What does it mean to say that we live in a world of persuasion? It means that we live among competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam may take priority 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 how others believe and behave. We may not always prevail — other points of view may be more persuasive, depending on the listener, the situation, and the merit 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 interruption into their lives. Just the opposite, we believe that persuasion is unavoidable — to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our mind or prey on our vulnerability. Ethical 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, the most basic 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 necessary to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the bedrock of the American political system, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
1.According to the passage, persuasion means ________.
A. changing others’ points of view
B. exercising power over other people
C. getting other people to consider your point of view
D. getting people to agree with you and do what you want
2.The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means________.
A. win B. fail C. speak D. listen
3.The passage states that some people object to persuasion because they think it is ________.
A. a danger to society B. difficult to do well
C. unwelcome behavior D. never successful
4.The passage mainly discusses ________.
A. how people persuade
B. why people persuade
C. that persuasion is both good and bad
D. that persuasion is important and it is all around us
A new study says one part of the human brain may become smaller as the result of a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag results from flying long distances in an airplane. Jet lag interferes with a person's normal times for sleeping and waking. People with jet lag may feel extremely tired for several days. They also may have problems thinking clearly and remembering.
Kwangwook Cho is a researcher at the University of Bristol in Britain. He reported the findings of his jet lag study in the publication Nature Neuroscience.
The study involved twenty young women who worked for international airlines. The women had served passengers on airplanes for five years. These flight attendants flew across many countries and at least seven time zones. In the study, the flight attendants had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Half the women spent five days or fewer in their home areas between long flights. The other half spent more than fourteen days in their home areas.
Mister Cho took some fluid from the women's mouths to measure levels of a hormone that increases during stress. He tested them to see if they could remember where black spots appeared on a computer screen. And he took pictures of their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. This is a way to measure the size of the brain's temporal lobes.
It was found that the women who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes. This area of the brain deals with recognizing and remembering what is seen. The same group performed worse and had slower reaction times on the visual memory test. And their saliva samples showed higher levels of stress hormones.
Mister Cho says he believes the brain needs at least ten days to recover after a long trip. He says airline workers told him their ability to remember got worse after working on planes for about four years. Other studies have shown that increased feelings of stress can cause a loss of cells in the part of the brain that controls memory.
Scientists say more tests are needed to study the effects of jet lag on the brain. They want to find out if too much jet lag could permanently affect memory.
1.According to the text, jet lag _____.
A. can cause difficulties in speaking
B. can make people feel tired for a few weeks
C. is the illness only found in people who work on the airplanes
D. can be caused by flying over several time zones in an airplane
2.It is inferred that more tests need to be done because _____.
A. the conclusion was questioned by many scientists
B. scientists fear that his research is not done properly
C. every scientific conclusion needs the support from many tests
D. the woman who were studied in the research were not healthy
3.What is the subject discussed in the test?
A. The cause of jet lag.
B. A story of a group of flight attendance.
C. A research about the effects of jet lag on the brain.
D. The importance of having enough rest after long flights.
The Channel is the name given to the stretch of water which separates England and France. Ferries operate all year round to carry people across the Channel, and they are busy most of the year. January is the only quiet month nowadays. As well as summer holiday-makers, there are day trippers and coach traffic, not to mention lorries and other commercial vehicles. Some ferries carry cars and their passengers, while others also connect train passengers with the Continental rail network.
The biggest hazard for the ferry is the wind. The crew listens to BBC weather reports four times a day. Or they sometimes get gale warnings from local radio station.
Crossing the Channel by ferry is a bit like trying to cross Oxford Street on a busy afternoon, according to one ferryboat captain. The ferries from Folkstone and Dover to Calais and Boulogne have to cross the main flow of traffic. This consists of ships traveling through the Channel to and from Northern Europe. There may be four hundred ships making the journey at any one time, and they all pass through a “choke point” which is only fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) wide. The cross-channel ferries have to sail right through the middle of all this traffic.
1.The passage is mainly concerned with _____.
A. the English Channel
B. the weather on the Channel
C. cross-channel ferries
D. what crossing the Channel by ferry is like
2.The word hazard is closest in meaning to ________.
A. trouble B. danger C. enemy D. problem
3.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. if there is a gale warning from the BBC, the ferries will stop operating.
B. the traffic on the Channel is very busy only in winter
C. ferries are busiest in the afternoon
D. the crew of the ferry listens to the weather reports four times a day
4.Where does this passage most probably appear?
A. In a dictionary. B. In a novel.
C. In a transportation magazine. D. In a geography textbook.
Just before midnight, six University of Cincinnati students were watching TV in an on-campus apartment when three men burst through the door. While one of the intruders pointed a gun at the group, the other two scooped up $4,400 worth of laptops, cell phones, video games and cash. Once they had what they wanted, the trio fled into the night.
Furious, the students chased down and tackled one of the burglars -- the one with the gun. In the struggle, it went off, and a bullet grazed a student's leg. His friends piled on the gunman and held him until police showed up.
By the next day, the injured young man was back in his apartment, and the suspect was in jail, charged with burglary, felonious assault and receiving stolen property. But how did the men manage to storm into an on-campus residence that November night in the first place? Simple: Students told police the building's main doors hadn't latched properly for days.
As parents confront ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates, they are finding themselves with an even bigger, more basic problem: Which campuses are safe? Colleges seem like idyllic and secure places, and for the most part, they are. But ivy-covered walls can't keep out every bad element. This country's 6,000 colleges and universities report some 40,000 burglaries, 3,700 forcible sex offenses, 7,000 aggravated assaults and 48 murders a year. Other hazards -- fires, binge-drinking, mental-health problems -- are also on the rise.
Of course, that's not what parents and students see on America's serene campuses. There's a false sense of security, says Harry Nolan, a safety consultant in New York City. "Students see guards patrolling at night or a video camera monitoring the dorm entrance and think, nothing bad can happen to me," he explains. "People don't know that safety controls are often very lax."
1.What did the students do after the burglars fled into the night?
A. They stood there in surprise.
B. They ran after the burglars at once.
C. They waited for the police.
D. They phoned their teacher.
2.What does the underlined word “latched” in the third paragraph probably mean?
A. watched B. fixed C. locked D. kept
3.What worries parents most except ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates?
A. Their children’s grades in the universities or colleges.
B. Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges.
C. Their children’s behavior in the universities or colleges.
D. Their children’s relationship with classmates in the universities or colleges.
4.Which is right according to the passage?
A. Their children’s grades in are high.
B. Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges will be mornitored well.
C. The universities or colleges don’t pay much attention to the children.
D. The universities or colleges are not key educational departments in the local area.
My sister and I grew up in a little village in England．Our father was a struggling ___36___， but I always knew he was ___37___．He never criticized us, but used ___38___ to bring out our best．He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish．If you don’t give them water, they die.” I ___39___ as a child I said something ___40___ about somebody, and father said, “___41___ time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best ___42___ people, I would get the best ___43___．From then on I’ve always tried to ___44___ the principle in my life and later in running my company．
Dad’s also always been very ___45___．At 15, I started a magazine．It was ___46___ a great deal of time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a ___47__: stay in school or leave to work on my magazine．
I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision, ___48___ any good father would．When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad ___49__ me to go into law．And I’ve ___50___ regretted it．I wanted to be a biologist, ___51__ I didn’t pursue my ___52__．You know what you want．Go fulfill it.”
As ___53__ turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national ___54__ for young people in the U.K．My wife and I have two children, and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad ___55__ me．
1.A．biologist B．manager C．lawyer D．gardener
2.A．strict B．honest C．special D．learned
3.A．praise B．courage C．power D．warmth
4.A．think B．imagine C．remember D．guess
5.A．unnecessary B．unkind C．unimportant D．unusual
6.A．Another B．Some C．Any D．Other
7.A．on B．in C．at D．about
8.A．in case B．by turns C．by chance D．in return
9.A．revise B．set C．review D．follow
10.A．understanding B．experienced C．serious D．demanding
11.A．taking up B．making up C．picking up D．keeping up
12.A．suggestion B．decision C．notice D．choice
13.A．and B．as C．even if D．as if
14.A．helped B．allowed C．persuaded D．suggested
15.A．always B．never C．seldom D．almost
16.A．rather B．but C．for D．therefore
17.A．promise B．task C．belief D．dream
18.A．this B．he C．it D．that
19.A．newspaper B．magazine C．program D．project
20.A．controlled B．comforted C．reminded D．raised
The strange man asked me to hand the letter to _____ I met in the police station, saying it was very important.
A. whoever B. whatever C. whichever D. whomever
