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（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 point 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 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 interruption into their lives. Just the opposite, we believe that persuasion is unavoidable — to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical（合乎道义的）or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or catch our vulnerability(弱点). 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（美国宪法）.According to the passage, persuasion means ________.
| A．changing others’ point 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 |
The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means“________”.
| A．win | B．fail | C．speak | D．listen |
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 |
The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．people’s different opinions towards persuasion |
| B．the reasons why people persuade |
| C．that persuasion is both good and bad |
| D．that persuasion is important and it is all around us |
Dogs may not know exactly what you are doing especially when you’re trying to figure out a square root or diagram a sentence. But according to a new study, dogs can understand what we’re thinking and feeling by reading our facial expressions and body language and following our eyes.
Researchers studied 29 dogs. The dogs were shown a movie where a woman looked directly at them and said “Hi dog!” Then, the woman looked at a flowerpot sitting next to her. The researchers found that when the woman looked at and spoke directly to a dog, the dog usually followed her eyes to the flowerpot. It proved that the dogs knew that the woman was thinking about the flowerpot.
“By following the eye movements of dogs, we were able to get a first-hand look at how their minds are actually working,” said Jozsef, the senior researcher.
Later in the movie, the woman said “Hi dogs” in a low voice and didn’t look at the dog before looking at the flowerpot. In that situation, the dogs didn’t seem to understand what the woman was thinking. There was no eye contact, and the woman didn’t appear to speak to the dogs directly.
That comes as no surprise to dog trainer Jones. “Dogs normally speak through nonverbal signals. It’s more natural to them,” she said. “If you’ve ever watched dogs at a dog park, you’ve seen it. Within 30 seconds they enter the park, much information has passed between the new dog and the ones already in the park. They’re exchanging looks, observing eyes and body posture. On the other hand, when you speak to a dog, they are learning a foreign language.”
Picking up your nonverbal signals seems more natural. So, if you were hoping that all this means your dog could help you solve your math problems, you’re probably out of luck. But he or she might be a lot more in tune with what you’re thinking than you previously thought.How could the researchers find that the dogs understood the woman’s intention?
| A．By speaking to them directly. |
| B．By reading their eye movements. |
| C．By following their facial expressions. |
| D．By asking the dog trainer questions. |
According to the text, Jones finds that ______.
| A．dogs usually speak through verbal signals |
| B．dogs learn a great deal more at a dog park |
| C．dogs can understand humans’ words easily |
| D．dogs speak through eyes and body language |
It is implied in the text that dogs can read your emotions only if ______.
| A．you manage to get their attention |
| B．you like making friends with them |
| C．you are familiar with their behavior |
| D．you can pick up their verbal signals |
What does the underlined phrase “be in tune with” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．refuse | B．approve | C．understand | D．love |
WASHINGTON---At least four more U.S. air-traffic controllers are caught nodding off on the job at three separate airports across the nation, the government said Wednesday.
The controller working alone in the tower fell asleep and was out of communication for 16 minutes while a medical flight carrying a patient was trying to land at about 2 A.M. Wednesday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
The FAA announced that it is also investigating a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee on Feb.19.
“I am sick of this,” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement. “We can’t have a system where some of the people responsible for safety are asleep at the switch.”
As the incidents pile up, sleep experts say it demonstrates that the agency faces a systemic issue with the thousands of people expected to work through the night in safety-critical jobs. Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say.
The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said.
Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. “Only in the federal government would you double up on workers, averaging $161,000 per year in salary and benefits, that aren’t doing their job,” Mica said in a statement. Mica has pushed legislation that would allow as many as 90 smaller airports to switch from federal to private controllers.
“People have known these problems with fatigue（疲劳）have existed for years,” said John Goglia, a Boston-based aviation safety consultant. “They’re now showing up. The FAA is admitting they exist. Now the FAA needs to work on it.”
The four controllers in Nevada, Seattle and Texas have been suspended(暂时停职) during the investigations, the FAA said.The underlined part “double up on workers” means “______”.
| A．add two more workers | B．staff two workers at a post |
| C．settle two workers in a double room | D．give the workers double pay |
According to John Goglia, fatigue problem ______.
| A．is a known potential danger | B．has never appeared before |
| C．is common for day-time shift workers | D．seldom shows up at night |
Which statement is true?
| A．A controller fell asleep without communication for 16 minutes in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
| B．A medical flight carrying a patient failed to land with the controller asleep. |
| C．Jay Rockefeller pays little attention to sleeping at the switch. |
| D．Mica refused to support the decision to staff more controllers on the midnight shift. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
| A．All the controllers in the US were working alone while they were on duty |
| B．The incidents are rooted in fatigue problems and those on midnight shifts need an extra nap |
| C．In the U.S. , thousands of people expect to work through the night in safety-critical jobs |
| D．The agency has added an extra controller at the 27 towers |
Jeffrey Bezos, founder, president and chairman of the board of Amazon.com, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother’s ancestors were early settlers in Texas, and over the generations had acquired a 25,000 acre farm at Cotulla. Jeffrey spent most summers of his youth working with his grandfather on their farm.
Jeffrey showed intense and varied scientific interests at an early age. He set up an electric alarm to keep his younger sisters and brothers out of his room and changed his parents’ garage into a laboratory for his science projects.
After he graduated from Princeton University with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, Jeffrey Bezos found employment on Wall Street, where computer science was increasingly in demand to study market trends. He rose quickly, becoming a senior vice president, and looked forward to a bright career in finance, when he made a discovery that changed his life, and the course of business history.
In 1994, there was still no internet commerce to speak of. One day that spring, Jeffrey Bezos observed that Internet usage was increasing by 2300 percent a year. He saw an opportunity for a new circle of commerce, and immediately began considering the possibilities.
Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994, setting up the original company in his garage. The company was called Amazon for the seemingly endless South American river with its numberless branches. It started as an online bookstore but soon diversified to all kinds of products. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most excellent dot-com entrepreneurs. He was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999. In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Bezos’ Amazon has become “the Earth’s biggest anything store”. Amazon.com is now called “one of the smartest strategies in business history”.
Today, Jeffrey Bezos lives north of Seattle and is increasingly concerned with charity activities. “Giving away money takes as much attention as building a successful company,” he said. In his childhood, Bezos ______.
| A．had to work with his grandfather on their farm all day long |
| B．showed great interest in science |
| C．didn’t get along well with his brothers and sisters |
| D．wanted to become a businessman |
Jeffrey changed the course of business history because he ______.
| A．looked forward to a bright career in finance on Wall Street |
| B．considered the possibility of setting up an original company |
| C．founded a new form of commerce that developed fast later |
| D．was the first to speak of Internet commerce |
Which of the following isn’t mentioned in the passage?
| A．How hard Bezos studied in Princeton University. |
| B．“Amazon.com” only sold books in the beginning. |
| C．Bezos not only devoted his life to Internet commerce but also to charity. |
| D．The reason why Jeffrey Bezos decided to found Amazon.com. |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．it was Bezos’s grandfather on the farm who helped him a lot |
| B．Bezos invented e-commerce to win the world fame overnight |
| C．Bezos has a sharp business mind and a kind heart |
| D．Bezos aimed at setting up “the Earth’s biggest bookstore” |
Warm water freezes（结冰） more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him until 1970. In that year a Canadian scientist George Kill proved the English professor was right. Dr Kill filled an open oil pail(桶) with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put both in the same low temperature. The warm water froze first. The lack of covers on the pails is the secret. Some of the warm water changed into vapor. This meant that less of the warm water was left to be frozen. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water even though it had a greater temperature drop to make.Hundreds of years ago, Sir Francis Bacon found _______.
| A．the temperature of warm water drops faster than that of cold water |
| B．warm water is heavier than cold water |
| C．warm water has the same temperature as cold water |
| D．warm water is not as useful as cold water |
What Sir Francis Bacon said was right, but people didn't believe him until _______.
| A．late in the 19th century | B．early in the 20th century |
| C．three years ago | D．late in the 20th century |
Leave a pail with warm water and another pail with cold water in the same low temperature, you’ll find that _______.
| A．cold water freezes first |
| B．warm water turns into ice before cold water |
| C．warm water and cold water freeze at the same time |
| D．much of cold water is changed into air. |
Why does warm water freeze first in the same freezing weather?
| A．Because some of the warm water turns to vapor, the amount(数量) becomes less than that of cold water. |
| B．Because warm water is lighter than cold water. |
| C．Because the temperature of warm water is lower than that of cold water. |
| D．Because cold water freezes with more difficulty than warm water. |
It doesn’t matter if you have one friend or 20, because there are only a few people in this world that can make you truly happy. For me, my family and my three best girlfriends mean everything to me.
Some days I didn’t want to go to school because I felt so disappointed in myself but I don’t regret a thing. It makes you stronger as a person, and if you are able to mend your friendships like I have done, then you can do anything.
My mom always told me, “Stephanie, remember that a friend is a gift that you give to yourself. A friend will always be there for the good and the bad. A true friend will never make fun of you. If a friend is a piece of work, then he or she has never been a friend at all. A friend is the biggest gift to you.”
Everyone is going to make mistakes but please don’t push them away, especially if it’s someone you really care about. I know when I make mistake I beat myself up about it. I just wish someone would have reached out a hand to help me back up on my feet like my best friend did. If someone is new or doesn’t have a friend, please reach out and befriend them because that small action could mean the world to them. Now that I’m older, I understand what my mom has been trying to tell me, and now I know that the friends that I choose will also be the kinds of friends that I would want to be surrounded by forever.The writer was unwilling to go to school because ______.
| A．she was disappointed in herself |
| B．she regretted something he had done |
| C．she was busy trying to fix a friendship |
| D．she went to by a gift for her mother |
According to passage, a true friend should be a person that ______.
| A．often gives you gifts |
| B．makes you happy |
| C．does both good and bad things to you |
| D．never makes fun of you |
It can be inferred(推测) from the passage that the writer ______.
| A．doesn’t have many friends |
| B．doesn’t think that friends will make her truly happy |
| C．understands what a friend means to her |
| D．has nothing except her family and three girlfriends |
According to the passage, which is WRONG?
| A．Making friends with some lonely people will bring them warmth |
| B．Your friend should not make mistakes in face of you. |
| C．Mother told me what friend is. |
| D．You should care about your friend. |