2C1 Open cloze texts, Module 9B
How to de-clutter your mind
It’s easy to understand why nowadays people frequently complain about lack of time,
about not enough hours in the day and of (1) ……… stressed. We live in times of
information overload and we are more often than (2) ………… faced with endless
choices to (3) ........ . From the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at
night we have to make decision (4) …………… decision and each one has a knock-on
effect on the next. Exhausting stuff.
Why (5) ………….. take a deep breath and take a step back? Perhaps it is time to
check what tasks are essential. Start by making a list of all you need to do in the day
and from there start to get rid (6) …………… those that are time wasters. Each time
ask yourself the question, ‘Is this necessary?’ (7) ............... the answer is a
negative, then simply discard the time wasters. As you gradually de-clutter
your day you will start to feel lighter and more (8) .............. to concentrate on
those tasks which really require your full attention.
Why can’t we tickle ourselves?
The answer to the question is assumed to be that it comes down to the element of
surprise. If you tickle yourself, you’re expecting the feeling, so you don’t or can’t react
to it. But brain scans have indicated that brain activity is the same (1) ……………… a
person is expecting to be tickled or not. So what’s really (2) ……………. on?
Our brains are constantly processing information which is retrieved from all our
senses, and this enables us to (3) ………….. sense of our surroundings.
An important aspect of the process (4) ……….. differentiating between events
caused by external factors and those we choose to initiate ourselves.
(5) ……….. seems to be some evidence that activity in the brain changes when
responding to stimuli from these two different sources, so (6) ………. appears that
we’re able to differentiate (7) ……………... the two, and this affects our reaction.
This finding for me takes (8) ……….. the magic – I prefer the idea that if a baby
laughs when being tickled, it’s simply having fun!.
