شنیدن

Page 62 - Exercise 10

Listening - All you have to do is

Part A - Listen to people give different suggestions for each problem. Put a line through the suggestion that was not given.

1 - How to overcome shyness

• Well, I think if you’re really shy, it might be a good idea to see a therapist or someone like that. You know, to get some professional help. You can always change by yourself.

• How about getting one of those self-help books from the library. I’m sure there are books around with lots of good suggestions that you can try.

• I think the best thing is to join a club and do activities, where you have to meet and talk to different people. Like, if you join a theater group and work on putting on a play, you’d probably be able to overcome your shyness.

2 - How to stop biting your fingernails

• I think biting your fingernails is just a sign of anxiety. So the first thing to do is to find out what’s making you nervous. Once you’ve identified that problem and then solved it, the nailbiting will disappear.

• My sister used to bite her nails all the time so she started wearing bright red nail polish. She bought the really expensive kind, so she felt that she had made an investment in quitting her bad habit. I think the polish made her think about what she was doing to. Anyway, after a few months it worked and she has really nice nails now. I guess if you’re a guy it’s a little more difficult though.

• Maybe you could find something else to do when you’re stressed out. Like tapping your fingers or accounting to 100, you have to try to transfer your habit into a different activity, one that doesn’t cause such a problem.

3 - How to organize your busy schedule

• To organize a busy schedule. One thing you could do is make a list. I usually make a list of all the things I have to do. Then I prioritize them, then I decide which days I’m going to get the things done, based on which errands are the most important.

• Maybe you could use electronic reminders. Put all the things you need to do into your calendar on your phone or your email, then program it. So you have reminders sent to you. For some things you might get a reminder 15 minutes before, but for other things, it might be better to get a reminder a few hours or even days before. I use that to help me remember people’s birthdays.

• If your schedule is really busy. It might be a good idea to get help. There are plenty of professional consultants who organize people’s lives. It’s expensive, but if you’re too busy, it’s the only way to get everything done.