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1、12Text 1Come on -Everybodys doing it. That whispered message，half invitation and half forcing，is what most of us think of when we hear the words peer pressure. It usually leads to no good-drinking，drugs and casual sex. But in her new book Join the Club，Tina Rosenberg contends that peer pressure can
2、also be a positive force through what she calls the social cure，in which organizations and officials use the power of group dynamics to help individuals improve their lives and possibly the word.Rosenberg，the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize，offers a host of example of the social cure in action： In Sou
3、th Carolina，a state-sponsored antismoking program called Rage Against the Haze sets out to make cigarettes uncool. In South Africa，an HIV-prevention initiative known as LoveLife recruits young people to promote safe sex among their peers.The idea seems promising，and Rosenberg is a perceptive observe
4、r. Her critique of the lameness of many pubic-health campaigns is spot-on： they fail to mobilize peer pressure for healthy habits，and they demonstrate a seriously flawed understanding of psychology.“ Dare to be different，please dont smoke！” pleads one billboard campaign aimed at reducing smoking amo
5、ng teenagers-teenagers，who desire nothing more than fitting in. Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers，so skilled at applying peer pressure.But on the general effectiveness of the social cure，Rosenberg is less persuasive. Join the Club is fil
6、led with too much irrelevant detail and not enough exploration of the social and biological factors that make peer pressure so powerful. The most glaring flaw of the social cure as its presented here is that it doesnt work very well for very long. Rage Against the Haze failed once state funding was
7、cut. Evidence that the LoveLife program produces lasting changes is limited and mixed.Theres no doubt that our peer groups exert enormous influence on our behavior. An emerging body of research shows that positive health habits-as well as negative ones-spread through networks of friends via social c
8、ommunication. This is a subtle form of peer pressure： we unconsciously imitate the behavior we see every day.Far less certain，however，is how successfully experts and bureaucrats can select our peer groups and steer their activities in virtuous directions. Its like the teacher who breaks up the troub
9、lemakers in the back row by pairing them with better-behaved classmates. The tactic never really works. And thats the problem with a social cure engineered from the outside： in the real world，as in school，we insist on choosing our own friends.21. According to the first paragraph，peer pressure often
10、emerges asA a supplement to the social cure B a stimulus to group dynamicsC an obstacle to school progress D a cause of undesirable behaviors22. Rosenberg holds that public advocates shouldA recruit professional advertisers B learn from advertisers experienceC stay away from commercial advertisers D
11、 recognize the limitations of advertisements23. In the authors view，Rosenbergs book fails toA adequately probe social and biological factors B effectively evade the flaws of the social cureC illustrate the functions of state funding Dproduce a long-lasting social effect24. Paragraph 5shows that our
12、imitation of behaviorsA is harmful to our networks of friends B will mislead behavioral studiesC occurs without our realizing it D can produce negative health habits25. The author suggests in the last paragraph that the effect of peer pressure isA harmful B desirable C profound D questionable12Text
13、2A deal is a deal-except，apparently ，when Entergy is involved. The company，a major energy supplier in New England，provoked justified outrage in Vermont last week when it announced it was reneging on a longstanding commitment to abide by the strict nuclear regulations.Instead，the company has done pre
14、cisely what it had long promised it would not challenge the constitutionality of Vermonts rules in the federal court，as part of a desperate effort to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant running. Its a stunning move.The conflict has been surfacing since 2002，when the corporation bought Vermon
15、ts only nuclear power plant，an aging reactor in Vernon. As a condition of receiving state approval for the sale，the company agreed to seek permission from state regulators to operate past 2012. In 2006，the state went a step further，requiring that any extension of the plants license be subject to Ver
16、mont legislatures approval. Then，too，the company went along.Either Entergy never really intended to live by those commitments，or it simply didnt foresee what would happen next. A string of accidents，including the partial collapse of a cooling tower in 207 and the discovery of an underground pipe system leakage，raised serious questions about both
