When you are at odds with someone close to you，the One-Minute Drill can show you how to express your feelings effectively-and how to listen more skillfully．All it requires is two individuals who are committed to improving their relationship．

    Set aside at least ten minutes，and then sit facing each other．Decide who will be the Talker and who will be the Lastener．It makes no difference，because later you will change roles．

    How to perform the One-Minute Drill

    For approximately 30 seconds，the Talker can say anything he or she wants．Your job will be to express your thoughts and feelings．You can discuss problems you’ve had a hard time talking about．Remember to limit yourself to about 30 seconds．When the Talker finishes，the Listener will summarize what the Talker just said，as well as how the Talker was feeling inside，as accurately as possible．

   The Talker now gives the Listener a grade between 0 and 100 percent to indicate how accurate the summary was．If the rating is 95 percent or more，you can change roles；the new Talker can continue with the same topic or move on to something entirely new．

However，if the grade is below 95 percent，the Talker should point out what the Listener missed or got wrong，and repeat the process until the overall rating is 95 percent or more．Then you can change roles and repeat the exercise for as long as you both like．

    How it works

Thirty seconds of emotionally charged information is sufficiently challenging for anyone．Express your feelings in strong，clear，direct language，but as your partner will be listening attentively，you won’t need to shout，exaggerate or put your partner down．

The Listener should sit and listen respectfully without interrupting．Look into your partner’s eyes，but avoid using negative body language． If you like，take a few notes．

    So the Talker might say：“When I come home from work， I feel tired and I need some quiet time．But you tell me I’m supposed to spend time with the kids．This makes me feel frustrated．I work hard and I’m exhausted at the end of the day．I feel like I deserve a little time to relax，not listen to more demands．”

    In response，the Listener might summarize like this：“You just told me that you feel exhausted when you come home at night because you’ve been working hard all day．When l tell you l want you to spend time with the kids，you feel frustrated and ticked off because you’re tired and you need time to relax．You see me as very demanding，and you’re probably feeling like I don’t appreciate you．”

    The first time you attempt the One-Minute Drill，you may get a low score．Don’t worry，because you’ll get up to speed quickly．Once you’ve tried this exercise a few times，you’ll find that you can nearly always get ratings of 95 percent or better on the first or second try．

1.Who is the One-Minute Drill intended for？

    A．Those who are preparing for the interview in order to make a good first impression．

    B．Those who have difficulty communicating with their colleagues or family members．

    C．Those who have troubled relationships with their friends or family members and try to improve them．

    D．Those who are to act some roles in a certain play for the first time in their life．

2.Which of the following is NOT true？

    A．The Talker should talk about his/her thoughts and feelings in a brief way．

    B．The Listener should listen carefully，respectfully and later summarize accurately．

    C．After the Talker finishes talking，the Listener is to give him/her a grade．

    D．In the One-Minute Drill，the Talker and the Listener change roles in the process．

3.From the example given in“How it works”，we can guess that the talk might be between      ．

   A．father and son                   B．mother and daughter

   C．sister and brother                                 D．husband and wife

4.What does the underlined part“ticked off”probably mean in this reading？

    A．very angry                       B．burst into tears    

    C．marked with a symbol     D．fast asleep

 

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.

1.What’s the author’s attitude towards persuasion?

A．Critical.                             B．Uninterested.        C．Supportive.             D．Neutral.

2.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

3.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.

4.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．persuasion is considered to be an inborn ability

 

For any person who must speak in public, to business or pleasure groups, humor is a helpful, and necessary, tool for getting your message across. Why does humor work a lot? There are several reasons.
People will enjoy what you have to say if it is presented with humor. But, more importantly, if you are in a situation where important, and perhaps controversial（有争议的）, ideas must be presented to less than open minds, humor allows those ideas to be presented in a non-threatening (无威胁的) manner. Abraham Lincoln was famous for his ability to relate humorous stories to make a point. Humor used carefully throughout a presentation will also keep the listener’s interest high. In a word, individuals learning how to use humor in their speeches can strengthen arguments, support interesting presentations and, most of all, entertain their audience in a positive and comfortable way. 
While popular culture may well hold many kinds of humor, some of it has no place in presentations that are designed to educate and encourage the audience. If you want to become a professional stand-up (单人表演的) comedian whose goal is 100% entertainment, then you may be able to use some of the reference materials like The Art of Using Humor in Public Speaking. They can help you develop your skills and sources of humor. To that end, your participation in this study of humor will become necessary. Hopefully, you will come to appreciate the special difficulty of entertaining the audience with good and clean humor.
【小题1】 How many reasons does the author give for using humor?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

【小题2】What’s the purpose of stand-up comedians?

A．To educate the audience.	B．To encourage the audience.
C．To entertain the audience.	D．To exchange with the audience.

【小题3】Why did the author suggest reading The Art of Using Humor in Public Speaking?

A．It was good for training one’s skills of humor.

B．It helped the readers relax after work.

C．It gave some tips on how to live a positive life.

D．It was a textbook for professional stand-up comedians.

【小题4】 Which of the following has a similar meaning to the underlined word “end” in the last paragraph?

A．Finishing.

B．Conclusion.

C．Stop.

D．Result.

【小题5】The passage is most likely to benefit________ a lot.

A．science researchers	B．public speakers
C．dress designers	D．sports players

Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.
Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.
Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don’t want to hear.
It wasn’t until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic(有疗效的) In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy(心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.
【小题1】The phrase “stepping into his or her shoes” in paragraph 2 probably means _______.

A．preparing a topic list first	B．focusing on one’s own mind
C．directing the talk to the desired results	D．experiencing the speaker’s inside world

【小题2】What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?

A．How to listen well.	B．What to listen to.
C．Benefits of listening.	D．Problems in listening

【小题3】According to the author, in communication people tend to ________.

A．listen actively	B．listen purposefully
C．set aside their prejudices	D．open up their inner mind

【小题4】According to the author, the patients improved mainly because _______.

A．they were taken good care of.	B．they knew they were truly listened to.
C．they had partners to talk to.	D．they knew the roots of problems.

【小题5】What type of writing the article likely to be?

A．Science fiction

B．A news report.

C．A medical report.

D．Popular science

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 ________.

A．changing others’ point 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．people’s different opinions towards persuasion

B．the reasons why people persuade

C．that persuasion is both good and bad

D．that persuasion is important and it is all around us