Many people complain(抱怨) in their life. Do you ever complain? When you try a new dress on, but only find you are too “big” to put yourself in. Do you complain about your shape of body? Do you tell yourself “If I have time tomorrow, I will go to the gym.” But do you actually take action?

Karen always complained about her house. One day I asked why she didn't look for another house. Karen answered, “I will look for another one when I come back from vacation.” Sam hated his job. However, he loved taking photos, and was taking a two-year course to get a certificate (证书). Every day he complained about his work. I asked him why he didn’t give up his job and start a business of taking photos. His reply was , “When I finish my course, I will start a business.”

Here is another example. Harry worked for a company that allowed him to retire (退休)early, but at a reduced pension (削减的养老金). Now Harry became very weak and found it difficult to deal with his work. I was worried about his heavy work and its influence (影响)on his health. “Why don’t you retire, Harry? Do something that you want to do,” I said. “If I were older, I would get my foil pension.” “When the next summer comes, maybe I will,” Harry replied.

There is an old saying that says, “If and When were planted, and Nothing grew.” A year later, Karen is still living in the house, and she hates it. Sam is still complaining about his job and hasn’t finished his course. Harry is still working and his health is even worse. These people had a lot of stress in their lives that they could have reduced(本该可以减少). But all of them beat themselves by thinking “if or when”.

Life is too short for “ifs and whens”. The next time you find yourself thinking “if or when”, remember the saying, “If and When were planted, and Nothing grew”.

Young people should be enjoying the best time of their lives, but those in their twenties and thirties are in worse health than their parents, a British survey has found.

Drinking too much, eating fast food and being short of exercise all have a bad influence on young people. As a result, the young are more likely to have headaches, catch colds or become stressed than their parents.

According to the survey, those aged between 18 and 34 are three times more likely to catch colds than the older people. The following are the main reasons.

The old people usually eat more healthily. More than four in ten old people eat five or more portions（份）of fruit or vegetables a day. It’s twice the number of the young men and women. Six in ten old people cook their own meals every day, compared to less than one third of the young people. Almost 10% of the young people admit that they eat fast food for every meal and 2% say they only eat at restaurants.

The old people are also more likely to take a lot of exercise, 12% of them spend at least 30 minutes doing exercise each day. They are healthier. However, only 9% of the young do so.

Although the world is hungry, it is even thirstier. While nearly 3/4 of the earth is covered with water, we are still short of drinking water. This is because about 97% of the water on the earth is sea water. So we can’t use it for watering plants or drinking directly. Humans can only drink and use fresh water from places including rivers, lakes and underground.

How can we avoid a serious water shortage? First, we should save water and not waste it. Second, we should protect our water resources and not pollute them. Third, we should discover ways to reuse water. Scientists have made some progress in this field. Today, some large cities are reusing their water. But people’s need for water is increasing day by day. We still don’t have enough water. What else can we do?

The sea seems to have the best answer. There is plenty of water in the sea. But we need to take the salt away from the sea water. This is very expensive. If scientists can find the cheaper ways to do it, we can solve the problem of the shortage of water.