What does it mean to day that we live in world of persuasion? It means that we live among competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam take priority（优先）over pizza. Your instructor may have good reasons not to change your grade. And the object of your romantic interest may have other choices.
In such a world, persuasion is the art of getting others to give fair and favorable consideration to our points of view. When we persuade, we want to influence what others believe and how they behave. We may not always prevail（占优势）--other points of view may be more persuasive, depending on the listener, the situation, and the merits of the case. But when we practice the art of persuasion, we try to ensure that our position receives the attention it deserves.
Some people, however, object to the very idea of persuasion. They may regard it as an unwelcome approach to their lives or as a control. In contrast, we believe that persuasion is inevitable--to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be moral or immoral, selfless or selfish, inspiring or discouraging. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or make us hurt. Moral persuasion, however, calls on sound reasoning and is sensitive to the feelings and needs of listeners. Such persuasion can help us apply the wisdom of the past to the decisions we now must make. Therefore, an essential part of education is learning to resist the one kind of persuasion and to encourage and practice the other.
Beyond its personal importance to us, persuasion is a need to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the basic principle of the American political system.
1.What’s the author’s attitude towards persuasion?
A．Critical. B．Uninterested. C．Supportive. D．Neutral.
2.The passage states that some people are against persuasion because they think it is .
A．an unwelcome influence B．difficult to do well
C．not trustworthy at all D．never successful
3.We can conclude from the passage that persuasion means .
A．getting people to act according to your will
B．exercising power over other people
C．making use of your past wise experience
D．getting other people to consider your reasonable points of view.
4.According to the passage, we can infer that .
A．we can learn how to persuade in school
B．only society can benefit from persuasion
C．persuasion plays an important role in America
D．persuasion is considered to be an inborn ability
I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with
the easy carelessness of youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me
years later, and ever since have been of great value to me.
Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I
was doing. I said three or four hours a day.
"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"
"I try to."
"Well, don't," he exclaimed. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."
When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.
There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.
I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.
1.The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “ ”.
A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles.
B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.
C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.
D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car.
2.Which of the following statements is true?
A．The writer didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first.
B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student.
C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.
D．Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.
3.We can infer that the writer .
A．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is
B．is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy
C．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels
D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work instantly
4.What is the best title of this passage?
A．Concentrate on Your Work B．A Little at a Time
C．How I Became a Writer D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意， 然后从各题所给的四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
In 1883, a creative engineer, John Roebling, was inspired to build a splendid bridge connecting New York with Long Island. However, experts throughout the world thought that this was 16 . Even so, Roebling could not 17 the idea in his mind. After much discussion, he 18 convince his son Washington, an up-and-coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. They hired their 19 and began to build their dream bridge.
Only a few months 20 the project was underway a tragic on-site accident killed John Roebling and 21 injured his son, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to move or 22 . Surely now the project would have to be 23 . Though Washington Roebling lay in his hospital bed, he was not 24 and his mind remained as 25 as it was before the accident. Suddenly an idea 26 him. All he could move was one finger, so he 27 the arm of his wife with that finger, 28 to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. For 13 years Washington tapped out his 29 with one finger until the bridge was 30 completed.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of never-say-die attitude that 31 a terrible physical disability and achieves an impossible 32 . Often when we face difficulties in our daily lives, our problems seem very small 33 what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that even the most 34 dream can be realized with 35 no matter what the chances are.
1.A. impossible B. unnecessary C. hard D. excellent
2.A. recognize B. accept C. ignore D. believe
3.A. attempted to B. sought to C. failed to D. managed to
4.A. family B. crew C. class D. team
5.A. since B. before C. after D. when
6.A. severely B. slightly C. poorly D. hardly
7.A. work B. say C. eat D. talk
8.A. continued B. abandoned C. interrupted D. accomplished
9.A. defeated B. hurt C. frightened D. destroyed
10.A. sharp B. broad C. noble D. advanced
11.A. beat B. occurred C. happened D. hit
12.A. waved B. felt C. touched D. held
13.A. appealing B. speaking C. indicating D. advising
14.A. orders B. instructions C. suggestions D. movements
15.A. quickly B. partly C. eventually D. slowly
16.A. overcomes B. acquires C. fights D. removes
17.A. award B. fortune C. status D. goal
18.A. combined with B. separated from C. compared to D. concerned about
19.A. primary B. distant C. lifelong D. good
20.A. determination B. knowledge C. confidence D. strength
______, but he insisted that he _____ to school ．
A．Though he was ill , went B．He was ill, go
C．Having been ill, should go D．Having been ill , went
—Tom has won the 100-meter race.
—__________! He never won it before.
A. Congratulations B. What good news
C. What a good surprise D. How exciting the race is
A brilliant idea occurred to him, ______ to his research in the lab．
A．while devoting B．while devoting himself
C．while he was devoted D．while devoted
