The landscape of business is changing rapidly, and we have to find new and better ways to connect and communicate. We all want to work better together; the challenge is actually making it happen. Understanding collaboration (合作) through the lens of thinking rather than doing is a practical and powerful step forward.

Acting is the activity of performing in plays or films. It’s about living an alternative reality. It lets you explore all kinds of possibilities of what you could be. Just being your own self can be boring sometimes, and acting gives you an opportunity to be someone else for a while. It is voluntarily entering the psyche (心灵) of another personality and thinking according to a different set of values and constraints (约束). It lets you explore many parts of you, which you thought never existed. It lets you deeply explore what it means to be a human being.

One of the best ways to begin your own acting studies is to start reading some good plays. Choose your favorite role from one of your favorite plays and prepare to act it out in front of the audience. To learn to act, you must act. Here are some tips on how to become an actor with no experience:

To play a role, you must understand the character that you are going to play with open arms. Understand the plot of the play, as well as the psyche of your character. Understand the conditions in which your character lives. Try to understand why your character behaves in that way. So you must learn the lines or dialogues thoroughly and explore the thought behind every sentence. This will help you picture the circumstances in which the character finds himself/herself. Some actors go as far as “living” as that person for a while, to understand him or her. The idea is to go as close as possible to being that person. More importantly, only through practice can you get close to actually being that person. So seize every chance and perform as frequently as you can. This will help you develop confidence and overcome stage fright.

As a student of acting, you need to always be a sponge (海绵), ready to absorb, learn, and observe the performances of great actors, to learn the slight differences of the art. While you watch movies, plays and any other performance, study the differences of a role played by any actors, especially the masters. By just keeping your eyes open, you can pick up a lot of things.

Why do you want to act? Is it for money, fame, or genuine love for the art? Would you do it if you were not paid for it? If the answer and y our motivation is love for acting, you are sure to eventually succeed.

Gavin:What are the basic rules for 61. ________ (apply) to a US graduate school?

Agent:The process is complicated, so make up your mind soon. In most cases, the 62. ________ (early), the better.

Gavin:What should be done first?

Agent:Reading information about international study 63. ________ (consider) essential. You can discuss this with your family, teacher and friends. If possible, turn to those who have the experience of studying abroad, 64. ________ should help you learn some rules, including some basic 65. ________ (require).

Gavin:Should this work be done before 66. ________ after the GRE and TOFEL exams?

Agent:Before the exams.

Gavin:How long does 67. ________ take a student to make preparations for the two exams?

Agent:At least six months, but that also depends 68. ________ his or her level of English.

Gavin:OK. Whatˈs the next step?

Agent:Write to the chosen schools 69. ________ (ask) for admission and scholarship application forms.

Gavin:What are the necessary application materials?

Agent:They 70. ________ (usual) include a personal statement, letters of recommendation, resume, study plan, scholarships and copies of your GRE and TOFEL scores.

Gavin:Got it. Thank you.

To make our digestive (消化的) system work well, we should avoid doing some things after having a meal, for example, drinking water. It is true that a person should drink 8 glasses of water every day to stay healthy. However, drinking water right after eating or even during a meal may disrupt (扰乱) digestion（消化）. It might affect the natural levels of acid and bile (酸和胆汁) that are necessary for proper digestion. What’s more, drinking cold water after eating might slow down（减慢）digestion. So try to avoid drinking water at least an hour after a meal, and avoid drinking it while eating.

Though walking after eating is healthy, doing it immediately after a meal is not. Doing so will make it difficult for the digestive system to take in nutrients (营养) from the food. Besides, the blood will flow towards other parts of the body, like legs, hands, etc., which will make the digestive tract not have enough amount of blood flow that is needed for proper digestion. So we should wait for at least 2 hours after eating, and then begin exercising.

Sleeping should also be avoided right after eating. This is because going to bed right after a meal will lead to improper digestion. What’s more, such a habit will also make you put on a lot of weight. Therefore, wait for an hour or two, and then go to sleep.

Many of us have the habit of drinking tea just after lunch or dinner, which is really unhealthy. The tea leaves are rich in（富含）acid which prevents the protein in the food from digesting. The best time to drink tea is at least one hour after eating.

Eating fruits right after a meal may fill the stomach with air and cause discomfort. They will also take time to reach the digestive tract, disturbing the entire process of digestion. To protect your stomach from digestive problems, eat fruits before or after 1-2 hours of a meal.

In a word, if you avoid doing all the above things after eating, you will surely make your digestion easy, and you will be less likely to have digestive problems.

My friend, Tom, is     61   of traveling. Ever Since childhood, he   62    (dream) about a great bike trip. He persuaded me   63   (cycle ) along the Mekong River.   64  expected, it was not easy to ride 75 km a day, especially on the mountains at an   65    of 5,000 meters. At one point we were so high that we found  66       (we) cycling through clouds.

    The trip was organized    67   (proper). It not only got us   68   (close) to nature than ever before, it also promoted (促进）the     69    (friend) between us. It is really  70   unforgettable experience.