Persuasion is to convince someone to agree with you, just like art which also calls for special techniques to accomplish. According to the ancient Greeks, there are three basic tools of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos.

    Ethos is a speaker's way of convincing the audience that he is trustworthy, honest and reliable. One common way a speaker can develop ethos is by explaining how much experience or education he has in the field. After all, you're more likely to listen to advice about how to take care of your teeth from a dentist than a fireman.

    Pathos is a speaker's way of connecting with an audience's emotions. For example, a politician who is trying to convince an audience to vote for him might say that he alone can save the country from a terrible war. These words are intended to fill the audience with fear, thus making them want to vote for him. Similarly, an animal charity might show an audience pictures of injured dogs and cats to make thee viewers feel pity, so they will be more likely to donate money.

    Logos is the use of facts, statistics or other evidence to support your argument. An audience will believe you if you have convincing data to back up your claims. Presenting this evidence is much more persuasive than simply saying “believe me”.

    Although ethos, pathos and logos all have their strengths, they are often most effective when used together. So, the next time you listen to a speech, watch a commercial or listen to a friend try to convince you to lend him some money, be on the lookout for these ancient Greek tools of persuasion.

Special Morning Tours

    Our volunteer-led morning tours are limited to a maximum of 20 places per tour to provide a unique visiting experience. The price includes a British Museum souvenir guidebook.

    The tours begin at 09:00 and will last for 60 minutes including time at the end to take photographs. Please come to the Main entrance on Great Russell Street (WC1B 3DG) at 08:50 with your email confirmation.

    Please note that wheeled cases and large items of luggage are not allowed on British Museum premises. Cloakroom facilities are not available on these tours.

    An introduction to the British Museum

    £30 per person

    In Room 1 (Enlightenment) and Room 2 (Collecting the world) you will learn how Europeans understood the world in the 18th century, tracing the beginning of the British Museum and the development of the extraordinary collection.

    An introduction to Ancient Egypt

    £30 per person

    In the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery (Room 3) you will see impressive statues of kings and gods, monumental tomb architecture and ancient tomb reliefs (浮雕) spanning three thousand years. These include the world-famous Rosetta Stone—key to deciphering hieroglyphs(象形文字). You will learn the importance of large-scale sculpture in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs, and get the perfect introduction to this unmissable collection.

    An introduction to China and South Asia

    £30 per person

    In the Gallery of China and South Asia (Room 4), you will gain an insight into the development of Chinese civilizations, from 5000 BC to the present day. In this beautifully decorated space, you will see from blue and white porcelain (陶瓷) of the Ming dynasty to superb Buddhist and Hindu sculptures.

    Japanese technology giant Toshiba has built a huge "clean" factory farm where it is growing various types of lettuce (莴苣) leaves without sunlight or soil for sale in its new healthcare business.

    Located in a disused 21,000­square­foot electronics factory in Yokosuka, Toshiba announces to have created a perfect "bacteria­free" environment where it will grow three million bags of lettuce a year.

    Completely cut off from conditions outside the temperature controlled tank, lettuce inspectors wear full body suits while making notes on the quality and growth of the leaves on their iPads in order to prevent the air around the plants becoming contaminated.

    Each plant is given man­made lighting to trick it into believing it is exposed to sunlight, while vitamin and nutrients are put directly into its roots, meaning the lettuce does not need soil.

    Toshiba's new high­tech farm may produce the world's highest quality lettuce. The final product will be free of any form of bacteria or insect life before being placed into sealed (密封的) bags, which should ensure the product has a longer shelf life than other lettuces.

    The gardening technique aims to have a bacteria amount of no more than 1/1000th­much lower than that found in normal gardening soil.

    Toshiba aims to harvest three million bags of leaf lettuce, baby leaf greens, cabbages and other kinds of vegetables every year­with each bag likely to cost people £1.

    The most important thing in organic vegetables, the lettuce requires no pesticides (杀虫剂) but is expected to have a similar shelf to plants that have been heavily treated with chemicals.

    The lettuce factory is no marketing trick by Toshiba, however. Instead it represents the company's latest attempt to expand its technology­led business.

    There are already plans for the technology giant to build similar factories around the world over the coming years and it will also be selling the high tech equipment that allows factories to produce similar products of exceptionally high quality.

    Runners never forget crossing the finishing line at their first marathon, and that will be especially true for Mike Kohler. When Kohler crossed the starting line in Fargo last Saturday, he thought he was going to run 13.1 miles, his first half marathon. Six hours later, he had "mistakenly” completed his first full marathon, 26.2 miles.

    Kohler, a 26-year-old plumber (水管工) who now lives in West Fargo, had lined up for the half marathon that he hoped to complete in 150 minutes. He didn't realize he was in a starting fence with the full marathoners. Several miles later, Kohler began to realize he was on the course for the full marathon. "The 8-mile mark was when I figured out that I had made a mistake," he said. "Between then and 13.1, I debated with myself about what I should do."

    At some point — he doesn't remember when — he doubled down on the distance. "After I decided I was going to keep going, the thought of quitting didn't come back. Run, walk, or crawl, I wanted to finish," he said.

    Until Saturday, Kohler's longest race was a 10-kilometer run, just over 6 miles. Even the most casual marathoners do a training run of 18 miles before the race. From his experience, he said he learned one thing: sometimes people can do more than they think they can.

    After his long race, he went right back to work, put in a 10-hour day and then boarded a flight to Scotland for a vacation. "I was pretty sore, but I found the more I kept moving, the less sore I was, so I tried my best to go about life normally — minus running,” Kohler said from Glasgow. "I needed a break from that for a bit."

    Not for too long, though. He's already considering the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon in October.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announced on November 23 for the first time that it has chosen not to name one single word of the year, but many words for the "special" year 2020. Describing 2020 as "a year which cannot be neatly summarized in one single word". OED said on Monday that there were too many words to sum up the events of 2020. From more than 11 billion words found in web-based news, blogs and other text sources, its lexicographers(词典编纂者)revealed what the dictionary described as "great shifts in language data and frequency rises in new words" over the past 12 months.

Most words of the year are coronavirus-related, including coronavirus, lockdown, circuit-breaker, keyworkers and face masks. The report said the word "coronavirus" dates back to the 1960s and was previously "mainly used by scientific and medical specialists". But by April this year it had become one of the most frequently used nouns in the English language, beyond even the usage of the word "time". It said use of the word "pandemic" has increased by more than 57,000 percent this year.

The revolution in working habits during the pandemic has also affected language, with both "remote" and "remotely" seeing more than 300 percent growth in use since March. "On mute(静音)"and "unmute" have seen 500 percent rises since March, while the words "workation" and "staycation" also increased drastically.

Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Dictionaries, said. "I've never witnessed a year in language like the one we've just had. The Oxford team was identifying hundreds of significant new words and usages as the year unfolded." "2020 has been filled with new words unlike any other," Grathwohl added.

The OED's announcement mirrored the huge influence of the COVID-19 on the people from all walks of life. To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.

If a president, a philosopher, and one of the best-selling writers credited the same secret for their success, would you try to follow it too? What if the secret was something you already knew how to do? In fact, you probably do it every day. Here's what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: "It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth. " Thomas Jefferson: "Walking is the best possible exercise. " Charles Dickens: "If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and die. "

Researchers have found quite a lot of connections between walking and producing ideas. A Stanford University study found that participants were 81 percent more creative when walking as opposed to sitting. According to the study, walking outside-compared with on a treadmill (跑步机)-produces the most novel and highest-quality ideas.

The movement aspect of walking is obviously key. Our creative thinking is triggered (触发)by physical movement, which is exactly why walking-with your dog, a friend, or alone-feeds creative thinking.

The scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Breaking your routine with a walk can be a catalyst for fresh understanding of problems or projects. Just by going outside, you are stepping out of your familiar surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if you want to open your mind to new possibilities. You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood. You can walk through a park and observe people joking or birds singing. Being inside, you're more likely to be lifeless, which means you don't have enough energy to wonder or create.

So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking? Involve yourself more closely in your surroundings. Tum off your phone and give yourself the chance to be present in the world, to hear conversations and natural sounds, and to notice the way people move and the way the sun reflects in puddle (小水坑).