考研社会现象类阅读强化（下）
1 In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that social epidemics are driven in large part by the acting of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well-connected. The idea is intuitively compelling, but it doesn’t explain how ideas actually spread.
2 The supposed importance of influential s derives from a plausible sounding but largely untested theory called the “two step flow of communication”: Information flows from the media to the influentials and from them to everyone else. Marketers have embraced the two-step flow because it suggests that if they can just find and influence the influentials, those selected people will do most of the work for them.
The theory also seems to explain the sudden and unexpected popularity of certain looks, brands, or neighborhoods. In many such cases, a cursory search for causes finds that some small group of people was wearing, promoting, or developing whatever it is before anyone else paid attention. Anecdotal evidence of this kind fits nicely with the idea that only certain special people can drive trends
3 In their recent work, however, some researchers have come up with the finding that influentials have far less impact on social epidemics than is generally supposed. In fact, they don’t seem to be required of all.
4 The researchers’ argument stems from a simple observing about social influence, with the exception of a few celebrities like Oprah Winfrey—whose outsize presence is primarily a function of media, not interpersonal, influence—even the most influential members of a population simply don’t interact with that many others. Yet it is precisely these non-celebrity influentials who, according to the two-step-flow theory, are supposed to drive social epidemics by influencing their friends and colleagues directly.
For a social epidemic to occur, however, each person so affected, must then influence his or her own acquaintances, who must in turn influence theirs, and so on; and just how many others pay attention to each of these people has little to do with the initial influential. If people in the network just two degrees removed from the initial influential prove resistant, for example from the initial influential prove resistant, for example the cascade of change won’t propagate very far or affect many people.
5 Building on the basic truth about interpersonal influence, the researchers studied the dynamics of social influence by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people’s ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced. They found that the principal requirement for what we call “global cascades”– the widespread propagation of influence through networks — is the presence not of a few influentials but, rather, of a critical mass of easily influenced people.
31、By citing the book The Tipping Point, the author intends to_____.
A. analyze the consequences of social epidemics
B. discuss influentials’ function in spreading ideas
C. exemplify people’s intuitive response to social epidemics
D. describe the essential characteristics of influentials.
参考答案：B
32、The author suggests that the “two-step-flow theory” _____.
A. serves as a solution to marketing problems
B. has helped explain certain prevalent trends
C. has won support from influentials
D. requires solid evidence for its validity
参考答案：D
33、What the researchers have observed recently shows that
A. the power of influence goes with social interactions
B. interpersonal links can be enhanced through the media
C. influentials have more channels to reach the public
D. most celebrities enjoy wide media attention
参考答案：A
34、The underlined phrase “these people” in paragraph 4 refers to the ones who
A. stay outside the network of social influence
B. have little contact with the source of influence
C. are influenced and then influence others
D. are influenced by the initial influential
参考答案：C
35、what is the essential element in the dynamics of social influence?
A. The eagerness to be accepted
B. The impulse to influence others
C. The readiness to be influenced
D. The inclination to rely on others
参考答案：C
In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell argues that social epidemics are driven in large part by the acting of a tiny minority of special individuals, often called influentials, who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well-connected.
that引导宾语从句
宾语从句中的谓语动词是被动语态的形式 are driven in large part by 句中的
who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well connected 是一个定语从句，也用来修饰限定前面的名词individuals
在其《引爆点》一书中，Malcolm Gladwell认为： 社会流行 在很大程度上受到极少数特殊个人行为的驱动，这些人通常被称作有影响的人，他们消息异常灵通、有说服力，或者有良好的联系。
anecdotal
英 [ˌænɪkˈdəʊtl] 美 [ˌænɪkˈdoʊtl]
adj. 轶事的；轶事一样的；多轶事的
anecdotal evidence 轶事证据
stem
英 [stem] 美 [stem]
n. 干；茎；船首；血统
vt. 阻止；除去…的茎；给…装柄
vi. 阻止；起源于某事物；逆行
STEM 理工科（science，technology，engineering，math）
stem cell 干细胞，骨髓干细胞
stem from 起源于
brain stem 脑干
He wants Italy to stop bombing Libya to stem the flow of refugees across the Mediterranean.
他希望意大利停止轰炸利比亚，以阻止跨地中海的难民潮。
Building on the basic truth about interpersonal influence, the researchers studied the dynamics of social influence by conducting thousands of computer simulations of populations, manipulating a number of variables relating to people’s ability to influence others and their tendency to be influenced.
dynamic adj. 充满活力的，精神充沛的；动力的，动态的；发展变化的；力学的 n. 活力；动力；动态，力学”
本句中用作名词“动力，动力因素”
介词短语 of social influence 作 dynamics 的后置定语；
by conducting 为方式状语，Building on 和 manipulating 都作伴随状语
分词短语 relating to 后接两个由 and 连接的宾语，且两个宾语后都有不定式作后置定语
基于人际间相互影响的基本事实，通过对人口的数千次计算机模拟，运用许多与人类影响他人的能力和被影响的可能性相关的因素，研究人员研究了社会影响的动力因素。
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