A. Application of technology.
B. Progress in modern society.
C. Successful scientists' ways of thinking and acting.
D. How to become a successful scientist.
C
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.
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 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 (美国宪法).
47. 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
48. The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means ______.
A. win B. fail C. speak D. listen
49. 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
50. The passage mainly discusses ______.
A. that people persuade to get what they want
B. that people persuade in different ways
C. that persuasion is widely accepted and appreciated
D. that persuasion is important and it is all around us
D
Bit by bit, the sand dust that fills the sky is dying down. The blue sky and the burning sun once again hang over the desert.
He is on the road, driving his beat-up yellow cab. The sides of the road are littered with damaged vehicles. Masses of smoke in the distance tell him that a war is being dragged on throughout his country.
It’s a fine day despite the choking heat. Not a breath of wind is blowing.
A group of vehicles are traveling towards him, carrying many passengers. The scene reminds him of the market days in this country when crowds of trucks transport folks to the markets; the only difference is, this time, they are not trucks, but tanks, carrying foreigners, guns in hand. He stares at them. They stare back. So they pass by one another.
“The damned war!” he whispers bitterly. Two days ago, a bomb fell on the market in front of his house, destroying nearly everything in sight. He survived by luck. He decided then and there that he would give up this cab business. This will be his final run. After this, he will leave this place together with his wife and children.
“Shala and my children, we’ll soon meet each other again, after I’m done here.” He turns his head to take a glance at a photo of his wife and children. The glass on the frame is broken, but their smiles in the picture do not fail to provide him with the only comfort that he has.
Shortly he arrives at a checkpoint. Tanks sit by the side of the road, the sight of which sends a marked coldness through his backbone. A bunch of soldiers armed to the teeth stand by. A foreign soldier signals him to stop. He calms himself down and pulls over. During the past few days, nearly no civilian（平民）vehicles come out of the capital city, his car being the only one on roads.
A few foreign soldiers come up to him, one, two, three, four, five. The leader bends over to have a look at the old car, then at him. “Where do you come from and where are you going?” With a smile on his face, he answers with a broken speech in the tongue that the soldier can understand, “Sir, I come from the capital. I’m leaving that place because it is a very dangerous place to be, with the war and everything.”
While talking, he hands a cigarette over to the soldier, then lights it up for him.
“When will the war end?” he asks.