You make decisions, year after year, never lasting for more than a few days ending up lost and in the same place you started. Allow me to suggest some tips that may help you stick to your decisions creating long- lasting positive change in your life. Telling other people about your plan can help in many ways. First, it is always easier to stick to a decision when you have other people supporting you. Your friends are less likely to tempt you with whatever it is you are trying to control if they know that you made a decision about it. Telling other people about your decision is also helpful in that it keeps us to the pressure on you to try and stick to you plan of action. Choose a measurable and specific decision. Instead of deciding to "look better" or "have a better relationship with so and so", choose a more definable decision. Deciding to "eat a vegetable every day" or "go out for coffee once a week with John" is much easier to track and assess than a general decision to "be a better person". Build a reward system. Connected to the last tip of choosing a measurable and specific decision is that when you do accomplish this specific behavior you decided to do, give yourself small rewards along the process. For example, for every week of healthy eating treat yourself with something special. Creative visual aids. A colleague of mine decided one year for his New Year's decision to be more frugal. He decided to try and save money by lowering his monthly bills. So he posted a copy of his highest electric bill by his heater so that every time he wanted to raise the temperature he would see the high electric bill reminding him to be more cautious about his energy consumption. Which of the following is a specific decision? A) To look better. B) To behave better. C) To be an honest person. D) To go out for dinner with a friend once a week.
D
Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all nightas well as during the day, British-based researchers say. David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clock, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep. Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds' health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night. He told people at a conference, "There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy." And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackoiids and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, "In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to me saying 'You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'.During the breeding season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep." Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise. However, some birds thrive in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators fleeing to quieter areas. What is the researchers' concern over the increase of birds' song output? A) The environment might be polluted. B) The birds' health might be damaged. C) The industry cost might be increased. D) The people's hearing might be affected.
B
Q: Poorer children would be offered the chance to attend lessons on Saturday to help catch up with their middle-class peers , the shadow schools secretary, Michael Gove, said today. The Conservatives would give English state schools the freedom to choose to have longer teaching hours and extra classes at the weekend; he told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers' annual conference. Gove said the move would help to close the achievement gap with richer children whose parents could afford extras such as tutoring and music lessons. He told delegates in Manchester, "For children who come from homes where parents don't have the resources to provide _ and cultural experiences, there are benefits in having those children in the learning environment, in school, for longer." "Parents would love to have schools starting earlier in some circumstances, and certainly going on later in the afternoon, given the reality of their working lives," he said. He held up the example of Kipp (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools in the US, which are often based in the poorest communities and open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, plus Saturdays. But it would be up to schools to decide to offer longer hours, Gove added. Parents said Saturday classes could become a "badge of dishonor" if pupils were forced to go while teachers raised concerns about their workload. Margaret Morrissey, of Parents Outloud, said, "I think the suggestion the government made about one-to-one teaching for these kids would be a more preferable way of improving these children's performance. I'm just not sure whether taking away a child at weekends is actually going to make them cleverer in the week." The ATL's general secretary, Mary Bousted, said, "If we want Saturday schools, then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer." The program is intended for children _ . A) who are from middle-class families B) whose parents can't afford extras C) who perform poorly at school D) whose weekends are mostly free
A: B
*Question*
The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time, I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Dong loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough covered with ugly yellowish marks. realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work, I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home , we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice . He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in out rubbish bin . Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the 'living thing 'was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed by the whole thing Doug or me. Why did the woman put the dough in the rubbish bin? A) She didn't see the use of keeping it B) She meant to joke with her husband. C) She didn't want her husband to see it. D) She hoped it would soon dry in the son.
**Answer**
C