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.
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 (合乎道义的) or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or get our vulnerability(脆弱之处). 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.
According to the passage, persuasion means ______.
| A．changing others’ points of view |
| B．exercising power over other people |
| C．getting people to agree with you and do what you want |
| D．getting other people to consider your point of view |
The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means ______.
| A．win | B．talk | C．compare | D．expect |
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．that people persuade to get what they want |
| B．that persuasion is important and it is all around us |
| C．that persuasion is widely accepted and appreciated |
| D．that people persuade in different ways |
In front of a popular restaurant, a line of customers wait for taxis. And wait. Most of the cabs(taxis) are full. That’s nothing unusual in this city of 4 million people. But it’s 2:30 in the morning.
Visitors to the Olympic Games may leave disappointed if they see Athens only through the eyes of the typical tourist, who makes a beeline of the islands after the visit to the Acropolis(雅典卫城) and the unusual and attractive Plaka district. To fully appreciate and discover Athens’ many charms(魅力), do as the Greeks do: walk out into the neighborhoods, find the packed nightclubs, eat at one of the innumerable(数不清的) restaurants, or see Hollywood stars under real stars in a romantic outdoor cinema.
The Greek capital is named for the ancient goddess Athena, whose favourite animal was the owl(猫头鹰). It’s a fitting symbol for the city’s nocturnal (夜里的) nature, which often reaches its highest point in summer with a rush hour just before dawn.
As native Athenian Panos Demestiha said, Athens by day is unlivable(不宜居住的), but it’s magical at night. Athenians face up to heavy traffic block, decreasing green space, dusty streets… City officials are using the momentum(契机) of the August 13-29 Olympics to fix some of these problems and make city life more bearable.To the surprise of the visitors to Athens , ____.
| A．most of the cabs are often full all day long |
| B．the cabs are often empty |
| C．the cabs are almost full even at 2:30 am |
| D．there is no cab in the street at 2:30 am. |
The name of Athens came from ____.
| A．a goddess | B．a famous athlete |
| C．a kind of animal | D．a kind of plant |
The typical visitors will often visit the following places EXCEP ____.
| A．the neighborhood | B．the Plaka district |
| C．the Acropolis | D．famous islands |
The underlined word “bearable” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “____”.
| A．astonishing | B．forgettable |
| C．exciting | D．comfortable |
Foreign attacks on U． S． soil
1812 ---- During the War of 1812, British forces（军队） burned the new capital at Washington, D． C． They also attacked Baltimore and New Orleans and captured（占领） Detroit, which at the time was a remote military outpost (前哨基地)．
1846 ---- A brief invasion（入侵）by Mexican troops across the Rio Gande began the U． S． - Mexican War in 1846． But the remaining action in that conflict（冲突） occurred in California, New Mexico and in Mexico． California and New Mexico belonged to Mexico at the time．
1916 ---- Mexican revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．, on March 9, 1916．
1941 -- Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec． 7, 1941, killing nearly 2,400 people and forcing America into World War II．
1993 ---- Terrorists（恐怖主义者） blew up a truck bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000．
2001 ---- Terrorists hijacked(劫机) several planes on Sep．11, 2001． Two ploughed into（撞入） New York’s World Trade Center (WTC), toppling the two highest buildings in the city; a third seriously damaged the Pentagon（五角大楼）． The fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania． Several thousand people were killed in the attacks．During the War of 1812, British forces did the following except that _____．
A．they captured Detroit
B．they attacked Baltimore and New Orleans
C．they attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．
D．they burned the new capital at Washington, D． C．During the September 11th terrorist attacks, _____．
| A．terrorists hijacked three planes |
| B．destroyed the Pentagon completely |
| C．killed six people and injured more than 1,000 |
| D．two planes knocked into New York’s World Trade Center |
The underlined word “toppling” in the last paragraph means _____．
| A．reaching the highest point of | B．causing to fall |
| C．knocking into | D．building |
How many foreign attacks mentioned in the passage did the US have?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．8 |
Do you love holidays but hate the increase weight that follow? You are not alone.
Holidays are happy days with pleasure and delicious foods. Many people, however, are worried about the weight that comes along with these delicious foods.
With proper planning, though, it is possible to control your weight. The idea is to enjoy the holidays but not to eat too much. You don’t have to turn away from the foods that you enjoy. The following suggestions may be of some help to you.
Don’t miss meals. Before you leave home for a feast (宴会),have a small, low-fat snack. This may help to keep you from getting too excited before delicious foods.
Begin with clear soup and fruit or vegetables.
A large glass of water before you eat may help you feel full.
Use a small plate; a large plate will encourage you to have more than enough.
Better not have high-fat foods. Dishes that look oily or creamy have much fat in them.
Choose lean meat. Fill your plate with salad and green vegetables.
If you have a sweet tooth, try mints(薄荷)and fruits. They don’t have fat content as cream and chocolate.
Don’t let exercise take a break during the holidays. A 20 minute walk after a meal can help burn off excess calories.Holidays are happy days with pleasure but they may ______.
| A．bring weight problems |
| B．bring you much trouble in your life |
| C．make you worried about your foods |
| D．make you hate delicious foods |
In order to really enjoy your holidays without putting on weight, you d ‘better ______.
| A．drink much water and have vegetables only |
| B．not eat too much food in high fat |
| C．not accept invitations to feasts |
| D．turn away from delicious foods |
According to the passage, ____ is a necessary part to stop you from putting on weight.
| A．vegetables | B．water |
| C．calorie of energy | D．physical exercise |
Many people can’t help putting on weight after the holidays because they _____.
| A．can’t control themselves |
| B．go to too many feasts |
| C．enjoy delicious foods |
| D．can’t help turning away from the foods |
Excess calories can be found in your body in the form of _________.
| A．energy | B．fat |
| C．food | D．something invisible |
At a day care center in Texas, children were playing outside. One of the children was Jessica McClure. She was only 18months old. Her mother, worked at the day care center , was watching the children . Suddenly Jessica fell and disappeared. Jessica’s mother screamed and ran to her.
A well was in the yard of the center. The well was only eight inches across and a rock always covered it. But children had moved the rock. When Jessica fell, she fell right into the well.
Jessica’s mother reached inside the well, but she couldn’t feel Jessica. She ran to a phone and dialed 911 for help. Men from the fire department arrived. They discovered that Jessica was about 20 feet down in the well. For the next hour the men talked and planned Jessica’s rescue.
“We can’t go down into the well, ” they said. “It is too narrow. So, we’re going to drill a tunnel across to Jessica. When we reach her, we’ll bring her through the tunnel and up through our hole.”
The men began to drill the hole at 11a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 1987. The men had a difficult job; they were drilling through solid rock. During her days in the well, Jessica sometimes called her mother, sometimes she slept, sometimes she cried and sometimes she sang.
All over the world, people waited for news of Jessica. Everyone worried about her.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, October 16, men reached Jessica and brought her up from the well. Then paramedics rushed her to the hospital. Jessica was dirty, hungry, thirsty and tired. Her feet and forehead were badly injured. But she was alive.
After Jessica’s rescue, one of the rescuers made a metal cover for the well which wrote, “To Jessica, with love from all of us.”Which of the following shows the right order of what happened to Jessica?
a. People talked and planned Jessica’s rescue.
b. Jessica’s feet and forehead were badly injured.
c. Jessica fell into a well in the yard.
d. People began to drill a hole and a tunnel.
e. Someone moved the rock on the well.
f. she was bought up from the well.
g. Jessica sometimes called or slept or cried or sang.
h. Her mother reached inside the well
| A．e, c, b, g, a, d, h, f |
| B．c, b, a, d, g, f, h, e |
| C．c, e, g, a, d, h, f, b |
| D．e, c, h, a, g, d, f, b |
Jessica stayed in the well at least ____.
| A．45 hours | B．46 hours | C．57 hours | D．58 hours |
The best title of the passage is ______.
| A．An Unluckily Girl | B．An Unpleasant Experience |
| C．Everybody’s Baby | D．Mother’s Fault |
New findings show that musical training affects（影响）the structure and function of different brain areas, how those areas communicate during the creation of music, and how the brain interprets and combines sensory(感官) information. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. These views suggest potential new roles for musical training including training plasticity（可塑性）in the brain, offering an alternative tool in education, and treating a range of learning disabilities.
Today’s new findings show that long-term high level musical training has a broader effect. Researchers found that musicians have a better ability to combine sensory information from hearing, touch, and sight. The age at which musical training begins influenced brain structure and its function. Beginning training before the age of seven has the greatest effect.
Even older adults who took music lessons as children but haven’t actively played an instrument in decades have a faster brain response(反应) to a speech sound than those who never played an instrument, according to a study appearing November 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The finding suggests early musical training has a lasting, positive effect on how the brain deals with sound.
“Playing a musical instrument is a multi-sensory and motive experience that creates emotions and movements—from finger tapping to dancing — and engages pleasure and reward systems in the brain. It has the potential to affect brain function and structure when done over a long period of time,” said Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, press conference speaker, also an expert on music.
“As today’s findings show, musical training brings about new processes within the brain, at different stages of life, and with a range of effects on creativity, cognition(认知), and learning,” he added. From the first paragraph, we can see musical training can .
| A．affect one’s communication with others |
| B．help musicians create better music |
| C．provide new treatment of mental diseases |
| D．offer an alternative tool in education |
Why does the author mention “Even older adults … a speech sound.” in Para. 3?
| A．To suggest how new roles for musical training work. |
| B．To prove early musical training affects the function of the brain. |
| C．To explain how the brain interprets sensory information. |
| D．To show how the brain areas communicate in music training. |
Which of the following best describes the function of early musical training?
| A．Difficult but interesting. | B．Painful but effective. |
| C．Lasting and positive. | D．Important and necessary. |
According to the passage, we learn that .
| A．musical training causes new processes within the brain |
| B．Gottfried Schlaug thinks it hard to learn music |
| C．playing a musical instrument is a single -sensory experience |
| D．people having music lessons as children respond slowly |
The best title of the passage should be .
| A．Older People and Musical Training |
| B．Musical Training Affects Brain Structure and Its Function |
| C．Long-term High Level Musical Training |
| D．Brain Interprets and Combines Sensory Information |