The victory of the small Greek democracy of Athens over the mighty Persian empire in 490 B. C. is one of the most famous events in history. Darius, king of the Persian empire, was furious because Athens had interceded for the other Greek city-states in revolt against Persian domination. In anger the king sent an enormous army to defeat Athens. He thought it would take drastic steps to pacify the rebellious part of the empire. Persia was ruled by one man. In Athens, however, all citizens helped to rule. Ennobled by this participation, Athenians were prepared to die for their city-state. Perhaps this was the secret of the remarkable victory at Marathon, which freed them from Persian rule. On their way to Marathon, the Persians tried to fool some Greek city-states by claiming to have come in peace. The frightened citizens of Delos refused to believe this. Not wanting to abet the conquest of Greece, they fled from their city and did not return until the Persians had left. They were wise, for the Persians next conquered the city of Etria and captured its people. Tiny Athens stood alone against Persia. The Athenian people went to their sanctuaries. There they prayed for deliverance. They asked their gods to expedite their victory. The Athenians refurbished their weapons and moved to the plain of Marathon, where their little band would meet the Persians. At the last moment, soldiers from Plataea reinforced the Athenian troops. The Athenian army attacked, and Greek citizens fought bravely. The power of the mighty Persians was offset by the love that the Athenians had for their city. Athenians defeated the Persians in archery and hand combat. Greek soldiers seized Persian ships and burned them, and the Persians fled in terror. Herodotus, a famous historian, reports that 6400 Persians died, compared with only 192 Athenians.
Darius took drastic steps to __________ the rebellious Athenians.
A. weakenPassage
The Marshmallow Test for Grownups
(1)
Originally conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s, the Stanford marshmallow test has become a touchstone of developmental psychology. Children at Stanford's Bing Nursery School, aged four to six, were placed in a
room furnished only with a table and chair. A single treat, selected by the child, was placed on the table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in
the room. Follow-up studies with the children later in adolescence showed a correlation between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and various forms of life success. And a 2011 fMRI study conducted on 59 original
participants ?now in their 40s ?by Cornell's B.J. Casey showed higher levels of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex among those participants who delayed immediate gratification in favor of a greater reward later on. This finding is important
because of the research that's emerged on the critical role played by the prefrontal cortex in directing our attention and managing our emotions.
(2)
As adults, we face a version of the marshmallow test nearly every waking minute of every day. We're not tempted by sugary treats, but by our browser tabs, phones, and tablets ?all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for
those blips of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.
(3)
Sugary treats tempt us into unhealthy eating habits because the agricultural and commercial systems that meet our nutritional needs today are so vastly different from the environment in which we evolved as a species. Early humans lived in a
calorie-poor world, and something like a piece of fruit was both rare and valuable. Our brains developed a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value ?a surge of interest and excitement, a feeling of reward and
satisfaction ?which we find tremendously pleasurable. But as we've reshaped the world around us, radically diminishing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have the same brains we evolved thousands of years ago. This
mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn't eat.
(4)
A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was information-poor as well as calorie-poor. The features of that environment ?specifically the members of our immediate community and
our interactions with them ?typically changed rarely and gradually. New information in the form of new community members or new ways of interacting were unusual and notable events that typically signified something of great importance.
Just as our brains developed a response mechanism that prized sugary treats, we evolved to pay close attention to new information about the people around us and our interactions with them. But just as the development of industrial
agriculture and mass commerce has profoundly altered our caloric environment, global connectivity has profoundly altered our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded with new information about the people around us ?
and the definition of "people around us" has fundamentally changed, putting us in touch with more people in an hour than early humans met in their entire lives. All of this poses a critical challenge to our brains ?the adult version of the
marshmallow test.
(5)
Not only are we constantly interrupted by alerts, beeps, and buzzes that tell us some new information has arrived, we constantly interrupt ourselves to seek out new information. We pull out our phones while we're in the middle of a
conversation with someone. We check our email while we're engaged in a complex task that requires our full concentration. We scan our feeds even though we just checked them a minute ago. There's increasing evidence suggesting that
these disruptions make it difficult to do our best work, diminish our productivity, and contribute to a feeling of overwhelm.
(6)
The agricultural and commercial revolutions were clearly net gains for humanity, making it possible for more people to live better lives than ever before. It would be both wrongheaded and fruitless to suggest that we should turn back the clock
on these advances. Similarly, the information revolution is helping us to make great strides as a species. But just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, delaying gratification of our impulsive urges in order to eat
more nutritiously, we need to be more thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the allure of the mental equivalent of "junk food" in order to allocate our time and attention most effectively. (This article has been picked from
hbr.org and has been edited for use.)
It can be inferred that the author believes that new age technology and the abundance of information must be used and consumed with
A. ambivalenceConflict had existed between Spain and England since the 1570s. England wanted a share of the wealth that Spain had been taking from the lands it had claimed in the Americas. Elizabeth I, Queen of England, encouraged her staunch admiral of the navy, Sir Francis Drake, to raid Spanish ships and towns. Though these raids were on a small scale, Drake achieved dramatic success, adding gold and silver to England's treasury and diminishing Spain's omnipotence. Religious differences also caused conflict between the two countries. Whereas Spain was Roman Catholic, most of England had become Protestant. King Philip II of Spain wanted to claim the throne and make England a Catholic country again. To satisfy his ambition and also to retaliate against England's theft of his gold and silver, King Philip began to build his fleet of warships, the Armada, in January 1586. Philip intended his fleet to be indestructible. In addition to building new warships, he marshaled one hundred and thirty sailing vessels of all types and recruited more than nineteen thousand robust soldiers and eight thousand sailors. Although some of his ships lacked guns and others lacked ammunition, Philip was convinced that his Armada could withstand any battle with England.
The martial Armada set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on May 9,1588, but bad weather forced it back to port. The voyage resumed on July 22 after the weather became more stable. The Spanish fleet met the smaller, faster, and more maneuverable English ships in battle off the coast of Plymouth, England, first on July 31 and again on August 2. The two battles left Spain vulnerable, having lost several ships and with its ammunition depleted. On August 7, while the Armada lay at anchor on the French side of the Strait of Dover, England sent eight burning ships into the midst of the Spanish fleet to set it on fire. Blocked on one side, the Spanish ships could only drift away, their crews in panic and disorder. Before the Armada could regroup, the English attacked again on August 8. Although the Spaniards made a valiant effort to fight back, the fleet suffered extensive damage. During the eight hours of battle, the Armada drifted perilously close to the rocky coastline. At the moment when it seemed that the Spanish ships would be driven onto the English shore, the wind shifted, and the Armada drifted out into the North Sea. The Spaniards recognized the superiority of the English fleet and returned home, defeated.
Philip recruited many ___________ soldiers and sailors.
A. warlikeEthicist: Studies have documented the capacity of placebos to reduce pain in patients who believe that they are receiving beneficial drugs. Some doctors say that they administer placebos because medically effective treatment reinforced by the placebo effect sometimes helps patients recover faster than good treatment alone. But administering placebos is nonetheless ethically questionable, for even if a placebo benefits a patient, a doctor might, for example, have prescribed it just to give the patient satisfaction that something was being done.
The ethicist's argument depends on which one of the following assumptions?
A. A patient's psychological satisfaction is not a consideration in administering medical treatment.A chess tournament is occurring in the local community school, and the players at all four of the tables are engaged in their fourth game against their prospective opponents.
The players with white pieces are: David, Gerry, Lenny and Terry
The players with black pieces are: Don, Mike, Richie and Stephen
The scores are 3:0, 2.5:0.5, 2:1, 1.5:1.5
[note: tied games result in a score of 0.5 points for each player]
Lenny is playing at the table to the right of Stephen, who has lost all of his games until now.
Gerry is playing against Mike.
At least one game at table 1 has resulted in a tie.
Richie, who is not in the lead over his opponent, has not been in a tied game.
The player who is using the white pieces at table 4 is Terry, however, the current score at table 4 is not 2:1.
Don is leading his match after his last three games.
Who is the winning player at table 4?
A. DonEditorial: The government claims that the country's nuclear power plants are entirely safe and hence that the public's fear of nuclear accidents at these plants is groundless. The government also contends that its recent action to limit the nuclear industry's financial liability in the case of nuclear accidents at power plants is justified by the need to protect the nuclear industry from the threat of bankruptcy. But even the government says that unlimited liability poses such a threat only if injury claims can be sustained against the industry; and the government admits that for such claims to be sustained, injury must result from a nuclear accident. The public's fear, therefore, is well founded.
Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the editorial's argumentation?
A. If the government claims that something is unsafe then, in the absence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that thing should be assumed to be unsafe.Ordinary mountain sickness, a common condition among mountain climbers, and one from which most people can recover, is caused by the characteristic shortage of oxygen in the atmosphere at high altitudes. Cerebral edema, a rarer disruption of blood circulation in the brain that quickly becomes life-threatening if not correctly treated from its onset, can also be caused by a shortage of oxygen. Since the symptoms of cerebral edema resemble those of ordinary mountain sickness, cerebral edema is especially dangerous at high altitudes.
Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?
A. The treatment for ordinary mountain sickness differs from the treatment for cerebral edema.At a concert, exactly eight compositions -- F, H, L, O, P, R, S, and T -- are to be performed exactly once each, consecutively and one composition at a time. The order of their performance must satisfy the following conditions:
T is performed either immediately before F or immediately after R.
At least two compositions are performed either after F and before R, or after R and before F. O is performed either first or fifth. The eighth composition performed is either L or H. P is performed at some time before S. At least one composition
is performed either after O and before S, or after S and before O.
Which one of the following lists the compositions in an order in which they could be performed during the concert, from first through eighth?
A. L, P, S, R, O, T, F, HMoralist: TV talk shows are contributing to the moral decline in our country. By constantly being shown the least moral people in our society, viewers begin to think that such people are the norm, and that there is something wrong with being morally upright. TV talk show host: Well, if there is such a decline, it's not because of TV talk shows: we simply show people what they want to see. What can be wrong with letting the viewers decide? Furthermore, if restrictions were put on my show, that would amount to censorship, which is wrong.
The moralist's and the TV talk show host's statements provide the most support for holding that they disagree about whether
A. TV talk shows should be censoredWhen using a metal file, always remember to bear down on the forward stroke only. On the return stroke, lift the file clear of the surface to avoid dulling the instrument's teeth. Only when working on very soft metals is it advisable to drag the file's teeth slightly on the return stroke. This helps clear out metal pieces from between the teeth. It is best to bear down just hard enough to keep the file cutting at all times. Too little pressure uses only the tips of the teeth; too much pressure can chip the teeth. Move the file in straight lines across the surface. Use a vice to grip the work so that your hands are free to hold the file. Protect your hands by equipping the file with a handle. Buy a wooden handle and install it by inserting the pointed end of the file into the handle hole.
When working on soft metals, you can
A. remove the handleNowadays, the certification exams become more and more important and required by more and more enterprises when applying for a job. But how to prepare for the exam effectively? How to prepare for the exam in a short time with less efforts? How to get a ideal result and how to find the most reliable resources? Here on Vcedump.com, you will find all the answers. Vcedump.com provide not only LSAC exam questions, answers and explanations but also complete assistance on your exam preparation and certification application. If you are confused on your LSAT-TEST exam preparations and LSAC certification application, do not hesitate to visit our Vcedump.com to find your solutions here.