“I grew up on Jackson’s music and I still have all his stuff on My iPod. I think that Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers. His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways，sad personal life.”
Michael Jackson was a singer，songwriter，dancer and celebrity icon with a vast catalog of hit records and countless awards to his credit. Beyond that，he had transfixed the world like few entertainers before or since. As a solo performer，he had enjoyed a level of superstardom previously known  ——Barack Obama
only to Elvis Presley，the Beatles and  Frank Sinatra.
Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the 80s’，and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958.The fifth and youngest son of steelworker Joe Jackson，Michael displayed a talent for music and dance from an extremely young age. His father began to organize a family musical group around his three eldest sons in 1962，and Michael joined them the following year，quickly establishing himself as a dynamic stage performer. Dubbed the Jackson 5，the group signed to Motown in 1968 and issued their debut single in October 1969，when Michael was just 11 years old. I Want You Back，ABC，The Love You Save and I’ll Be There all hit number one in 1970，making the Jackson 5 the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts. Later in 1972，Jackson had his first number one solo single，Ben. In 1977，he met producer/composer Quincy Jones for the first time. With Jones producing，Jackson recorded his first solo album as an adult，Off the Wall.
Released（发行） in 1982，the Quincy Jones produced Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall：the dance and rock tracks were more driving，the pop tunes and ballads softer and more soulful，and all of it was recognizably Michael. There was no surprise that Thriller was a hit；what was a surprise was its staying power .Jackson’s duet with McCartney，The Girl Is Mine，was a natural single choice，and it peaked at number two；then Billie Jean and the Van Halen track Beat It both hit number one，for seven and three weeks respectively.
Michael Jackson died from heart disease on June 25 at age 50.
【小题1】What does Barack Obama mean by saying “His brilliance as a performance also was paired with a tragic and in many ways，sad personal life”？

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）.

1.According to the passage, persuasion means ________.

2.The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means“________”.

3.The passage states that some people object to persuasion because they think it is ________.

4.The passage mainly discusses ________.

完形填空

The Brick

　　About ten years ago, a young and very successful manager named Josh was travelling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit fast in his 1 car.

　　He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars. 2 his car passed, no child rushed out, but a brick did and WHUMP! It 3 his shiny black side door! Josh 4 out of his car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up 5 a parked car. He shouted at the kid,“ 6 was that all about and who are you? Just what are you doing?”He went on with 7 “That's my new Jaguar, that brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”

　　“Please, mister, please…I'm 8 ! I didn't know what else to do!” 9 the youngster.“I threw the brick 10 no one else would stop!”Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he 11 around the parked car.“It's my brother, mister,”he said.“He rolled 12 the sidewalk and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't 13 him up.”Sobbing, the boy asked the manager,“Would you please help me get him 14 into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.”

15　　 beyond words, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief 16 wiped the cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then 17 the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

　　It was a long and slow walk back to his expensive car. Josh 18 did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the damage to 19 him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Pay 20 to the bricks of life coming at to you.

Condoleezza Rice is used to standing out. It is not only because she holds the position as U.S. Secretary of State. Her youth, gender and skin color have 　36　 a lot of attention throughout her political career.

Condoleezza Rice,　37　 as Condi to her close friends, was born in 1954 in Birmingham. During 1950s,blacks were not treated as 　38　 citizens in the south. Although slavery was　39　 in 1865,the southern states passed their own laws to continue the 　40　of blacks and whites. Despite the discrimination 　41　 black people, her parents told her she could become? 42　 she wanted. They taught her to believe that great things were 　43　 for her.

Rice was a gifted student with a 　44　 for the piano and she entered college at the age of 15 with the 　45　 of becoming a concert pianist. Along the way she was　46　 by political? scientist Josef Korbel, the father of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Rice 　47　 her plans and studied international politics, and in the 1980s she was teaching at Stanford University,　48　 her career developed quickly. She　49　 on George H. Bush's national security council(顾问) in 1989.Later she 　50　 to Stanford, and became its youngest, first female and first 　51　 provost after two years.

In 2001,Rice re-entered the political world,　52　 George W. Bush's national security advisor. She has drawn international 　53　 in this position, and has been the most powerful national security advisors in American 　54　.

She held this position until 2005,when 　55　 Secretary of State.

36.A. directed B. turned C. paid    D. attracted?

37.A. known   B. Considered C. Seen   D. accepted?

38.A. respectful     B. equal  C. different     D. noble?

39.A. finished B. Stopped     C. Prevented   D. ended?

40.A. difference     B. disagreement     C. separation   D. division?

41.A. against  B. to              C. with    D. towards?

42.A. whoever       B. whomever  C. whatever    D. whichever?

43.A. desiring B. waiting      C. preparing   D. longing?

44.A. talent    B. interest       C. hobby D. favourite?

45.A. purpose B. goal    C. intention    D. attention?

46.A. effected B. affected      C. impressed   D. influenced?

47.A. changed B. postponed   C. cancelled    D. exchanged?

48.A. which    B. where C. when  D. that?

49.A. acted     B. waited C. served D. called?

50.A. paid a visit    B. showed concern C. attended     D. returned?

51.A. black     B. white  C. capable      D. efficient?

52.A. turning  B. holding      C. becoming   D. taking?

53.A. praise    B. approval     C. criticism     D. attention?

54.A. politics  B. history       C. culture              D. government?

55.A. elected  B. invited       C. appointed   D. succeeded??

D
　　Beyond two or three days，the world’s best weather forecasts are doubtful, and beyond six or seven they are worthless.
　　The Butterfly Effect is the reason. For small pieces of weather—to a global forecaster，small can mean thunder—storms and blizzards（暴风雪）—any prediction becomes worse rapidly. Errors and uncertainties increase，from dust devils and storms up to continent-size eddies（旋涡）that only satellites can see.
　　The modern weather models work with net-like points sixty miles apart，and even so，some starting data have to be guessed，since ground stations and satellites cannot see everywhere. But suppose the earth could be covered with sensors placed one foot apart，rising at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere. Suppose every sensor gives perfectly accurate readings of temperature，pressure，humidity（温度）, and any other data a weatherman would want. Exactly at noon a powerful computer takes all the data and calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 12.02，then 12.03…the computer will still be unable to predict whether Princeton will have sun or rain one month away. At noon the spaces between the sensors will hide fluctuations（波动）that the computer will not know about. By 12.01，those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot away. Soon the errors will have added to the ten-foot scale，and so on up to the size of the globe.
63．A weather forecast ____________ in the world.
A．is reliable within one or two days
B．is doubtful beyond 24 hours
C．becomes useless beyond two or three days
D．is still worthwhile in seven days
64．Usually there is a weather sub-station____________.
A．in every city 　　　　　　　　　　B．every 60 miles
C．between two cities 　　　　　　　 D．every one foot
65．Which of the following statements is true？
A．People have not placed sensors one foot apart in the atmosphere.
B．Scientists have already put sensors one foot apart in the world.
C．Every sensor gives perfectly accurate data a weatherman wants.
D．Ground weather stations and satellites can see every place on earth.
66．Our computer will not be able to know about fluctuations because ____________.
A．the sensors are not good enough
B．they are hidden by the spaces between the sensors
C．they are too far away
D．they move very fast