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

The research carried out by the University of Bad in Italy could help prove hospitals who are accused of wasting money on art and decoration as it suggests a pleasant environment helps patients ease discomfort and pain.
A team headed by Professor Marina de Tommaso at the Neurophysiopathology
Pain Unit asked a group of men and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered
most ugly and most beautiful from a selection of 300 works by artists such as
Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. They were then asked to look at either the beautiful paintings, or the ugly painting, or a blank panel while the team zapped(照射) a short laser pulse at their hand, creating a sensation as if they had been stuck by a pin. The subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were
viewing the beautiful paintings, compared with when looking at the ugly paintings
or the blank panel. Electrodes measuring the brain's electrical activity also confirmed a reduced resoonse to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings.
While distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients,Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part.
The findings, reported in New Scientist, also go a long way to show that
beaufiful surroundings could aid the healing process.
"Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but we think that their artistic aspects should be taken into account too," said the neurologist."Beauty boyiously offers a distraction that ugly paintings do not. But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings make the pain worse. I think these results show that more research is needed into the field how a beautiful environment can alleviate suffering."
Pictures they liked included Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticellis Birth of Venus. Pictures they found ugly included works by pablo Picasso, the Italian 20th century artist Anonio Bueno and Columbian Fernando Botero." These people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world," said Prof de Tommaso.
【小题1】The underlined word "alleviate" in the fifth paragraph probably means"______".

A．some artists' paintings were beautiful, so they were masterpieces

B．only art experts could judge they were masterpieces or not, though ugly

C．the artists mentioned above were not really art masters.

D．some of them were art masters, while others were not.

School is over and it’s time for the family to get your children moving and have fun. Choose a suitable one from the following family activities.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics helps to improve flexibility, strength, and teaches self-discipline. Although Olympic-level gymnastics take years of practice to master, more simple moves are easy to learn in a day and can be practiced at home.

Suitable for: 4+

Cost: £6 an hour

Contact: British Gymnastics; 084 512 97129; www.british-gymnastics.org

Surfing

What is required to learn the art of surfing is to combine balance, coordination and patience, which means that it’s not easy to learning that, but the excitement of jumping to your feet on the board for the first time and riding a wave into the shore is an excellent experience.

Suitable for: 8+

Cost: £30 an hour

Contact: www.nationalsurfingcentre.com, 016 378 50737

Sailing

Sailing is beneficial for developing confidence and provides a pure mental and physical challenge from the beginning. It can be done alone, and picking up the basics is not difficult.

Suitable for: 8+

Cost: Free

Contact: Royal Yachting Association; 084 534 50400; www.rya.org.uk

Diving

This is a great way to make swimming even more fun. High board diving needs muscle control. Lessons begin at the poolside, where you will learn some basic skills before moving on to the boards, Try a saltwater pool, on warmer days, and enjoy the fresh air, high boards and water games.

Suitable for: 13+

Cost: The first lesson, which lasts one hour, is usually free if you decide to carry on. £10/£20 an hour.

Contact: Find your local swimming pool at www. britishswimming.org; 015 096 18700

1.If you have a child of seven, you would like to choose ______ for him/her.

A．Diving            B．Sailing            C．Surfing           D．Gymnastics

2.Taking a 10-hour course in diving needs at least       .

A．£200             B．£100             C．£90              D．£30

3.In order to build up your children’s confidence, you can call        .

A．015 096 18700

B．084 534 50400

C．016 378 50737

D．084 512 97129

4.According to the passage, we know that       .

A．it is very difficult to learn basic sailing skills.

B．it is impossible to practice gymnastics at home

C．self-discipline is needed to do high board diving

D．surfing needs qualities of patience and balance

Individuality is the particular character, or aggregate (total) of qualities that distinguishes one person or thing from others. Many artists late in the last century were in search of a means to express their individuality. Modern dance was one of the ways some of these people sought to free their creative spirit. At the beginning there was no exacting technique, no foundation from which to build. In later years, trial, error and genius founded the techniques and the principles of the movement. Eventually, innovators (改革者) even drew from what they considered the dread ballet, but first they had to get rid of all that was academic so that the new could be discovered. The beginnings of modern dance were happening before Isadora Duncan, but she was the first person to bring the new dance to general audiences and see it accepted and acclaimed (称赞).

Her search for a natural movement form sent her to nature. She believed movement should be as natural as the swaying of the trees and the rolling waves of the sea, and should be in harmony with the movements of the Earth. Her great contributions are in three areas.

First, she began the expansion of the kinds of movement that could be used in dance. Before Duncan danced, ballet was the only type of dance performed in concert. In the ballet the feet and legs were emphasized, with virtuosity (高超技巧) shown by complex, codified positions and movements. Duncan performed dance by using her body in the freest possible way. Her dance stemmed from her soul and spirit. She was one of the pioneers who broke tradition so others might be able to develop the art.

Her second contribution lies in dance costume. She rejected ballet shoes and stiff costumes. These were replaced with flowing Grecian (希腊式的) tunes, bare feet, and unbound hair. She believed in the natural body being allowed to move freely, and her dress displayed this ideal.

Her third contribution was in the use of music. In her performances she used the symphonies of great masters including Beethoven and Wagner, which was not the usual custom.

She was as exciting and eccentric (怪异) in her personal life as in her dance.

According to the passage, what did nature represent to Isadora Duncan?

         A．Something to conquer.      B．A model for movement.

         C．A place to find peace.        D．A symbol of disorder.

Compared to those of the ballet, Isadora Duncan’s costumes were less _________.

         A．costly          B．colorful       C．graceful     D．restrictive

Which of the following is not mentioned as an area of dance that Duncan worked to change?

    A. The stage set.      B. The music. C. Costumes.          D. Movements.

We can infer from the passage that the author _________.

    A. appreciates modern dance very much      B. dislikes Isadora Duncan’s dance

    C. thinks highly of individuality        D. knows a lot about modern arts

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

         A．Artists of the Last Century       B．Evolution of Dance in the 20th Century

         C．Natural Movement in Dance   D．A Pioneer in Modern Dance

阅读下面短文并用英语回答问题，交答案与在答题卡相应的位置上（请注意76、77、79和80四个小题后面的词数要求）。
[1] Jean Paul Getty was born in 1892 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He became a millionaire when he was only 24. His father was wealthy, but he did not help his son. Getty made his millions alone. He made his money from oil. He owned Getty Oil and over 100 other companies. The Fortune magazine once called Getty “the richest man in the world.”
[2]But money _________. He married five times and divorced five times. He had five children but spent little time with them. None of Getty’s children had very happy lives.
[3]Getty loved to make money and loved to save it. In spite of his great wealth, Getty was miser. Every evening, he wrote down every cent he spent that day. He even put pay telephone in the guest’s bedrooms in his house so he could save money on phone bills.
[4] In 1973, kidnappers took his 16-year-old grandson, and demanded a large amount of money for his safe return. Getty’s son asked his father for money to save his child. But Getty refused. The kidnappers were merciless and Getty’s son made repeated requests for help from his father. Finally, Getty agreed to lend the money, but at 4 percent interest.
[5] Getty started a museum at his home Malibu, California. He bought many important and beautiful pieces of art for the museum. When Getty died in 1976, the value of the collection in the museum was $1 billion. He left all his money to the museum. After his death, the museum grew in size. Today it is one of the most important museums in the United States. Getty made a large fortune in his life, but he gave his money to the art world because he wanted people to learn about and love art.
【小题1】What is the main idea of Paragraph 1? (no more than 8 words)
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【小题2】Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. (no more than 7 words)
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【小题3】Explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph3.
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【小题4】What did the kidnappers do to Getty’s family (no more than 10 words)
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【小题5】What does the author want to tell us about Getty in the last paragraph? (no more than 10 words)
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