Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with you. 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 she is trustworthy, honest and reliable. One common way a speaker can develop ethos is by explaining how much experience or education she has in the field. After all, you're more likely to listen to advise about how to take care of your teeth from a dentist than a fireman. A speaker can also create ethos by convincing the audience that she is a good person. If an audience cannot trust you, you will not be able to persuade them.

    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 support him. Similarly, an animal charity might show an audience pictures of injured dogs and cats, to make the viewers feel pity. If the audience feels bad for the animals, 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 be more likely to 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. Indeed, most speakers use a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audiences. 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.

    The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound (白蚁堆).

    Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air conditioning and almost no heating. The building is the country's largest commercial and shopping complex but uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate's owners saved 3.5 million on a 36 million building because air conditioning didn't have to be equipped.

    The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glassroofed atrium (天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through vents (通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through fortyeight brick chimneys.

    During summer's cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.

This is all possible only because Harare is 1,600 feet above sea level, and has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings-days as warm as 31 ℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn't do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,” Pearce said.

The engineering firm of Ove Arup & Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23 ℃ and 25 ℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is far fresher than in airconditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.

    In no particular order, here are some songs on the Music app of my phone:

On a Sunday Afternoon by Lighter Shade of Brown—A student of mine introduced this rap song lo me all the way back in the early 1990s, when 1 was teaching Spanish at a local university. The story in the song takes place not too far from where I live in Los Angeles. It's a good "driving" song, nothing complicated or "deep".

    Say Something by A Great Big World—A more recent song about a couple losing contact with each other. The piano part is very little playing but beautiful.

    American Pie by Don McLean—Another song from my youth in the 80s, very popular with almost every American of my generation. It retells some of the key events of the middle 20th century, a song of happy memories of the past and wanting to return to those better times.

    The Weight by The Band—Another old song, originally made public in 1968, but one I didn't hear until I was in high school more than 10 years later. I don't understand the words to the song completely, but the feeling of the song is very comforting to me.

Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers—This Los Angeles group wrote a song that 1 used to listen to when I first moved to LA more than 25 years ago. I didn't know anyone here when I first arrived. When I got bored, I used to drive up and down the major streets that cross the city from east to west, listening to this song about the "city of angel" being as "lonely as I am. (Don t worry! I have plenty of friends now.)

    I'm a student in my fourth year of a biomedical science degree at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, but I also work 38 hours a week at Sainsbury's to make ends meet. I do three night shifts a week, plus overtime if I can get it. Monday is the most occupied day for me — I work from 10 pm until 8 am on Saturday and Sunday nights, earning just over £100 a night, and then I have to be at my first lecture at 9 am on Monday. By the time I finish lectures, at 2 pm, I'm exhausted, but I know I have to be back at work by 10 pm.

    I constantly have to force myself to stay awake, and to be alert, whatever it takes. A packet of Skittles and a Red Bull usually helps. The work I do at Sainsbury's is very physical like stacking shelves. I'm lucky because I'm an active person and the amount I lift at work is nothing compared with the weights I lift in the gym. I know I have the strength to bear it.

    I'm originally from Nigeria. I came here when I was seven, growing up in Croydon, south London. Money was tight. My parents gave me everything I needed, but there was no money to spend on luxuries. I worked hard at school though and, with the help of GT Scholars, I got some of the best A-level grades in my class.

    Unfortunately, though I had applied for “settled” British residential status when very young, the Home Office waited until I was in sixth form to approve my application. That meant I wasn't eligible for a student loan. The only way I could afford to go to university was that if I got a job that would pay for all my living costs and my parents, who work in market research, paid for my tuition fees. In Scotland, that's about £7,000 a year.

    I don't have much time to socialize because of my job. Ideally, I would also like to have more time to study so I can excel at my course. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, but working hard isn't new to me. Growing up, my parents and my mentors in the church and at GT Scholars cultivated in me the importance of working hard for what I want in life.

    My dream is to do an MA in physiotherapy next year and then get a job working for the NHS. But right now, I'm just focused on trying to get the best grades I can. Whenever I find life hard, I tell myself this is about my future. I don't need much, but I would like to worry less about money and have more free time. That is what I look forward to the most.

    How would you like an easy way to earn $2,500? All you have to do is to sit around and wait for your meals. There's a catch, however. You have to stay in a chicken cage with a stranger for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for a whole week. There are no books or television or radio for amusement. You can't leave until the week is up. And a camera will be recording your every move.

    Two people actually took the job. The idea came from Rob Thompson, a video artist. He wanted to make a film about the way animals are treated. His goal was to raise people's awareness of the living conditions of animals that are raised for food. He decided to pay $5,000 out of his own savings to two people who were willing to live like chickens for a week.

    To Rob's surprise, quite a few people answered his advertisement. He had interviews and selected Eric, a 24-year-old restaurant worker, and Pam, a 27-year-old chemist. The plan was for them to spend seven days together in a chicken cage that was six feet long and three feet wide. A camera would record their experience, which would take place in an art museum.

    The week was long and difficult. They slept on a hard wooden floor. They couldn't stand up without banging their heads. They ate mash(a kind of food for animals) and drink water from a garden hose-pipe(软管). Their only privacy was a toilet surrounded by a curtain. There were no sinks, mirrors, or toothbrushes in the cage. Their only inspiration was the two framed checks that hung on the wall outside the cage. Visitors who came here were warned, “Do not feed the humans.”

    Finally it was over, and Pam and Eric came out of the cage. They had survived the week, and they each had a $2,500 check in their hands. When Rob Thompson opened the cage, Eric came out, changed into clean clothes, and ate a chocolate bar right away. “It's great for me to be able to stand up.” he said. Pam just changed her clothes and left. After a week of visitors and reporters watching her, she didn't want to talk to anyone.

The World's Largest Libraries

    British Library (United Kingdom, London)

    The British Library was created by Act of Parliament in 1972; previously, the library had been part of the British Museum, where the famous circular reading room had accommodated researchers including Karl Marx, who worked on 'Das Kapital' there, as well as Oscar Wide and Mahatma Gandhi. The British Library is now housed in a new building in St. Pancras, London, where its treasures include two Gutenberg bibles, the Lindisfarne Gospels and one of Leonardo da Vmci's notebooks.

    Library of Congress (United States, Washington, D. C.)

    Founded in 1800 with the private collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Library of Congress is in effect the USA's National Library. It receives two copies of everything published in the United States. The Library of Congress wag burned by the British Army in 1812, and severely damaged by fire again in 1851. The collection includes many rare books, drawings and two Stradivarius violins.

    New York Public Library

    The New York Public Library developed gradually in the nineteenth century from the merger and acquisition (收购兼并) of a number of public and private collections; it has many branches in different districts of New York City. It remains a structure which combines public and private finance and governance. Treasures held at the library include a Gutenberg Bible.

    Russian State Library (Moscow)

    Founded in 1862 as the Moscow public library and museum, this collection became the State Library in 1925. In consequence it receives copies of all Russian publications, and also holds large collections of maps, journals, music scores and recordings. Its possessions include the Archangel Gospel, a codex in the Slavonic language dating from 1092.