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）.
【小题1】According to the passage, persuasion means ________.

Smart job-seekers need to rid themselves of several standard myths about interviewing before they start looking for a job. What follows is a list of some of these untruths and some tips to help you do your best at your next interview.

Myth 1: The aim of interviewing is to obtain (means “get”) a job offer.

Only half true. The real aim of an interview is to obtain the job you want. That often means rejecting job offers you don’t want! So before you please an employer, be sure you want the job.

Myth 2: Always please the interviewer

Not true. Try to please yourself. Of course, don’t be hostile—nobody wants to hire someone disagreeable. But there is plainly a muddle ground between being too ingratiating（逢迎）and being hostile.

Myth 3: Try to control the interview

Nobody “controls” an interview. When someone tries to control us, we resent（憎恨）it. When we try to control others, they resent us. Remember you can’t control what an employer thinks of you, just as he can’t control what you think of him. So he is ready to give and take when being interviewed; never control the interview.

Myth 4: Never interrupt the interviewer

Study the style of the effective conversationalists: they interrupt and are interrupted! An exciting conversation always makes us feel free—free to interrupt, to disagree, to agree enthusiastically. Just hang loose. Try being yourself for a change. Employers will either like or dislike you, but at least you’ll have made an impression. Leaving an employer indifferent（冷漠的）is the worst impression you can make.

1.To be your natural self in a job interview will__________.

2.     For job seekers, efforts to control the interview are likely to __________.

3.The most important thing to keep in mind when being interviewed for a job is to _________.

4.The right attitude to a job interviewer is to be _________.

5.     “hang loose” in last paragraph means to _________.

It happened to me recently. I was telling someone how much I had enjoyed reading Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and how it had changed my views of our President. A friend I was talking to agreed with me that it was ,in his words, “a brilliantly（精彩地）written book”. However, he then went on to talk about Mr Obama in a way which suggested he had no idea of his background at all. I sensed that I was talking to a book liar.
And it seems that my friend is not the only one. Approximately two thirds of people have lied about reading a book which they haven’t. In the World Book Day’s “Report on Guilty Secrets”, Dreams From My Father is at number 9. The report lists ten books, and various authors, which people have lied about reading, and as I’m not one to lie too often (I’d hate to be caught out ),I’ll admit here and now that I haven’t read the entire top ten . But I am pleased to say that, unlike 42 percent of people, I have read the book at number one, George Orwell’s 1984. I think it’s really brilliant.
The World Book Day report also has some other interesting information in it. It says that many people lie about having read Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky(I haven’t read him, but haven’t lied about it either )and Herman Melville.
Asked why they lied, the most common reason was to “impress” someone they were speaking to. This could be tricky if the conversation became more in –depth!
But when asked which authors they actually enjoy, people named J. k. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella (ah, the big sellers, in other words). Forty-two percent of people asked admitted they turned to the back of the book to read the end before finishing the story(I’ll come clean: I do this and am astonished that 58 percent said they had never done so).
【小题1】How did the author find his friend a book liar?

With your workload growing, you may be telling yourself a vacation is one luxury you can’t afford.  【小题1】 A vacation allows you the opportunity to recharge your physical and motional batteries, disconnect from everyday concerns, and return to work rested and refreshed. Some facts have proved employees are more productive after a vacation than before one. Here are some tips for you to plan your vacation to make sure that your time away from the office is worry free.
Time is right. A Robert Half survey shows that July and August are the most favorable months for employees to take a break because these months offer ideal beach weather and many businesses slow down during this time.  【小题2】 For instance, if a big task is planned for the summer, you may consider postponing your trip until the fall.
Ask others for assistance.  【小题3】 Your supervisor can help you determine who is the most qualified for a particular task.
Let your contacts know. Give colleagues and customers you frequently work with a few weeks’ notice before you start off.  【小题4】
Conduct a technical review. Before you leave, make sure there is plenty of room in your e-mail inbox so you don’t exceed (超越) your storage limit while you’re out of the office, which might prevent you from sending messages when you return.  【小题5】
In short, taking vacation is necessary and beneficial for your job. But you must plan your vacation properly in order to work free and worry free on holiday.

What does it mean to day that we live in world of persuasion? It means that we live among
competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam 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 points of view. When we persuade, we want to influence what others believe and how they behave. We may not always prevail（占优势）--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 approach to their lives or as a control. In contrast, we believe that persuasion is inevitable--to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be moral or immoral, selfless or selfish, inspiring or discouraging. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or make us hurt. Moral 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, an essential 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 a need to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the basic principle of the American political system.
60．What’s the author’s attitude towards persuasion?
A．Critical.              B．Uninterested.       C．Supportive.         D．Neutral.
61．The passage states that some people are against persuasion because they think it is      .
A．an unwelcome influence                       B．difficult to do well
C．not trustworthy at all                            D．never successful
62．We can conclude from the passage that persuasion means        .
A．getting people to act according to your will
B．exercising power over other people
C．making use of your past wise experience
D．getting other people to consider your reasonable points of view.
63．According to the passage, we can infer that           .
A．we can learn how to persuade in school
B．only society can benefit from persuasion
C．persuasion plays an important role in America
D．persuas
ion is considered to be an inborn ability