【推荐1】How to Make Better Decisions

Every day we’re tasked with making decisions. Most of the time, these decisions are small (like deciding whether or not to floss today). However, small things done consistently poorly versus consistently well over the long-term can have a devastating impact on where you end up, whether in business or in life. It’s kind of like the power of compound interest.

Yet, how often do we really think through our decisions as opposed to basing them on how we’re feeling in that precise moment, by past experiences, by jumping to conclusions, through groupthink, by choosing whatever decision requires the least thinking or falling victim to one of the other 32 cognitive biases that plague our decision making.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg famously wears the same thing almost every day because he doesn’t want to choose. Every decision you make depletes willpower, which is what we use to make decisions, so too many pointless decisions ultimately can cripple your performance. Not only that, but not having a method to make decisions means that you will find yourself umming and ahhing and expending more energy than you otherwise would using this method.

Building on this willpower argument, you should aim to schedule critical thinking and high impact decisions for earlier in the day, when willpower is at its highest.

Tim Urban of Wait But Why says that the rational decision maker in your brain is co-existing with a pet, the instant gratification monkey.

“The monkey thinks only about the present, ignoring lessons from the past and disregarding the future altogether, and he concerns himself entirely with maximizing the ease and pleasure of the current moment. He doesn’t understand the rational decision maker any better than the rational decision maker understands him — why would we continue doing this jog, he thinks, when we could stop, which would feel better. Why would we practice that instrument when it’s not fun? Why would we ever use a computer for work when the Internet is sitting right there waiting to be played with? He thinks humans are insane.”

Don’t let your instant gratification monkey make big life decisions for you. And when all else fails, take a word of advice from entrepreneur Derek Sivers, “If I’m not saying ‘Hell Yeah!’ to something, then I say no.”

1. According to Paragraph 1, what does the author think of small decisions?

A．Devastating.

B．Powerful.

C．Compound.

D．Consistent.

2. According to Paragraph 2, which point would the author agree most?

A．Compound interest is the power source of decision-making.

B．People’s real feeling should be prior to other factors when they make a decision.

C．Past experiences and group-things help far more than other elements when a decision is made.

D．Decision making confuses people to a great extent.

3. According to the passage, which time would the author be mostly likely to choose for reasoning?

A．After practising the piano.	B．Before going jogging at 10 a. m.
C．Before midnight.	D．Right after playing with pets at 3 p. m.

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The monkey is the one who constantly tries to distract us from the things we really should be focusing on.

B．The monkey affects rational decision making that takes place during the accomplishment of a task.

C．The instant gratification monkey lives entirely in the present moment.

D．The instant gratification monkey only cares about things that are easy and fun.

【推荐2】Some people are always on time, while others are at least 20 minutes (and sometimes even hours) late! It’s annoying, because while you wait for your friend, you feel offended.     1    

First of all, talk to your friend about your feelings. Don’t offend them.     2     Ask your friend why they are always late and find out the answer. It might happen that your friend just doesn’t know how to effectively manage their time. By the way, you’re not the only person whom your friend makes wait, so don’t take things personally.

Try to find a way to make your friend come on time. For example, you can tell them that your cellphone is out of power and you can’t be called. If your friend can’t call and tell you they will be late, they will have to come on time.     3     Don’t worry. You don’t have to come earlier!

When nothing works, change your attitude to accept the fact that your friend will never come on time.     4     For instance, don’t arrange the meetings when your friend has to pick you up for the movie. You know your friend will be late and you will miss it!

    5     Take a book or a newspaper to read, so you can entertain yourself and never notice the time that you have to wait. If you’re not a book lover then check your email or chat with your other friends.

A．Wait a certain period of time, then go on with your plans, alone.

B．Be productive when you have to wait for your friend.

C．After all, friendship is more important than arriving on time.

D．So how can you deal with the always-late friend?

E．Don’t put yourself in situations where you depend on your friend.

F．Why should you put up with a lack of respect for your valuable time?

G．Or just tell your friend you’re to meet half an hour earlier than the real meeting time.

【推荐2】Mother’s Day is the time to celebrate the great women who raised us.     1     With Mother’s Day nearly upon us, a lot of people are looking for last minute presents—but it’s not too late! Here are four most popular Mother’s Day gifts that will give you some inspiration.

Pick the gift of relaxation. For the mum who is always rushing around, looking after everyone but herself, a day of rest and relaxation at the spa is the perfect gift. Your mum deserves a break, and many spas offer special Mother’s Day packages with relaxing massages and facials.     2     She can use it when she can fit it in her busy schedule.

Say it with flowers. Flowers are a classic Mother’s Day gift for a reason, and an arrangement of her favourite blooms is sure to bring a smile to her face.     3     You can just make your own arrangement with flowers from the supermarket, and wrap them in brown paper for a nice look on your budget.

    4     Why give one gift when you can give her a gift every month? Booking monthly gifts is more popular than ever. From flowers to wines of the month, and even fresh coffee beans from local producers, you can show your appreciation for all she does for the whole year, rather than just one day.

Spend some quality time. It’s lovely to get presents, but what your mum probably wants more than everything is to spend some quality time with you. Treat her to a day out with an activity she’ll love, whether she’s into wine tasting or an elegant afternoon tea.     5    

A．Keep the gifts coming.

B．Show your gratitude with gifts.

C．Book her in for a day, or buy her a gift card.

D．Try to make something with her name or birthstone on it.

E．However, it can be difficult to find a gift to show your appreciation.

F．Or spend the day at home, letting her put her feet up while you cook.

G．You don’t have to spend hundreds on expensive bouquets in the flower shops.

【推荐3】Daylight Saving Time (DST), when people set their clocks one hour ahead of standard time in the spring, was first introduced in America as a way to conserve electricity. Now, the time-shift still takes place across most of the US. Is it really helpful for farmers? Here’s how farmers feel about it.

Humans might have alarm clocks to adjust, but animals don’t. There’s clear evidence that the shift is a problem for animals such as cows, who don’t tolerate changes to their schedules. One farmer in Utah wrote to tell us that DST is “nothing but a pain. My chickens and cows only know when the sun comes up and goes down. Having to adjust our work schedules twice yearly does nothing for us.”

One goat farmer in North Carolina told us that his goats are upset over the time change. In order to help his goats deal with the time shift, he moves their feeding and milking schedule incrementally. A change of a few minutes per day over the course of a week is a lot less noticeable than a full hour jump all at once.

Many farmers’ responses covered the chaos of changes to schedules, losing sleep and difficulty with getting children to go to sleep when it’s still light outside. One farmer in California put it like this: “The cost of changing twice a year, in terms of resetting every appliance (电器), car and communication system you own, and all the people that will show up early or late for work, appointments and meting... it’s enormous.” His solution? He just works by the sun.

So, it does make sense that many states are looking to get rid of DST. If the measures were introduced to save energy, the time shift could generate savings for governments. However, it’s debatable if DST is even an energy saver anymore. One study found that, after Indiana introduced DST, there was an increase in electricity use, resulting in an added cost of $9 million.

Whether states keep Daylight Saving Time or decide to get rid of it, it’s clear that it will make little difference to farmers. As one reader told us: “We’re up with the sun and down with it, no matter what the clock says.”

1. How does DST affect farm animals?

A．It disturbs them.

B．It frightens them.

C．It makes them forget time.

D．It causes them physical pain.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “incrementally” in Paragraph 3?

A．Eventually.

B．Constantly.

C．Immediately.

D．Gradually.

3. How do some farmers react to DST?

A．Start their work late.	B．Pay no attention to time.
C．Pay no attention to clocks.	D．Do their best to save energy.

4. What can be concluded about DST from the text?

A．It lasts too long.

B．It’s a waste of time.

C．It’s not natural.

D．It’s not well organized.