Time-Eaters

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 383.

Karl Crompton

What do you give the man who has everything? Well, in the case of Karl Crompton, something to do (23) _____________ (not to go) amiss. Amazingly, just a fortnight after scooping nearly 11 million on the National Lottery, the 23-year-old (24) ____________ (to become) bored out of his brain.

(25) _______________ (to become) one of the richest young men in Britain, he (26) ___________ (mod.v./ expect) (27) ____ (to drink) champagne. Instead, the former electrical store worker dines on fish and chips at home and goes out motor cycling with his mates.

Karl admitted: “It's hard to comprehend how much money I've got and when I actually stop (28) _______ (to think) about it, to be honest, it's too much and I haven't a clue what to do with it.”

(From “Advanced Gold Coursebook” by R.Acklam)

D.

In business or in homework, your time (1) ____________ (to get/to waste) because you think of something that (2) _________ (to slip) your mind, so you drop everything and are off to complete it before you (3) ____________ (to forget) it again. What's the solution? There are several things you can do to reduce the amount of time (4) __________ (to steal) from you by yourself.

Firstly, remember two principles (5) __________ (to govern) time. The Principle of Consolidation states that you (6) __________________ (more/to do) if you group like activities and execute them all in one time frame. The reason behind this logic is that the preparation time period occurs once for all the tasks. When you interpose activities, you (7) ________________ (to wind up and to wind down), (8) _____________ (to reduce) your concentration and (9) _____________ (not to function) at peak mental effectiveness. And so it takes longer to complete each task.

The other law that affects your time is one you (10) ________ (to hear) for years. “A stitch in time saves nine.” In other words, if you (11) __________ (to spend) some time in preparation before actually (12) _____________ (to begin) to work on a job, you (13) _______________ (mod.v./work) right through and complete it. The total time for getting ready and the doing (14) ___________ (to be) less than the time you (15) __________ (to spend) if you just (16) ____________ (to start) right in performing the task. If you (17) __________ (to clear) the area, before (18) ____________ (to begin) an activity, you (19) _______________ (not to distract) by some paper work your eyes fall on as you are on your priority task. Once you (20) _______________ (to start (emphasized) use conscious self-discipline to stick to it until it (21) ___________ (to finish). Don't (22) _______________ (your time/to steal) by interrupting yourself.

(From “Advanced English CAE” by Sue O'Connell)

E.